Justinian•CODEX
Abbo Floriacensis1 work
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HISTORIA HIEROSOLYMITANAE EXPEDITIONIS12 sections
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DE AMORE ET DILECTIONE DEI4 sections
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Alcuin9 works
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DE RE COQUINARIA5 sections
Appendix Vergiliana1 work
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DE DOGMATE PLATONIS6 sections
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ADVERSVS NATIONES LIBRI VII7 sections
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CONTRA SECUNDAM IULIANI RESPONSIONEM2 sections
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LIBER ET INCERTORVM LIBRI3 sections
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HISTORIA REGNI HENRICI SEPTIMI REGIS ANGLIAE11 sections
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DE CONTEMPTU MUNDI LIBRI DUO2 sections
Biblia Sacra3 works
VETUS TESTAMENTUM49 sections
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COMMENTARIORUM LIBRI VII DE BELLO GALLICO CUM A. HIRTI SUPPLEMENTO8 sections
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LIBRI INCERTORUM AUCTORUM3 sections
Calpurnius Flaccus1 work
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ORATORIA33 sections
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ITINERARIUM PEREGRINATIO2 sections
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BREVIARIVM HISTORIAE ROMANAE10 sections
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LIBRI HISTORIARUM10 sections
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ETYMOLOGIARVM SIVE ORIGINVM LIBRI XX20 sections
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HISTORIARVM PHILIPPICARVM T. POMPEII TROGI LIBRI XLIV IN EPITOMEN REDACTI46 sections
Justinian3 works
INSTITVTIONES5 sections
CODEX12 sections
DIGESTA50 sections
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HISTORIA DE PRELIIS ALEXANDRI MAGNI3 sections
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AB VRBE CONDITA LIBRI37 sections
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SUPPLEMENTUM PHARSALIAE8 sections
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CARMINA9 sections
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HISTORIARUM ADVERSUM PAGANOS LIBRI VII7 sections
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ARS AMATORIA3 sections
TRISTIA5 sections
EX PONTO4 sections
Owen1 work
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EPISTVLARVM LIBRI DECEM10 sections
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DE CHOROGRAPHIA3 sections
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HISTORIARUM LIBRI QUATUOR4 sections
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DE CONSOLATIONE3 sections
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Septem Sapientum1 work
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DE MIRABILIBUS MUNDI Mommsen 1st edition (1864)4 sections
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DE IMITATIONE CHRISTI4 sections
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FACTORVM ET DICTORVM MEMORABILIVM LIBRI NOVEM9 sections
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DE LINGVA LATINA7 sections
Vegetius1 work
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AENEID12 sections
ECLOGUES10 sections
GEORGICON4 sections
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DE ARCHITECTVRA10 sections
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Waltarius3 works
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HISTORIA RERUM IN PARTIBUS TRANSMARINIS GESTARUM24 sections
Xylander1 work
Zonaras1 work
CJ.3.25.0. In quibus causis militantes fori praescriptione uti non possunt.
CJ.3.26.0. Ubi causae fiscales vel divinae domus hominumque eius agantur.
CJ.3.27.0. Quando liceat sine iudice unicuique vindicare se vel publicam devotionem.
CJ.3.25.0. In which cases those in military service cannot use the prescription of forum.
CJ.3.26.0. Where fiscal causes or those of the Divine House and its people are to be litigated.
CJ.3.27.0. When it is permitted, without a judge, for anyone to vindicate himself or to carry out a public forfeiture.
Licet iudice accepto cum tutore tuo egisti, ipso iure actio tutelae sublata non est: et ideo si rursus eundem iudicem petieris, contra utilem exceptionem rei iudicatae, si de specie de qua agis in iudicio priore tractatum non esse adlegas, non inutiliter replicatione doli mali uteris. * sev. et ant.
Although, after an accepted judge, you have proceeded against your tutor, the guardianship action (actio tutelae) is not removed ipso iure; and therefore, if you again should request the same judge, then, against the useful exception of res judicata, if you allege that the specific matter about which you are litigating was not dealt with in the prior trial, you do not employ without effect the replication of dolus malus. * Severus and Antoninus.
Si, cum tibi pretium praediorum a curatoribus comparatorum reputaretur et instrumenta emptionis traderentur, quaestionem omissae evictionis non movisti, intellegis semel finitam litem instaurari non oportere. * alex. a. popilio.
If, when the price of the estates purchased by the curators was reckoned with you and the instruments of purchase were delivered, you did not raise the question of the omitted covenant of eviction, you understand that a suit once finished ought not to be reinstated. * alexander augustus to popilius.
Cum debitoris tui servum, tibi pignoris iure obligatum bona domini sui quondam rebus humanis exempti tenere profitearis, adversus eum dari tibi actiones contra ius postulas, si quidem inter servum et liberum consistere iudicium nullum possit. ad possessionem itaque pignorum magis officio iudicis venire te convenit quam illicita postulare. * diocl.
Since you profess that you hold the slave of your debtor—bound to you by the right of pledge—and the goods of his master, who formerly was removed from human affairs, you demand that actions be granted to you against him contrary to law, since indeed no suit can subsist between a slave and a free person. Therefore it is more fitting that you come into possession of the pledges by the judge’s office than to ask for unlawful things. * diocl.
Iudices oportet imprimis rei qualitatem plena inquisitione discutere et tunc utramque partem saepius interrogare, ne quid novi addere desiderent, cum hoc ipsum ad alterutram partem proficiat, sive definienda causa per iudicem sive ad maiorem potestatem referenda sit. * const. a. ad maximum.
Judges ought, first and foremost, to examine the quality of the matter by a full inquisition, and then to question each party more than once, lest they desire to add anything new, since this very thing may profit one party or the other, whether the case is to be decided by the judge or to be referred to a higher authority. * constitution to Maximus.
Nulli prorsus audientia praebeatur, qui causae continentiam dividit et ex beneficii praerogativa id, quod in uno eodemque iudicio poterat terminari, apud diversos iudices voluerit ventilare: poena ei ex officio iudicis imminente, qui contra hanc supplicaverit sanctionem atque alium super possessione alium super principali quaestione iudicem postulaverit. * const. a. ad severum pu. * <a 325 d. iii k. aug.
