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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.17.193.pr

Retroactivity of Succession to the Moment of Death

Passage 9253 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This text explains the principle of the retroactivity of inheritance, stating that almost all rights of heirs are treated as if they had become heirs immediately upon the death of the deceased.

[CELSUS libro trigensimo octauo digestorum. ] §50.17.193.prOmnia fere iura heredum perinde habentur, ac si continuo sub tempus mortis heredes exstitissent.
[CELSUS, in the thirty-eighth book of the Digests.] Almost all rights of heirs are treated in the same manner as if they had become heirs immediately after the time of death.

Notes

  1. §50.17.193.prperinde habentur, ac si — A comparative construction meaning 'are treated in the exact same manner as if'. In the clause introduced by 'ac si' (or 'quasi'), the subjunctive mood is used to express a contrary-to-fact condition. Here, the pluperfect subjunctive 'exstitissent' is used to represent a past hypothetical situation.
  2. §50.17.193.prsub tempus mortis — The preposition 'sub' with the accusative 'tempus' denotes temporal proximity, specifically 'immediately after' or 'about the time of'. Accompanied by the adverb 'continuo' (immediately, without delay), it here means 'immediately after the moment of death', legally expressing the retroactive effect of inheritance back to the time of the deceased's death.
  3. §50.17.193.prheredes exstitissent — The verb 'exsisto' (to stand forth, to become) takes a predicate nominative and means 'to emerge as' or 'to become'. Here, the nominative noun 'heredes' acts as the complement, meaning 'had become heirs'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.17.193.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.17.193.pr

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