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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §5.2.22.pr-5.2.22.3

Retention of Legacy after Suing an Undue Will for Another

Passage 986 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

The author discusses cases where a person who prosecutes a complaint of an inofficious testament on behalf of another (such as a son, a deceased predecessor, or an arrogated son) does not lose their own legacy even if they fail in the lawsuit.

[TRYPHONINUS libro septimo decimo disputationum. ] §5.2.22.prFilius non impeditur, quo minus inofficiosum testamentum matris accusaret, si pater eius legatum ex testamento matris accipiet uel adisset hereditatem, quamquam in eius esset potestate: nec prohiberi patrem dixi iure filii accusare: nam indignatio filii est.
[TRYPHONINUS in his Seventeenth Book of Disputations.] A son is not prevented from accusing the testament of his mother as inofficious, even if his father accepts a legacy under the mother's testament or has entered upon her inheritance, although the son was in the father's power; nor did I say that the father is prohibited from accusing by right of the son, for the resentment is the son's.
§5.2.22.1Et quaerebatur, si non optinuisset in accusando, an quod patri datum est publicaretur? quoniam alii commodum uictoriae parat et in hac causa nihil ex officio patris, sed totum de meritis filii agitur.
And it was asked: if he did not succeed in the accusation, would what was given to the father be confiscated? Since the father is preparing the advantage of victory for another, and in this case nothing is done out of the father's own duty, but everything depends on the merits of the son.
et inclinandum est non perdere patrem sibi datum, si secundum testamentum pronuntiatum fuisset.
And we should incline to the view that the father does not lose what was given to him, if judgment was pronounced in favor of the testament.
§5.2.22.2Multo magis si mihi legatum testator dedit, cuius de inofficioso testamento filius agens decessit me herede relicto, egoque hereditariam causam peregi et uictus sum: id quod mihi eo testamento relictum est, non perdam: utique si iam defunctus agere coeperat.
Much more so, if a testator gave a legacy to me, and his son, while contesting his testament as inofficious, died leaving me as his heir, and I prosecuted the inheritance case and was defeated: I shall not lose what was left to me by that testament, at any rate if the deceased had already begun to contest it.
§5.2.22.3Item si adrogaui eum, qui instituerat litem de inofficioso testamento eius qui mihi legatum dedit, litemque peregero nomine filii nec optinuero: perdere me legatum non oportet, quia non sum indignus, ut auferatur mihi a fisco id quod derelictum est: cum non proprio nomine, sed iure cuiusdam successionis egi.
Likewise, if I have arrogated a person who had instituted a lawsuit concerning the inofficious testament of one who gave me a legacy, and I have prosecuted the lawsuit in the name of the son and did not succeed: I ought not to lose my legacy, because I am not unworthy so that what was left to me should be taken away by the fiscus; since I did not sue in my own name, but by right of a certain succession.

Notes

  1. §5.2.22.prquo minus inofficiosum testamentum matris accusaret — The subjunctive clause with `quo minus` (`accusaret`) depending on the verb of prevention `non impeditur`. The imperfect tense is used here under the influence of the general past context or the following `dixi`.
  2. §5.2.22.1non perdere patrem sibi datum — An accusative with infinitive clause depending on the impersonal `inclinandum est`. `patrem` is the subject accusative of the infinitive `perdere`, and `sibi datum` ('what was given to him') acts as the direct object with an omitted antecedent.
  3. §5.2.22.2cuius de inofficioso testamento filius agens decessit — The genitive relative pronoun `cuius` (whose antecedent is `testator`) modifies `testamento`, with the prepositional phrase `de inofficioso` placed between them. The entire phrase represents a hyperbaton: 'the son of the testator, acting against the inofficious testament of the testator.'
  4. §5.2.22.3quia non sum indignus, ut auferatur mihi a fisco id quod derelictum est — The clause `ut` + subjunctive (`auferatur`) following the adjective `indignus` to express result or characteristic ('not so unworthy that what was left should be taken away by the treasury').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §5.2.22.pr-5.2.22.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:5.2.22.pr-5.2.22.3

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