Let absolutely no hearing be afforded to anyone who divides the continuity of the cause and, under the prerogative of a beneficium, has wished to ventilate before different judges that which could have been terminated in one and the same judgment: with a penalty impending upon him by the office of the judge, who shall have petitioned against this sanction and shall have requested one judge over possession and another over the principal question. * a constitution to Severus, the Urban Prefect. *
Properandum nobis visum est, ne lites fiant paene immortales et vitae hominum modum excedant, cum criminales quidem causas iam nostra lex biennio conclusit et pecuniariae causae frequentiores sunt et saepe ipsae materiam criminibus creare noscuntur, praesentem legem super his orbi terrarum ponendam, nullis locorum vel temporum angustiis coartandam ponere. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. vi k. april.
It has seemed to us that we must make haste, lest lawsuits become almost immortal and exceed the measure of human life, since our law has already concluded criminal cases within 2 years, and pecuniary cases are more frequent and are often themselves known to create material for crimes; to set the present law concerning these matters for the whole world, to be constrained by no constraints of place or time. * Justinian Augustus to Julian, Praetorian Prefect. * <year 530, day 6 before the Kalends of April.
Censemus itaque omnes lites super pecuniis quantaecumque quantitatis, sive super condicionibus sive super iure civitatum seu privato fuerint illatae, super possessione vel dominio vel hypotheca seu servitutibus vel pro aliis quibusdam casibus, pro quibus hominibus contra se litigandum est, exceptis tantummodo causis, quae ad ius fiscale pertinent vel quae ad publicas respiciant functiones, non ultra triennii metas post litem contestatam esse protrahendas: sed omnes iudices , sive in hac alma urbe sive in provinciis maiorem seu minorem peragunt administrationem, sive in magistratibus positi sunt vel ex aula nostra dati vel a nostris proceribus delegati, non esse eis concedendum ulterius lites quam triennii spatio extendere. hoc etenim iudicialis magis esse potestatis nemo est qui ignoret: nam si ipsi voluerint, nullus tam audax invenitur, qui possit invito iudice litem protelare. <a 530 d. vi k. april.
We decree, therefore, that all lawsuits over monies of whatever quantity, whether they have been brought concerning conditions or concerning the law of communities or private law, concerning possession or ownership or hypothec or servitudes, or for certain other cases, for which people must litigate against one another, with only those cases excepted which pertain to the fiscal law or which have regard to public functions, are not to be prolonged beyond the limits of a three-year period after the suit has been joined: but that all judges , whether in this nurturing city or in the provinces they conduct a greater or lesser administration, whether they are placed in magistracies or appointed from our court or delegated by our nobles, are not to be allowed to extend lawsuits beyond the span of three years. For no one is ignorant that this belongs rather to judicial power: for if they themselves are willing, no one so audacious is found who can protract a suit with the judge unwilling. <a 530 on the 6th day before the Kalends of April.
Et si quidem pars actoris cessaverit, quatenus multiplici dilatione reus fatigetur, et triennii metae post litem contestatam iam prope finem veniant, ut semenstre tempus tantum ei supersit, licentia erit iudici per exsecutores negotii actorem requirere, parte fugiente ex una parte actoris absentiam incusante et iudicibus omnimodo suas aures huiusmodi quaestioni reserantibus: et si per tres vices hoc fuerit subsecutum, decem dierum spatio per unumquemque introitum destinato, et nec ita actoris pars fuerit inventa et neque per se neque per procuratorem instructum pervenerit, tunc iudicem negotii acta apud se confecta conspicere : <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And if indeed the plaintiff’s side has been remiss, to the extent that by multiple dilations the defendant is wearied, and the limits of three years after the joinder of issue now come near their end, so that only a half-year period remains to him, it shall be permitted to the judge, through the executors of the matter, to seek out the plaintiff, the other party complaining of the plaintiff’s absence, and the judges in every way opening their ears to a question of this kind: and if this has followed for three turns, with an interval of ten days assigned for each appearance, and not even so the plaintiff’s side has been found and has come neither in person nor provided through a procurator, then let the judge of the case inspect the acta drawn up before him: <a 530, on the 6th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople; Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Et si quidem nihil sufficiens actitatum est, ex quo possit termino causae certa fieri coniectura, non solum partem fugientem ab observatione iudicii relaxare, sed etiam in omnes expensas, quae consueto modo circa lites expenduntur, eum condemnare, vera quantitate earum sacramento fugientis manifestanda et omni cautela, quam super lite reus exposuit, reddenda: quae et si remanserit, viribus vacuabitur. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And if indeed nothing sufficient has been transacted, from which a certain conjecture could be made as to the terminus of the case, not only is it permitted to release the party fleeing from the observance of the judgment, but also to condemn him to all the expenses which in the customary manner are expended around lawsuits, the true amount of these being made manifest by the oath of the fugitive, and every security which the defendant has posted regarding the suit being returned: which, even if it should remain, will be emptied of force. <a 530 on the 6th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin autem ex gestis apud se habitis parte actoris minime inventa possit invenire viam, ex qua manifestum ei fiat, quid statuendum sit, et absente actore, si eum meliorem causam habere perspexerit, pro eo ferre sententiam non moretur et praesentem reum absenti actori condemnare, expensis tantummodo litis, quas reus legitime se expendisse iuraverit, condemnatione excipiendis, quia hanc poenam actori et meliorem causam habenti propter solam absentiae contumaciam imponimus. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, from the records held before him, with the plaintiff’s party not at all found, he can find a way by which it becomes manifest to him what ought to be decided, then even with the plaintiff absent, if he has perceived that he has the better cause, let him not delay to render judgment for him and to condemn the present defendant in favor of the absent plaintiff, with only the costs of the suit—which the defendant shall have sworn he has lawfully expended—being excepted from the condemnation, since we impose this penalty upon the plaintiff, even though having the better cause, on account of the mere contumacy of absence. <a 530, on March 27, at Constantinople, under Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men, consuls.>
Nullo penitus ei regressu ad eandem litem conservando: sed actor contumax cadat omnimodo lite, si reus absolvetur: sin vero aliqua condemnatio contra reum pro absente actore proferatur, quam forsitan non sufficientem sibi actor putaverit fugitivus, nullo modo iterum eandem litem resuscitare concedimus. et haec quidem poena actori fiat imposita. <a 530 d. vi k. april.
With no return whatsoever being preserved to him to the same lawsuit: but let the contumacious plaintiff in every way fall from the suit, if the defendant is absolved; but if indeed some condemnation is pronounced against the defendant on behalf of the absent plaintiff, which perhaps the runaway plaintiff deems not sufficient for himself, we in no way grant that he resuscitate the same suit again. And indeed let this penalty be imposed upon the plaintiff. <a 530, on the 6th day before the Kalends of April.
