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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.6.17.pr-4.6.17.1

Relief in Soldier's Inheritance and Conditional Legacy

Passage 780 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Iulianus' opinion on granting relief to a soldier to recover property from third-party purchasers upon accepting an inheritance is presented, along with the view of Labeo, Iulianus, and Pomponius that restitution should be granted for a conditional legacy as if the person had been in Italy.

[ULPIANUS libro duodecimo ad edictum. ] §4.6.17.prIulianus libro quarto scribit non solum aduersus possessorem hereditatis succurrendum militi, uerum aduersus eos quoque, qui a possessore emerunt, ut uindicari res possint, si miles hereditatem adgnouerit: quod si non adgnouerit, ex post facto usucapionem processisse manifestatur.
[ULPIANUS libro duodecimo ad edictum.] Iulianus writes in his fourth book that relief should be granted to a soldier not only against the possessor of an inheritance, but also against those who have purchased from the possessor, so that the property can be vindicated if the soldier accepts the inheritance; but if he does not accept it, it is clear that the usucapion has proceeded ex post facto.
§4.6.17.1Eum quoque cui sic legatum sit: 'uel in annos singulos, quibus in Italia esset', restituendum, ut capiat, atque si in Italia fuisset, et Labeo scribit et Iulianus libro quarto et Pomponius libro trigensimo primo probant: non enim dies actionis exit, ubi praetoris auxilium necessarium erat, sed condicio in causa est.
Labeo writes, and Iulianus in his fourth book and Pomponius in his thirty-first book approve, that a person to whom a legacy was left in these terms, "or for each year in which he should be in Italy," should also be restored, so that he may receive it just as if he had been in Italy. For it is not the period for bringing the action that expires, where the assistance of the praetor was necessary, but the condition is the obstacle.

Notes

  1. §4.6.17.prsuccurrendum militi — An impersonal passive gerundive construction succurrendum [esse] combined with the dative militi (dative of agent), indicating that relief should be granted to the soldier.
  2. §4.6.17.prquod si non adgnouerit — The phrase quod si is a connecting formula introducing an adversative conditional clause ('but if ...'). The verb adgnouerit is in the future perfect indicative active.
  3. §4.6.17.1Eum quoque... restituendum — An accusative with infinitive clause (with esse omitted from restituendum [esse]) dependent on the main verbs scribit and probant, with eum quoque as the subject accusative.
  4. §4.6.17.1atque si — Equivalent to ac si (or quasi) meaning 'as if', introducing a hypothetical comparison. It is followed by the pluperfect subjunctive fuisset, representing a past counterfactual condition.
  5. §4.6.17.1condicio in causa est — The idiom in causa esse means 'to be the issue' or 'to be the obstacle'. It explains that the necessity of restitution lies not in the expiration of the period for bringing the action (dies actionis), but in the obstacle of a legal condition (condicio), namely being in Italy.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.6.17.pr-4.6.17.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.6.17.pr-4.6.17.1

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