[MARCIANUS libro singulari de delatoribus. ] §40.15.1.prDe statu defunctorum post quinquennium quaerere non licet neque priuatim neque fisci nomine.
[MARCIAN, in the Single Book on Informers.] After the lapse of five years, it is not permitted to inquire into the status of deceased persons, either privately or in the name of the treasury.
§40.15.1.1Sed nec eius status retractandus est, qui intra quinquennium decessit, si per huius quaestionem praeiudicium futurum est ante quinquennium mortuo.
But neither should the status of one who died within five years be reopened, if through the inquiry into this person a preliminary prejudice will be created for someone who died more than five years ago.
§40.15.1.2Immo nec de uiui statu quaerendum est, si quaestio huius praeiudicium facit ei, qui ante quinquennium decessit: et ita diuus Hadrianus constituit.
Nay, indeed, there should be no inquiry even into the status of a living person, if the inquiry into him creates a prejudice for someone who died more than five years ago; and this is what the Divine Hadrian enacted.
§40.15.1.3Sed interdum et intra quinquennium non licet de statu defuncti dicere: nam oratione diui Marci cauetur, ut, si quis ingenuus pronuntiatus fuerit, liceat ingenuitatis sententiam retractare, sed uiuo eo qui ingenuus pronuntiatus est, non etiam post mortem, in tantum, ut etiam, si coepta quaestio fuit retractationis, morte eius extinguatur, ut eadem oratione cauetur.
But sometimes, even within five years, it is not permitted to contest the status of a deceased person; for it is provided by a constitution of the Divine Marcus that, if anyone has been declared freeborn, it is permitted to reopen the judgment of free birth, but only during the lifetime of him who was declared freeborn, and not also after his death—to such an extent that even if an inquiry into its reopening had been commenced, it is extinguished by his death, as is provided in the same constitution.
§40.15.1.4Si quidem in deteriorem condicionem quis statum retractaret, secundum ea quae dixi praescribendum est.
If indeed someone would reopen a status to a worse condition, a prescription must be raised in accordance with what I have said.
quid ergo si in meliorem? ueluti pro seruo libertus dicitur: quare non admittatur? quid enim si seruus quis dicatur quasi ex ancilla natus, quae ante quinquennium mortua est? quare non liceat probare liberam fuisse? hoc enim et pro mortua est.
What then if it is to a better condition? For example, if instead of a slave, a person is asserted to be a freedman: why should this not be admitted? Or what if someone is said to be a slave on the ground of being born of a female slave who died more than five years ago? Why should it not be permitted to prove that she was free? For this is also in favor of the deceased woman.
et Marcellus libro quinto de officio consulis scripsit posse: ego quoque in auditorio publico idem secutus sum.
And Marcellus wrote in the fifth book on the Office of Consul that this is possible; I too followed the same view in the public auditorium.