Sin autem reus afuerit et similis eius processerit requisitio, quemadmodum pro persona actoris ediximus, etiam absente eo eremodicium contrahatur et iudex, secundum quod veteribus legibus cautum est, ex una parte cum omni subtilitate causam requirat et, si obnoxius fuerit inventus, et contra absentem promere condemnationem non cesset, quae ad effectum perducatur: et per res et facultates fugientis victori satisfiat, sive ipse iudex ex sua iurisdictione hoc facere potest, sive per relationem ad maiorem iudicem hoc referatur et ex eo legitima via contra res contumacis aperiatur: nulla licentia ei vel alii personam eius solam praetendenti concedenda contradicendi, cum in possessionem ex huiusmodi causa actor mittitur: nec si reversus fuerit et voluerit fideiussiones dare et possessionem recuperare, audiatur: in huiusmodi etenim casibus omnem ei contradictionem excludimus. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if the defendant has been absent and a similar requisition shall proceed—as we have proclaimed concerning the person of the plaintiff—let even with him absent a default-trial (eremodicium) be held; and let the judge, according to what is provided by the ancient laws, inquire into the cause ex parte with all exactness; and, if he be found liable, let him not cease to pronounce a condemnation even against the absent party, which shall be brought to effect: and let satisfaction be made to the victor out of the goods and resources of the fugitive, whether the judge himself can do this from his own jurisdiction, or it be reported by relation to a higher judge and from him a lawful way be opened against the property of the contumacious: no license of contradiction is to be granted to him, nor to another alleging only his person, when the plaintiff is put into possession from a cause of this kind: nor, if he should return and wish to give sureties and to recover possession, is he to be heard; for in cases of this sort we exclude all contradiction on his part. <a 530, on the 6th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, in the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Cum autem eremodicium ventilatur sive pro actore sive pro reo, examinatione sine ullo obstaculo celebretur. cum enim terribiles in medio proponuntur scripturae, litigatoris absentia dei praesentia repletur, nec pertimescat iudex appellationis obstaculum, cum ei, qui contumaciter abesse noscitur, nulla est provocationis licentia, quod et in veteribus legibus esse statutum manifestissimi iuris est. <a 530 d. vi k. april.
However, when an eremodicium (default-judgment) is ventilated, whether for the plaintiff or for the defendant, let the examination be celebrated without any obstacle. For when the awe-inspiring Scriptures are set forth in the midst, the absence of the litigant is filled by the presence of God; nor let the judge dread the obstacle of an appeal, since for him who is known to be absent contumaciously there is no license of appeal—which also is established in the ancient laws, a matter of most manifest right. <a 530 d. vi k. april.
Huiusmodi autem sententia prope finem triennii proferatur, pro quo et praesentem legem induximus. si enim in anteriore tempore, in quo larga temporis superest dilatio et spes absenti relicta fuerit revertendi, alterutra pars cessaverit, in sola expensarum datione et absolutione forsitan praestetur poenalis sententia, non autem tunc mors litis et condemnatio in absentem introducatur, quae in his tantummodo casibus accidunt, in quibus triennii effluentis imminet formido. <a 530 d. vi k. april.
But let a sentence of this kind be pronounced near the end of the three‑year period, for the sake of which we have also introduced the present law. For if at an earlier time, in which a large dilatio of time remains and hope has been left to the absent party of returning, either party has defaulted, perhaps a penal sentence should be rendered only in the awarding of expenses and a dismissal, but let not then the death of the suit and a condemnation in absentia be introduced, which occur only in those cases in which the fear of the expiring three‑year period is imminent. <a 530 d. 6 k. april.
Sive autem alterutra parte absente sive utraque praesente lis fuerit decisa, omnes iudices, qui sub imperio nostro constituti sunt, sciant in expensarum causa victum victori esse condemnandum, quantum pro solitis expensis litium iuraverit, non ignorantes, quod, si hoc praetermiserint, ipsi de proprio huiusmodi poenae subiacebunt et reddere eam parti laesae coartabuntur. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Whether, moreover, the suit has been decided with either party absent or with both present, let all judges who are established under our imperium know that, in the matter of expenses, the defeated is to be condemned to the victor, in as much as the victor shall have sworn for the customary expenses of litigation, not being ignorant that, if they omit this, they themselves will be liable from their own property to a penalty of this kind and will be constrained to pay it to the injured party. <a in the year 530, on the sixth day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, under Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin autem utraque parte imminente et litem peragere cupiente iudex eam accipere noluerit vel propter amicitias vel inimicitias vel turpissimi lucri gratia vel per aliud quicquam vitium, quod miserrimis animis huiusmodi iudicum innasci potest, litem ipse ausus fuerit protelare et propter hoc triennium fuerit transactum, iudex, si quidem in magistratu positus est vel in maiore dignitate usque ad illustratus gradum, decem libras auri privatis nostris largitionibus inferre per scholam palatinam compellatur: sin autem iudex minor fuerit, trium librarum auri multa plectetur per eandem scholam exigenda et nostro aerario applicanda, et eo removendo alter iudex in locum eius subrogetur sub similis poenae formidine: his omnibus locum habentibus, cum unus iudex omnem causam ab initio peragat. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, with both parties pressing and eager to prosecute the suit, the judge should be unwilling to accept it—either on account of friendships or enmities or for the sake of most shameful lucre, or through any other vice which can spring up in the most wretched souls of judges of this sort—and he himself has dared to prolong the suit, and on account of this a three-year period has elapsed, the judge—if indeed he is in magistracy or in a higher dignity up to the grade of Illustris—shall be compelled, through the Palatine School, to pay ten pounds of gold into our Private Largesses; but if the judge is of lower rank, he shall be punished with a fine of three pounds of gold, to be exacted through the same School and applied to our treasury, and upon his removal another judge shall be substituted in his place under fear of a like penalty: all these provisions having place, since one judge shall conduct the whole case from the beginning. <a 530, on the 6th day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, under Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin autem in medio triennio vel morte iudicis vel alia inrecusabili occasione iudicium fuerit mutatum, tunc, si quidem ex triennio annale tempus vel amplius residet, in quo alius iudex causae imponitur, intra reliquum tempus causa finiatur: sin autem minus quam annale sit, tunc omne quod deest repleatur, ut non in minore perfecti anni tempore litem possit subrogatus iudex tam discutere quam terminare. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, in the middle of the three-year period, the court has been changed either by the death of the judge or by another unrecusable occasion, then, if indeed from the triennium an annual term or more remains, in which another judge is imposed upon the case, within the remaining time the case shall be finished; but if it be less than an annual term, then all that is lacking shall be replenished, so that not in less than the time of a complete year may the subrogated judge be able both to discuss and to terminate the suit. