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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.191.pr

Imperial Benefits to Deceased Persons and Discretion

Passage 9251 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In response to a query about whether an imperial benefit intended for a living person is valid if they are deceased, Neratius answers that it is not deemed granted, but emphasizes that any limitation depends on the Emperor's discretion.

[IDEM libro trigensimo tertio digestorum. ] §50.17.191.prNeratius consultus, an quod beneficium dare se quasi uiuenti Caesar rescripserat, iam defuncto dedisse existimaretur, respondit non uideri sibi principem, quod ei, quem uiuere existimabat, concessisset, defuncto concessisse: quem tamen modum esse beneficii sui uellet, ipsius aestimationem esse.
[THE SAME, in the thirty-third book of the Digests.] Neratius, when consulted as to whether a benefit which the Emperor had written in reply that he would grant, as if to a living person, should be considered to have been granted to one already deceased, replied that it did not seem to him that the princeps had granted to a deceased person what he had conceded to one whom he believed to be living; nevertheless, what limit he wished there to be to his own benefit was a matter for his own estimation.

Notes

  1. §50.17.191.pran quod beneficium — In the indirect question introduced by an, quod beneficium begins a relative clause (its antecedent being omitted as the object of dedisse), forming the structure 'whether the benefit which the Emperor had written in reply should be considered to have been granted to one already deceased'.
  2. §50.17.191.prnon uideri sibi principem — This is indirect speech introduced by respondit. sibi (referring to Neratius) is the dative with uideri (to seem), and the accusative with infinitive principem ... concessisse functions as the subject of uideri.
  3. §50.17.191.prquem tamen modum — The indirect question quem ... uellet ('yet what limit he wished') functions as the subject of the infinitive clause ipsius aestimationem esse ('is a matter of his own estimation'). ipsius refers to the Emperor.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.191.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.191.pr

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