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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §40.5.42.pr

Trust Bequests upon Heir Death in Military and Civilian Wills

Passage 6455 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses the imperial constitution of Antoninus Pius regarding the salvation of trust-bequests when both instituted and substituted heirs died before entry, highlighting the difference between soldiers and pagans.

[MAECIANUS libro septimo fideicommissorum. ] §40.5.42.prAntoninus Augustus Pius noster, quo militum suorum per omnia rata esset uoluntas suprema, cum et institutus et substitutus in continenti, priusquam adirent hereditatem, decessissent, eos, quibus ab his et libertas et hereditas a milite per fideicommissum data esset, perinde liberos et heredes esse iussit, ac si utrumque directo accepissent.
[MAECIANUS in the seventh book on fideicommissa.] Our Emperor Antoninus Augustus Pius, in order that the last will of his soldiers might be valid in all respects, ordered that, when both the instituted and the substituted heir had died immediately, before they entered upon the inheritance, those to whom both freedom and the inheritance had been given by the soldier through a fideicommissum from them, should be equally free and heirs, as if they had received both directly.
eorum autem, qui a pagano libertatem et hereditatem per fideicommissum acceperant, cum aeque in continenti et institutus et substitutus decessissent, satis habuit libertatem confirmare.
However, in the case of those who had received freedom and the inheritance through a fideicommissum from a pagan, when likewise both the instituted and the substituted heir had died immediately, he was content to confirm only their freedom.

Notes

  1. 40.5.42.prquo — This particle introduces a purpose clause without an accompanying comparative, functioning as 'ut eo' to express the specific goal of making the wills valid.
  2. 40.5.42.prin continenti — A legal idiomatic phrase meaning 'immediately' or 'without interval', indicating the temporal proximity in which both the instituted and substituted heirs died.
  3. 40.5.42.prsatis habuit — Meaning 'was content' or 'deemed it sufficient' followed by the infinitive 'confirmare', indicating that the emperor limited the favor to the confirmation of freedom, unlike in the case of a soldier's will.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §40.5.42.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:40.5.42.pr

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