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Illo procul dubio observando, ut, si neque per alterutram litigantium partem vel per iudicem steterit, quominus lis suo marte decurrat, sed per patronos causarum, licentia detur iudici et eos duarum librarum auri poena adficere per scholam palatinam exigenda et similiter publicis rationibus adgregenda, ipso videlicet iudice in sua sententia hoc ipsum manifestante, quod per patronos causae vel fugientis vel agentis dilatio facta est vel per omnes vel quosdem ex his: necessitate advocatis imponenda, ex quo litem peragendam susceperint, eam usque ad terminum, nisi lex vel iusta causa impediat, adimplere, ne ex eius recusatione fiat causae dilatio: honorariis scilicet a clientibus, qui dare possint, disertissimis togatis omnimodo praestandis et, si cessaverint, per exsecutores negotiorum exigendis, ne et per huiusmodi machinationem causae merita protrahantur, nisi i pse litigator alium pro alio patronum eligere maluerit. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
With this to be observed beyond doubt: that, if it has not stood either by either party of the litigants or by the judge, so as to prevent the suit from running its course by its own momentum, but by the patrons (advocates) of the causes, license is given to the judge also to afflict them with a penalty of two pounds of gold, to be exacted through the Palatine school and similarly aggregated to the public accounts—the judge himself, namely, in his own sentence manifesting this very thing, that a delay was made by the patrons of the cause, whether of the defendant or of the plaintiff, either by all or by some of them; a necessity being imposed upon advocates that, from the time they have undertaken a suit to be carried through, they fulfill it up to the end, unless the law or a just cause hinders, lest from their refusal there be a delay of the cause; fees (honoraria), namely, to be in every way provided by clients, who are able to give, to the most eloquent wearers of the toga, and, if they have defaulted, to be exacted through the executors of business, lest also by a machination of this kind the merits of the causes be protracted—unless the litigant himself should prefer to choose another patron in place of another. <a 530, on March 27, at Constantinople, under Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sin vero causae vel pupillorum vel adultorum sint vel aliorum sub cura agentium masculorum vel feminarum, ut per tutores vel curatores vel actores vel procuratores eorum agantur, et eorum desidia triennium fuerit elapsum et causa ceciderint, litem quidem nihilo minus suum habere vigorem, omnem autem iacturam, quae ex hac causa oritur, ad tutores et curatores et fideiussores eorum heredesque et res eorum et omnes, quorum in hac causa legitime interest, redundare: sin autem non sufficiat pupillis vel minoribus eorum substantia, tunc in quo fuerint detrimentum perpessi, in integrum restitutionis auxilium eis superesse. <a 530 d. vi k. april. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if the cases are either of wards or of adults, or of other males or females acting under cura, so that they are conducted through their tutors or curators or actors or procurators, and through their neglect a triennium has elapsed and the cases have fallen, the lawsuit nevertheless is to have its own vigor none the less, but every loss which arises from this cause is to rebound upon the tutors and curators and their fideiussors (sureties) and their heirs and property, and upon all whose legitimate interest is engaged in this matter: but if the substance of the wards or of the minors is not sufficient, then, to the extent in which they have suffered detriment, the aid of restitution in integrum remains to them. <a 530, on the sixth day before the Kalends of April, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Rem non novam neque insolitam adgredimur, sed antiquis quidem legislatoribus placitam, cum vero contempta sit, non leve detrimentum causis inferentem. cui enim non est cognitum antiquos iudices non aliter iudicialem calculum accipere, nisi prius sacramentum praestitissent omnimodo sese cum veritate et legum observatione iudicium esse disposituros? * iust.
We are undertaking a matter not new nor unusual, but one approved by the ancient legislators; yet, since it has been scorned, it brings no slight detriment to cases. For to whom is it not known that the ancient judges would not otherwise take up the judicial ballot, unless they had first given an oath that they would in every way conduct the judgment with truth and with observance of the laws? * iust.
Cum igitur et viam non inusitatem invenimus ambulandam et anteriores leges nostrae, quae de iuramentis positae sunt, non minimam suae utilitatis experientiam litigantibus praebuerunt et ideo ab omnibus merito collaudantur, ad hanc in perpetuum valituram legem pervenimus, per quam sancimus omnes iudices sive maiores sive minores, sive qui in administrationibus positi sunt vel in hac regia civitate vel in orbe terrarum, qui nostris gubernaculis regitur, sive eos, quibus nos audientiam committimus vel qui a maioribus iudicibus dantur vel qui ex iurisdi ctione sua iudicandi habent facultatem vel qui ex recepto ( id est compromisso, quod iudicium imitatur) causa dirimendas suscipiunt vel qui arbitrium peragunt vel ex auctoritate sententiarum et partium consensu electi, et generaliter omnes omnino iudices romani iuris disceptatores non aliter litium primordium accipere , nisi prius ante iudicialem sedem sacrosanctae deponantur scripturae: et hoc permaneat non solum in principio litis, sed etiam in omnibus cognitionibus usque ad ipsum terminum et definitivae sententiae recitationem. <a 530 d. iiii k. april. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Therefore, since we have found a way not unaccustomed to be walked, and our prior laws, which are set concerning oaths, have afforded to litigants no small experience of their utility and are therefore deservedly praised by all, we have come to this law to be valid in perpetuity, by which we sanction that all judges, whether greater or lesser, whether those placed in administrations either in this royal city or in the orb of lands which is governed by our helms, or those to whom we commit an audience, or who are given by the greater judges, or who from their own jurisdi ction have the faculty of judging, or who from a receptum ( id est a compromissum, which imitates a judicial proceeding) undertake causes to be decided, or who carry out an arbitrium, or who, by authority of judgments and with the consent of the parties, are elected, and, generally, absolutely all judges, adjudicators of Roman law, are not otherwise to accept the inception of lawsuits, unless first before the judicial seat the sacrosanct writings are deposited: and let this remain not only at the beginning of the suit, but also in all hearings up to the very end and the recitation of the definitive sentence. <a in the year 530, on the fourth day before the Kalends of April, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sic etenim attendentes ad sacrosanctas scripturas et dei praesentia consecrati ex maiore praesidio lites diriment scituri, quod non magis alios iudicant, quam ipsi iudicantur, cum etiam ipsis magis quam partibus terribile iudicium est, si litigatores quidem sub hominibus, ipsi autem deo inspectore adhibito causas perferunt trutinandas. <a 530 d. iiii k. april. