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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §4.6.41.pr

Relief for Absent Legatees and Liability for Trusts

Passage 804 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that when a legatee who almost lost his legacy due to public service is granted relief, he is still bound to perform any fideicommissum imposed on him, and Marcellus notes that a soldier's inheritance is restored without prejudice to legacies and fideicommissa.

[IULIANUS libro trigensimo quinto digestorum. ] §4.6.41.prSi quis Titio legauerit, si mortis suae tempore in Italia esset, aut in annos singulos, quod in Italia esset, et ei succursum fuerit, quia ob id, quod rei publicae causa afuit, exclusus fuerit a legato: fideicommissum ab eo relictum praestare cogitur.
[JULIANUS, Digest, Book XXXV] If anyone has made a legacy to Titius, on the condition that he should be in Italy at the time of his death, or annually, because of his being in Italy, and Titius is granted relief because he was excluded from the legacy due to his absence on public service: he is compelled to perform the fideicommissum left by him.
MARCELLUS notat: quis enim dubitabit salua legatorum et fideicommissorum causa militi restitui hereditatem, quam ob id perdidit, quod rei publicae causa afuit?
MARCELLUS notes: for who will doubt that, with the status of legacies and fideicommissa preserved, an inheritance is restored to a soldier which he lost because he was absent on public service?

Notes

  1. §4.6.41.prquod in Italia esset — The subjunctive 'esset' is used to maintain the hypothetical or restrictive condition ('on the ground that' or 'provided that he was in Italy') embedded within the conditional context of the annual legacy.
  2. §4.6.41.prei succursum fuerit — An impersonal passive construction with the dative 'ei' (referring to Titius), meaning 'if relief has been granted to him' (e.g., through in integrum restitutio).
  3. §4.6.41.prfideicommissum ab eo relictum — The phrase 'ab eo' modifies 'relictum', referring to the fideicommissum left or charged by Titius himself (as the beneficiary of the legacy). Since he secured the legacy through legal relief, the fideicommissum he owes to others remains valid and enforceable.
  4. §4.6.41.prsalua legatorum et fideicommissorum causa — An ablative absolute with 'salua' and 'causa'. Here, 'causa' refers to the legal status or force. It indicates that when the inheritance (hereditas) is restored to the soldier, the individual legacies and fideicommissa charged upon that inheritance are preserved and remain in full effect.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §4.6.41.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:4.6.41.pr

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