Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §49.15.15.pr

Death of a Ransomed Father and the Son's Succession

Passage 8587 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In the case where a ransomed father dies before the ransom is paid, the text discusses whether the son can acquire the status of a self-successor by paying the ransom after his father's death.

[ULPIANUS libro duodecimo ad Sabinum. ] §49.15.15.prSi patre redempto et ante luitionem defuncto filius post mortem eius redemptionis quantitatem offerat, dicendum est suum ei posse existere.
[ULPIANUS, Book 12 on Sabinus] a father is ransomed and dies before the redemption money is paid, and his son offers the amount of the ransom after his death, it must be said that the status of a self-successor can arise for him.
nisi forte quis suptilius dicat hunc dum moritur, quasi iure pignoris finito, nactum postliminium et sine obligatione debiti obisse, ut potuerit suum habere.
Unless, perhaps, someone might argue more subtly that this father, at the moment of his death, as if the right of pledge had ended, recovered his postliminium and died without any obligation of debt, so that he could have him as his self-successor.
quod non sine ratione dicetur.
This indeed will be said not without reason.

Notes

  1. §49.15.15.prsuum ei — The word 'suum' is used substantively to refer to the status of a 'self-successor' (suus heres). The dative 'ei' refers to the son (filius), the subject of the conditional clause, indicating that the status of self-successor can arise 'for him'.
  2. §49.15.15.prhunc ... obisse — An accusative with infinitive (AcI) construction dependent on the main verb 'dicat'. The subject accusative is 'hunc' (referring to the father), and the corresponding perfect infinitive is 'obisse'. The participle 'nactum' in between can be understood either as an elliptical perfect infinitive 'nactum esse' or as a participle agreeing with 'hunc', but either way it expresses that he recovered his postliminium and died.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §49.15.15.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:49.15.15.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.