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Thus indeed, by attending to the sacrosanct Scriptures and, consecrated by the presence of God, they will resolve suits with greater presídium, knowing that they do not judge others more than they themselves are judged, since the judgment is more terrible for them than for the parties: for if the litigants indeed present their causes to be weighed under men, they themselves conduct them with God employed as inspector. <a 530 d. iiii k. april. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Patroni autem causarum, qui utrique parti suum praestantes ingrediuntur auxilium , cum lis fuerit contestata, post narrationem propositam et contradictionem obiectam in qualicumque iudicio maiore seu minore vel apud arbitros sive ex compromisso vel aliter datos vel electos sacrosanctis evangeliis tactis iuramentum praestent, quod omni quidem virtute sua omnique ope quod iustum et verum existimaverint clientibus suis inferre procurent, nihil studii relinquentes, quod sibi possibile est, non autem credita sibi causa cognita, quod improba sit vel penitus desperata et ex mendacibus adlegationibus composita, ipsi scientes prudentesque mala conscientia liti patrocinantur, sed et si certamine procedente aliquid tale sibi cognitum fuerit, a causa recedant ab huiusmodi communione sese penitus separantes: hocque subsecuto nulla licentia concedatur spreto litigatori ad alterius advocati patrocinium convolare, ne melioribus contemptis improba advocatio subrogetur. <a 530 d. iiii k. april. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But the patrons/advocates of causes, who, rendering their own aid, enter for either party, when the lawsuit has been joined, after the narration has been set forth and the contradiction has been objected, in whatever court, greater or lesser, or before arbiters either from a compromissum or otherwise given or chosen, with the sacrosanct Gospels touched let them take an oath, that with all indeed their virtue and with every help they will endeavor to bring to their clients what they have judged to be just and true, leaving behind no zeal that is possible for them, but not, however, when the cause entrusted to them, once known, is depraved or utterly desperate and composed from mendacious allegations, to lend advocacy to the suit, themselves knowingly and advisedly with evil conscience; and even if, as the contest advances, something of the sort becomes known to them, let them withdraw from the cause, wholly separating themselves from such communion: and this having followed, let no license be granted to the litigant, when spurned, to fly to the patronage of another advocate, lest, the better being despised, an improper advocacy be substituted. <a 530 d. iiii k. april. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Sin autem plurimis patronis adhibitis et iuramento ab omnibus praestito quidam ex his causa procedente patrocinandum esse crediderint, quidam recusaverint, exeant quidem recusantes, volentes autem remaneant: causae etenim terminus manifestare poterit, qui timidius quique audacius iudicium vel reliquerint vel protulerint: nec in hac parte litigatoribus danda licentia alios pro recusantibus subrogare. <a 530 d. iiii k. april. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But if, however, with very many patrons engaged and an oath taken by all, some of them, as the case proceeds, should think that they must give patronage, while some should refuse, let those refusing indeed withdraw, but let those willing remain: for the conclusion of the case will be able to make manifest who more timidly and who more boldly have either abandoned or advanced the judgment; nor in this part is license to be given to litigants to substitute others in place of the refusers. <a 530, on the 4th day before the Kalends of April, under Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sancimus omnes iudices sive in hac florentissima civitate sive in provinciis, si quando absens persona citata postea apparuerit, non aliter ei iudicialem aditum revelare, sed omnem claudere ei iudiciorum copiam, nisi prius omnia damna restituat ex huiusmodi vitio adversariis eius inflicta sive circa ingressus litis sive circa honoraria advocatorum vel alias causa, quae in iudicio vertuntur: aestimatione iudices quantitate eorum definienda, postquam iuratum ab eo fuerit qui fecit expensas: exsecutoribus negotiorum modis omnibus dispositones eorum adimplentibus: scituris iudicibus nostris et exsecutoribus, quod, si hoc praetermiserint, ex sua substantia huiusmodi detrimentum laesis resarcire compellantur. quod et in pedaneis iudicibus observari censemus, licet non citati, sed requisiti litigatores mala conscientia afuerint. * iust.
We sanction that all judges, whether in this most flourishing city or in the provinces, if ever a person cited while absent should later appear, are not otherwise to afford him access to the court, but to close to him all resort to legal proceedings, unless first he restore all damages inflicted upon his adversaries from such fault, whether concerning the entries of the suit or the honoraria of advocates or other matters that are in litigation: the estimation, with the judges defining the amount thereof, after an oath has been sworn by him who made the expenses; with the executors of the matters in every way fulfilling their dispositions: our judges and executors being made to know that, if they neglect this, they shall be compelled out of their own substance to make good such loss to the injured. Which we also judge must be observed with the petty judges, although the litigants, not cited but required, have been absent in bad conscience. * iust.
Apertissimi iuris est licere litigatoribus iudices, antequam lis inchoetur, recusare, cum etiam ex generalibus formis sublimissimae tuae sedis statutum est necessitatem imponi iudice recusato partibus ad eligendos venire arbitros et sub audientia eorum sua iura proponere. licet enim ex imperiali numine iudex delegatus est, tamen quia sine suspicione omnes lites procedere nobis cordis est, liceat ei, qui suspectum iudicem putat, antequam lis inchoetur, eum recusare, ut ad alium curratur libello recusationis ei porrecto, cum post litem contestatam neque appellare posse ante definitivam sententiam iam statuimus neque recusare posse, ne lites in infinitum extendantur: eodem scilicet exsecutore necessitatem partibus per ordinarium iudicem et omne civile auxilium imponente et arbitros eligere et apud eos venire et sic lite apparente, quasi arbitri fuerint ab imper iali culmine delegati. quod et, si ab imperiali maiestate iudex delegatus non sit, sed ab alio culmine, obtinere censemus.
It is most manifest in law that it is permitted to litigants to recuse judges before the suit is initiated, since even by the general forms of your most exalted seat it has been established that, once the judge is recused, necessity is imposed upon the parties to come to choose arbiters and, under their audience, to set forth their rights. For although by imperial numen a judge has been delegated, nevertheless, since it is at our heart that all lawsuits proceed without suspicion, let it be permitted to him who deems the judge suspect, before the suit is initiated, to recuse him, so that recourse may be had to another, the libellus of recusation having been presented to him; since after the suit has been contested we have already established that one can neither appeal before the definitive sentence nor recuse, lest suits be extended to infinity: with the same executor, namely, imposing upon the parties, through the ordinary judge and every civil aid, the necessity both to choose arbiters and to come before them, and the suit thus proceeding as though the arbiters had been delegated by the imperial summit. And we judge that this likewise holds if the judge has not been delegated by imperial majesty, but by another summit.
