Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §5.1.34.pr

Duty of an Absent Heir to Defend Litigation in Rome

Passage 915 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section rules that if a deceased person had accepted a trial in Rome, his heir must defend the action in Rome, even if the heir resides across the sea, because the heir succeeds to the status of the deceased.

[IAUOLENUS libro quinto decimo ex Cassio. ] §5.1.34.prSi is qui Romae iudicium acceperat decessit, heres eius quamuis domicilium trans mare habet, Romae tamen defendi debet, quia succedit in eius locum, a quo heres relictus est.
[JAVOLENUS, From Cassius, Book XV.] If a person who had accepted a trial at Rome has died, his heir, although having his domicile across the sea, must nevertheless be defended at Rome, because he succeeds to the place of him by whom he was left as heir.

Notes

  1. §5.1.34.priudicium acceperat — Literally 'had accepted a trial', but in Roman law, this refers to the establishment of joinder of issue (litis contestatio), which creates an obligation on the parties to carry out the lawsuit.
  2. §5.1.34.prdefendi debet — Although passive in form, it expresses the substantive obligation that the heir, having succeeded to the position of the deceased, must undertake the defence (defensio) as a defendant in the court at Rome.
  3. §5.1.34.pra quo heres relictus est — The relative pronoun 'a quo' is in the ablative case with the preposition 'a' of agent, referring back to the antecedent 'eius'. It means 'by whom he was left as heir', referring to the deceased who designated him as heir in a will or otherwise.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §5.1.34.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.1.34.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.