Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §38.2.6.pr-38.2.6.4

Succession by Freedman's Children and Patronal Rights

Passage 5942 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses the limitations on a patron's petition for possession of goods contrary to the will when the freedman's children are heirs, and the circumstances under which a patron may be admitted to succession if the child renounces the inheritance or is restored to their original condition.

[ULPIANUS libro quadragensimo tertio ad edictum. ] §38.2.6.prEtsi ex modica parte instituti sint liberi liberti, bonorum possessionem contra tabulas patronus petere non potest: nam et Marcellus libro nono digestorum scripsit quantulacumque ex parte heredem institutum liberti filium patronum expellere.
[ULPIANUS from the forty-third book on the edict.] Even if the children of a freedman have been appointed heirs for a very small portion, the patron cannot petition for the possession of goods contrary to the will; for Marcellus also wrote in the ninth book of his Digests that a son of a freedman appointed heir for however small a portion excludes the patron.
§38.2.6.1Cum patroni filia heres instituta esset a liberto falsumque testamentum dictum esset, in quo scripta erat, et appellatione interposita et pendente diem suum obisset: heredibus eius diuus Marcus subuenit, ut id haberent, quod haberet patroni filia, si uiueret.
When the daughter of a patron had been appointed heir by a freedman, and the will in which she was written had been declared forged, and she died while an appeal had been interposed and was pending, the Divine Marcus came to the aid of her heirs, so that they should have what the daughter of the patron would have had if she were alive.
§38.2.6.2Si filius liberti heres ab eo institutus abstinuerit, quamuis nomine sit heres, patronus admittitur.
If a son of a freedman appointed heir by him abstains from the inheritance, although he is heir in name, the patron is admitted.
§38.2.6.3Sed et si per in integrum restitutionem is, qui mixtus est paternae hereditati uel qui adit hereditatem, abstinuerit se, poterit quis patronum admittere.
But also, if through restitution to the original condition he who had meddled with his father's inheritance or who had entered upon the inheritance should abstain, one will be able to admit the patron.
§38.2.6.4Patronus patronique liberi si secundum uoluntatem mortui liberti hereditatem adierint legatumue aut fideicommissum petere maluerint, ad contra tabulas bonorum possessionem non admittuntur.
If the patron and the children of the patron enter upon the inheritance in accordance with the will of the deceased freedman, or prefer to petition for a legacy or a fideicommissum, they are not admitted to the possession of goods contrary to the will.

Notes

  1. §38.2.6.prquantulacumque ex parte heredem institutum liberti filium patronum expellere — An accusative with infinitive (A.c.I.) construction introduced by scripsit. The subject accusative of the infinitive expellere is liberti filium (modified by quantulacumque ex parte heredem institutum), and the object is patronum. Despite the hyperbaton, the syntax translates to "the son of a freedman appointed heir... excludes the patron."
  2. §38.2.6.1appellatione interposita et pendente — An ablative absolute construction. A single noun appellatione (in the ablative) is modified by both the perfect passive participle interposita and the present active participle pendente in coordination. It describes the circumstance "while an appeal had been interposed and was pending."
  3. §38.2.6.3poterit quis patronum admittere — The word quis is an indefinite pronoun, referring to "someone" (such as the praetor) or used impersonally as "one". Literally "someone will be able to admit the patron," in this legal context it implies that the magistrate or praetor can grant the patron's petition.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §38.2.6.pr-38.2.6.4. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:38.2.6.pr-38.2.6.4

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.