Certi iuris est, quod concessa est militaribus hominibus iudicandi facultas. quid enim obstaculi est homines, qui cuiusdam rei peritiam habent, de ea iudicare? cum scimus et militares magistratus et omnes tales homines per usum cottidianum iam esse approbatos, ut et audiant lites et eas dirimant et pro sui et legis scientia huiusmodi altercationibus fines imponant.
It is settled law that the faculty of judging has been granted to military men. For what obstacle is there to men who have expertise in a certain matter judging about it? Since we know that both military magistrates and all such men, through quotidian practice, are now approved to the extent that they both hear suits and resolve them, and, in accordance with their own knowledge and that of the law, impose limits upon altercations of this kind.
Cum specialis iudex sive ab augusta fortuna sive ab iudiciali culmine in aliqua provincia, ubi incusatus degit, datus sit et una pars suspectum eum sibi esse dicit, ne forsitan absente persona iudicis et in alia civitate eiusdem provinciae commorante compellatur longo itinere emenso recusationis libellum ei incusatus offerre, sancimus, si quidem praesto est praeses provinciae in illa civitate, ubi de ea re dubitatur, licere ei, qui suspectum sibi esse iudicem dicit, ipsum praesidem adire et hoc facere in actis manifestum: sin autem non est moderator provinciae in praefato loco, haec eadem apud defensorem locorum vel duumviros municipales gestis apud eos habitis celebrare et iudicem quidem eum recusare, il ico autem, id est intra triduum proximum, sine ulla dilatione compelli arbitrum vel arbitros eligere et apud eos litigare, ne et datus iudex removeatur et alter non eligatur: electione videlicet arbitri, si variatum inter partes fuerit, simili modo vel praesidis provinciae, si adest, vel defensoris locorum vel magistratuum municipii arbitrio dirimenda et exsecutore negotii, cui mandata est huiusmodi causae exactio, imminente et statuta ab arbitris effectui mancipante, nisi fuerit provocatum. tunc enim ipse, qui iudicem antea dedit qui suspectus visus est, appellatione trutinata formam causae imponat legitimam. * iust.
When a special judge, whether by august Fortune or by judicial eminence, has been assigned in some province where the accused resides, and one party says that he is suspect to him, lest perhaps, with the person of the judge absent and residing in another city of the same province, the accused be compelled, after a long journey, to present to him a libellus of recusation, we ordain: if indeed the governor of the province is present in that city where the matter is in doubt, it is permitted to the one who says the judge is suspect to approach the governor himself and make this manifest in the acts; but if the moderator of the province is not in the aforesaid place, to accomplish these same things before the defender of the localities or the municipal duumvirs, with proceedings held before them, and indeed to recuse that judge, but immediately, that is, within the next three days, to be compelled without any delay to choose an arbiter or arbiters and to litigate before them, lest both the appointed judge be removed and another not be chosen: the selection, namely, of the arbiter—if there has been variance between the parties—being resolved in like manner by the decision either of the governor of the province, if he is present, or of the defender of the localities or of the magistrates of the municipium, and with the executor of the matter, to whom the enforcement of a cause of this sort has been entrusted, pressing on and delivering to effect the determinations set by the arbiters, unless there has been an appeal. For then that same person who previously appointed the judge who seemed suspect, the appeal having been weighed, shall impose a lawful form upon the case. * iust.
Cum ex causa fideicommissi secundum decretum praetoris in libertate morati sitis , filios etiam susceperitis, quamvis postea domini vestri testamentum inofficiosum sit pronuntiatum agente filio, non est aequum fieri vobis libertatis quaestionem. * idem aa. sotericho et aliis. * <a 208 pp. vi id. mart.
Since, on account of a fideicommiss, in accordance with the praetor’s decree, you have remained in liberty , and have even acknowledged sons, although afterwards your master’s inofficious testament was pronounced at the suit of the son, it is not equitable that a question of liberty be raised against you. * The same Augusti to Soterichus and others. * <in the year 208 pp. 6th day before the Ides of March.
Quisquis fuerit exhibitus, usque ad negotii terminum ab eo apparitore, cui primum traditus fuit, observari eum decernimus: si qua praesumptione fuerit haec mansuetudinis nostrae posthabita praeceptio, primiscrinio qui iussa temeraverit quinque librarum auri condemnatione multando. * grat. valentin.
Whoever shall have been produced, we decree that he be kept under observation until the termination of the business by that apparitor to whom he was first delivered: if by any presumption this precept of our clemency shall have been set aside, punishing with a condemnation of five pounds of gold the primiscrinius who has rashly violated the orders. * Gratian, Valentinian.
Omnibus iudicibus licentiam praestamus, sive his, quibus a nostro numine lites mandantur, illustribus vel spectabilibus vel clarissimis vel togatis fori cuiusque praefecturae vel aliis quibusdam, vel his, qui ex nostris iudicibus delegandas lites accipiunt, exsecutores si cessaverint causas eis instructas offerre, et removere ab exsecutione eos et alios idoneos supponere vel etiam multis adficere, sed si quidem illustres sint iudices, usque ad sex solidorum summam, sin autem alii, usque ad tres tantummodo aureos, et ad iudices quorum interest referre, quatenus militia exuti poenas luant corporales. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. v k. april.
we grant license to all judges, whether to those to whom suits are entrusted by our numen—illustrious or spectabiles or clarissimi or the togati of the forum of each prefecture or certain others—or to those who from our judges receive suits to be delegated, that, if the executors have been remiss in presenting the cases prepared for them, they may both remove them from execution and substitute others suitable, or even mulct them; and if indeed the judges be illustres, up to the sum of six solidi, but if others, up to only three aurei; and to report to the judges whom it concerns, to the end that, stripped of the militia, they may pay corporal penalties. * justinian augustus to julian, praetorian prefect. * <a 530 on the 5th day before the kalends of april.
