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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.123.pr

Interpretation of Future erit as Referring to Past

Passage 8937 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section explains that the future tense verb 'erit' can sometimes refer to the past, especially in context of will-confirmations of previously written codicils, using grammatical analogies.

[IDEM libro uicensimo sexto ad Quintum Mucium. ] §50.16.123.prUerbum 'erit' interdum etiam praeteritum nec solum futurum tempus demonstrat.
[THE SAME, in the twenty-sixth book on Quintus Mucius.] The word 'erit' sometimes indicates even the past and not only the future tense.
quod est nobis necessarium scire et cum codicilli ita confirmati testamento fuerint: 'quod in codicillis scriptum erit', utrumne futuri temporis demonstratio fiat an etiam praeteriti, si ante scriptos codicillos quis relinquat.
This is necessary for us to know, also when codicils have been confirmed in a will as follows: 'whatever shall be written in the codicils', namely, whether an indication of the future tense is made, or also of the past, if anyone leaves codicils written beforehand.
quod quidem ex uoluntate scribentis interpretandum est.
This indeed must be interpreted according to the intention of the writer.
quemadmodum autem hoc uerbum 'est' non solum praesens, sed et praeteritum tempus significat, ita et hoc uerbum 'erit' non solum futurum, sed interdum etiam praeteritum tempus demonstrat.
Furthermore, just as this word 'est' signifies not only the present but also the past tense, so also this word 'erit' indicates not only the future but sometimes also the past tense.
nam cum dicimus 'Lucius Titius solutus est ab obligatione', et praeteritum et praesens significamus: sicut hoc 'Lucius Titius alligatus est'.
For when we say 'Lucius Titius has been released from his obligation', we signify both the past and the present, just as in the case of 'Lucius Titius is bound'.
et idem fit, cum ita loquimur 'Troia capta est': non enim ad praesentis facti demonstrationem refertur is sermo, sed ad praeteritum.
And the same happens when we speak thus, 'Troy has been taken'; for that speech does not refer to the demonstration of a present fact, but to the past.

Notes

  1. §50.16.123.prquod est nobis necessarium scire — The relative pronoun quod refers to the preceding statement (that the verb erit can also indicate the past). The infinitive scire, governed by the impersonal necessarium est, takes the following indirect question clause utrumne ... fiat an ... as its object.
  2. §50.16.123.prante scriptos codicillos — The preposition or adverb ante functions adverbially here, modifying the perfect passive participle scriptos to mean 'written beforehand' or 'previously written'.
  3. §50.16.123.prsolutus est... alligatus est... capta est — These are perfect passive forms, which, by containing the present tense est, can signify both the completed state in the present and the past action itself, depending on the context.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.123.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.123.pr

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