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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.162.pr-50.16.162.1

Interpretation of Substituted Heirs and Euphemisms for Death

Passage 8976 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius explains that in a common substitution, the substituted heir is understood to be substituted even for a single heir, using the example of the Twelve Tables, and argues that the expression 'if anything happens to my son' in a will should be interpreted as referring to death.

[POMPONIUS libro secundo ad Sabinum. ] §50.16.162.prIn uulgari substitutione, qua ei qui 'supremus' morietur heres substituitur, recte substitutus etiam unico intellegitur, exemplo duodecim tabularum, ex quibus 'proximus' adgnatus et solus habetur.
[POMPONIUS, in the second book on Sabinus.] In a common substitution, by which an heir is substituted for him who dies 'last', the substituted heir is rightly understood to be substituted even for a single heir, after the example of the Twelve Tables, according to which the 'nearest' agnate is so regarded even if he is the only one.
§50.16.162.1Si quis ita in testamento scripserit 'si quid filio meo acciderit, Dama seruus meus liber esto', mortuo filio Dama liber erit.
If anyone writes in a will as follows: 'if anything happens to my son, let my slave Dama be free', Dama will be free upon the death of the son.
licet enim 'accidunt' et uiuis, sed uulgi sermone etiam mors significatur.
For although 'things happen' also to the living, in common parlance death is also signified by it.

Notes

  1. §50.16.162.prsupremus — Refers to the one who dies 'last' among the co-heirs. In legal contexts, it designates the survivor who outlives the others.
  2. §50.16.162.prunico — A dative singular meaning 'for a single one'. It corresponds to the preceding pronoun `ei` and indicates that the substitution applies not only to the last of several co-heirs but is also validly understood even when there was only a single, sole heir from the beginning.
  3. §50.16.162.1accidunt — Although the subject is implied from the preceding `si quid` (if anything), it means 'unfortunate things happen'. With `uiuis` (the living) in the dative, it denotes that various mishaps can happen even to those who are still alive.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.162.pr-50.16.162.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.162.pr-50.16.162.1

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