Nostris autem amplissimis iudicibus licentia sit et maiores poenas et corporales maculas exsecutoribus imponere, si male fuerint circa lites versati, ut sciant non esse causas a se deludendas nec lucri gratia aliquod eis vitium imponendum. <a 530 d. v k. april. lampadio et oreste conss.>
Moreover, let it be permitted to our most ample judges to impose both greater penalties and corporal marks upon the enforcement officers, if they have conducted themselves badly in regard to lawsuits, so that they may know that cases are not to be trifled with by them, nor is any fault to be fastened upon the parties for the sake of gain. <a 530 on the 5th day before the Kalends of April, under the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes.>
Procuratori nostro non vice praesidis agenti dandi iudices inter privatas personas non competere facultatem manifestum est: et ideo si, ut adlegatis, inter privatas personas is cuius meministis arbitros dandos putavit, sententia ab eis prolata nullo iure subsistit. * gord. a. vicanis.
It is manifest that to our procurator, not acting in the stead of the governor, the faculty of appointing judges between private persons does not belong; and therefore, if, as you allege, between private persons the one whom you mention thought that arbiters were to be appointed, the sentence pronounced by them has no standing in law. * gordian augustus to the villagers.
Placet nobis praesides de his causis, in quibus, quod ipsi non possent cognoscere, antehac pedaneos iudices dabant, notionis suae examen adhibere, ita tamen ut , si vel per occupationes publicas vel propter causarum multitudinem omnia huiusmodi negotia non potuerint cognoscere, iudices dandi habeant potestatem. * diocl. et maxim.
It pleases us that governors, in those cases in which, because they themselves could not take cognizance, they previously appointed pedaneal judges, apply the examination of their own cognizance, yet in such a way that , if either through public occupations or on account of the multitude of cases they are not able to take cognizance of all business of this kind, they shall have the power of appointing judges. * Diocletian and Maximian.
( quod non ita accipi convenit, ut etiam in his causis, in quibus solebant ex officio suo cognoscere, dandi iudices licentia permissa credatur: quod usque adeo in praesidum cognitione retinendum est, ut eorum iudicia non deminuta videantur): dum tamen de ingenuitate, super qua poterant et ante cognoscere, et de libertinitate praesides ipsi diiudicent. <a 294 d. xv k. aug. cc. conss.>
( which it is not proper to take in such a way that even in those causes in which they were accustomed to take cognizance by their own office a license of assigning judges should be thought to have been permitted: and this is to be retained to such an extent within the governors’ cognition that their judgments may not seem diminished): provided, however, that concerning freeborn status, about which they could even before take cognizance, and concerning freedman status, the governors themselves shall adjudge. <a 294, on the 15th day before the Kalends of August, the Caesars being consuls.>
Placet, ut iudicibus, si quos gravitas tua disceptatores dederit, insinues, ut delegata sibi negotia lata sententia determinent: nec in his causis, in quibus pronuntiare debent et possunt, facultatem sibi remittendi patere ad iudicium praesidale cognoscant, maxime cum, et si iudicatio alicui litigatorum parti iniusta videatur, interponendae provocationis potestas a sententia ex omni causa prolata libera litigatoribus tribuatur. * diocl. et maxim.
It is our pleasure that you instruct the judges, if your authority shall have given any as arbitrators, to determine the matters delegated to them by a pronounced sentence; and that, in those causes in which they ought and are able to pronounce, they should understand that the faculty of remitting the matter to the praesidial judgment is not open to them—especially since, even if the adjudication should seem unjust to either party of the litigants, the power of interposing an appeal from a sentence delivered in any cause is freely granted to the litigants. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Placuit, quotiens pedanei iudices dati post litem contestatam vel ad aliud iudicium necessario dirigantur vel publicae utilitatis ratione in alias provincias profiscantur vel diem obierint atque his rationibus negotiis coeptis finis non possit adhiberi, alium in locum eorum iudicem tribui qui negotium examinet, ne eiusmodi casibus intervenientibus impedimentum aliquod in persequendis litibus adferatur. * diocl. et maxim.
It has been decreed that, whenever pedanei judges who have been appointed, after the suit has been contested, are either of necessity directed to another court, or by reason of public utility set out to other provinces, or have met their day, and for these reasons an end cannot be applied to the business begun, another judge is to be assigned in their place to examine the matter, lest, with such cases intervening, any impediment be brought to bear in prosecuting suits. * diocl. and maxim.
Quaedam sunt negotia, in quibus superfluum est moderatorem expectare provinciae: ideoque pedaneos iudices, hoc est qui negotia humiliora disceptent, constituendi damus praesidibus potestatem. * iul. a. secundo pp. * <a 362 d. v k. aug.
There are certain matters in which it is superfluous to wait for the administrator of the province: and therefore we grant to the governors the power of appointing pedanei judges, that is, those who adjudicate humbler matters. * Julian the Augustus, publicly posted for the second time. * <a 362, on the 5th day before the Kalends of August.
Quod si quis alienae iurisdictionis causam crediderit delegandam, nec praecepto cognitorem datum parientiam accomodare censemus et, contra leges obtemperaverit deleganti, omnia, quae ab ea delegatione geruntur, ita pro infectis haberi praecipimus, ac si ipsi qui delegaverant alienae iurisdictionis iudices resedissent, ut nec appellandi quidem necessitas victis adversus eas sententias imponatur. <a 440 d. xiii k. iun. valentiniano a. v et anatolio conss.>
But if anyone has believed that a case of foreign jurisdiction ought to be delegated, we do not deem obedience to be given to a precept by which a cognitor is appointed; and if, contrary to the laws, he has obeyed the delegator, we order that everything transacted by that delegation be held as undone, just as if those who had delegated had themselves sat as judges of foreign jurisdiction, so that not even the necessity of appealing is imposed upon the defeated against those sentences. <a year 440, day 13 before the Kalends of June, in the consulships of Valentinian Augustus 5 and Anatolius.>
Haec, nisi iudices a nobis specialiter delegantibus dati aliis causas delegaverint iudicandas: nam his delegantibus nullo personarum causarumve habito tractatu appellationum ad eos iure iudicia remeabunt. <a 440 d. xiii k. iun. valentiniano a. v et anatolio conss.>
These provisions, unless the judges given by us as special delegators have delegated the cases to others for adjudication: for when these act as delegators, with no discussion held of appeals concerning persons or causes, the proceedings will by right return to them. <a 440 d. 13 k. Kalends of June, Valentinian, in his 5th year as Augustus, and Anatolius, consuls.>
In rebus, quae privati iudicii quaestionem habent, sicut pupillus tutore auctore et agere et conveniri potest, ita et adultus curatore consentiente litem et intendere et excipere debet. * diocl. et maxim.
