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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.1.61.pr-41.1.61.1

Scope of Rights Acquired by an Inheritance through a Slave

Passage 6691 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is explained that while an inheritance is regarded as an owner in many areas of law and can acquire rights through a slave, it cannot acquire rights that require human acts or a specific person, such as the entry upon an inheritance or a usufruct.

[HERMOGENIANUS libro sexto iuris epitomarum. ] §41.1.61.prereditas in multis partibus iuris pro domino habetur adeoque hereditati quoque ut domino per seruum hereditarium adquiritur.
[HERMOGENIANUS, from the sixth book of Epitomes of Law.] An inheritance is in many areas of the law regarded as an owner, and therefore acquisition is made for an inheritance too, just as for an owner, through a slave belonging to the inheritance.
in his sane, in quibus factum personae operaeue substantia desideratur, nihil hereditati quaeri per seruum potest.
To be sure, in those matters in which the act of a person or the substance of services is required, nothing can be acquired for the inheritance through a slave.
ac propterea quamuis seruus hereditarius heres institui possit, tamen quia adire iubentis domini persona desideratur, heres exspectandus est.
And for that reason, although a slave belonging to the inheritance can be instituted as heir, nevertheless, because the person of an owner who orders him to enter upon the inheritance is required, the heir must be waited for.
§41.1.61.1Usus fructus, qui sine persona constitui non potest, hereditati per seruum non adquiritur.
A usufruct, which cannot be established without a specific person, is not acquired for an inheritance through a slave.

Notes

  1. §41.1.61.prhereditati quoque ut domino ... adquiritur — hereditati and domino are datives of advantage/reference indicating the entity for whom the acquisition is made. The verb adquiritur is used impersonally ('acquisition is made') or with an implied general subject.
  2. §41.1.61.pradire iubentis domini — The infinitive adire is a legal technical term meaning 'to enter upon (an inheritance)' (adire hereditatem), with the object hereditatem being omitted. The present participle iubentis modifies the genitive noun domini, meaning 'of an owner who orders [the slave] to enter upon [the inheritance]'.
  3. §41.1.61.1sine persona — persona here means a specific natural person, i.e., the subject of rights. Since a usufruct (usus fructus) is a right strictly personal to a specific individual, it cannot be established directly for an inheritance (hereditas), which is only a personified estate.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.1.61.pr-41.1.61.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.1.61.pr-41.1.61.1

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