In matters that involve the question of a private action, just as a pupil, with his tutor authorizing, can both bring an action and be convened (sued), so too an adult, with the curator consenting, ought both to institute the suit (to intend it) and to plead a defense (an exception). * diocl. and maxim.
Momentariae possessionis actio exerceri potest per quamcumque personam. sub colore autem adipiscendae possessionis obrepticia petitio alteri obesse non debet, maxime cum absque conventione personae legitimae initiatum iurgium videatur. nihil autem opituletur conventio circa minorem habita, cum id rectius circa curatorem debuerit custodiri.
The action of momentary possession can be exercised by any person whatsoever. But under the color of acquiring possession, a surreptitious petition ought not to prejudice another, especially since the litigation seems to have been initiated without the convening of the lawful person. Nor does an agreement had concerning a minor avail at all, since that ought more properly to be observed with respect to the curator.
Adite praesidem provinciae et ruptum esse testamentum fabii praesentis agnatione filii docete. neque enim impedit notionem eius, quod status quaestio in cognitione vertitur, etsi super causa status cognoscere non possit: pertinet enim ad officium iudicis qui de hereditate cognoscit universam incidentem quaestionem quae in iudicium devocatur examinare, quoniam non de ea, sed de hereditate pronuntiat. * sev.
Approach the governor of the province and show that the testament of Fabius has been ruptured by the agnation of a son now present. For it does not impede his cognizance that a status-question is involved in the cognition, even if he cannot adjudge concerning the cause of status: for it pertains to the office of the judge who is hearing about the inheritance to examine the whole incidental question that is called into judgment, since he does not pronounce upon that, but upon the inheritance. * sev.
Si quaestio tibi generis ab his, quos fratres patrueles esse dicis, non fit, adito praeside et accepto iudice familiae erciscundae experire. quod si de ea re quaestio erit, prius de nativitatis veritate secundum iuris formam quaeri idem vir clarissimus curae habebit. * ant.
If an inquiry into your lineage is not being made by those whom you say are paternal cousins, approach the governor, and, with a judge for the partition of the inheritance appointed, proceed with the action. But if there will be a question about that matter, the same most distinguished man will take care that first, according to the form of law, inquiry be made into the truth of the birth. * ant.
Quoniam civili quaestione intermissa saepe fit, ut prius de crimine iudicetur, quod utpote maius merito minori praefertur: ex quo criminalis quaestio quocumque modo cessaverit, oportet civilem causam velut ex integro in iudicium deductam discingi, ut finis criminalis negotii ex eo die, quo inter partes fuerit lata sententia, initium civili tribuat quaestioni. * constant. a. ad calpurnianum.
Since, the civil question having been intermitted, it often happens that judgment is first rendered on the crime, which, as the greater, is deservedly preferred to the lesser: when the criminal question has in whatever way ceased, the civil cause ought to be disentangled as if brought afresh into judgment, so that the end of the criminal business, from the day on which sentence has been delivered between the parties, may grant a beginning to the civil question. * Constantine, Augustus, to Calpurnianus.
Res in iudicium deducta non videtur, si tantum postulatio simplex celebrata sit vel actionis species ante iudicium reo cognita. inter litem enim contestatam et editam actionem permultum interest. lis enim tunc videtur contestata, cum iudex per narrationem negotii causam audire coeperit.
A matter is not deemed brought into judgment, if only a simple petition has been celebrated, or the species (form) of an action has been made known to the defendant before the trial. For between a contested suit and a published (set‑forth) action there is very great difference. For a suit is then deemed “contested” when the judge has begun to hear the cause through the narration of the business.
Odiosas contrahentium calliditates amputare properantes censemus, ut, si quis certa quantitate sibimet debita super ampliore pecunia per dolum et machinationem cautionem exegerit et ad iudicium debitorem vocaverit, si quidem ante inchoatam litem calliditatis eum paeniteat et veritatem debiti confessus fuerit, nullo eum dispendio praegravari: sin autem et liti praebuit exordium et in certaminibus negotii permanens arguatur de adiecta falsi quantitate, non solum ea, sed etiam toto debito eum fraudari: transactionibus scilicet et secundis confessionibus, sive insinuatae sint sive non, etiam in hoc casu suam obtinentibus firmitatem: talibus etenim cautionibus hoc obicere non oportet. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 532 d. xv k. nov.
Hastening to amputate the odious craftinesses of contracting parties, we decree that, if someone, for a fixed amount owed to himself, has exacted a bond for a larger sum through fraud and machination and has summoned the debtor to judgment, if indeed before the suit is begun he repents of his trickery and, having confessed the truth of the debt, he should not be overburdened with any loss: but if he both has given the suit its exordium and, remaining in the contests of the business, is convicted concerning the added false amount, he is to be deprived not only of that, but even of the whole debt: settlements, namely, and subsequent confessions, whether they have been insinuated or not, also in this case obtaining their own firmness; for it is not proper to object this against such bonds. * Justinian Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <in the year 532, on the 15th day before the Kalends of November.>
Quod hac ratione arbitramur esse moderandum, ut, si ex ea provincia ubi lis agitur vel persona vel instrumenta poscentur, non amplius quam tres menses indulgeantur: si vero ex continentibus provinciis, sex menses custodiri iustitiae est: in transmarina autem dilatione novem menses computari oportebit. <a 294 d. xv k. april. cc. conss.>
We consider that this ought to be regulated in this manner: if from that province where the suit is being conducted either the person or the documents are required, no more than three months shall be allowed; but if from contiguous provinces, it accords with justice that six months be observed; however, in an overseas postponement, nine months ought to be computed. <a 294 d. 15 k. april. cc. conss.>
Quod ita constitutum iudicantes sentire debebunt, ut hac ratione non sibi concessum intellegant dandae dilationis arbitrium, sed eandem dilationem, si rerum urguentissima ratio flagitaverit et necessitas desideratae instructionis exegerit , non facile amplius quam semel nec ulla trahendi arte sciant esse tribuendam. <a 294 d. xv k. april. cc. conss.>
What has been constituted thus judges ought to apprehend, namely, that by this rule they should understand that the discretion of granting a dilation is not conceded to them, but that the same dilation, if the most urgent reason of the matters shall have demanded it and the necessity of the desired instruction shall have required it , is not readily to be granted more than once, and that by no art of dragging-out should they know it is to be bestowed. <a 294 d. 15 k. april. cc. conss.>
Si quando quis rescriptum ad extraordinarium iudicem reportaverit, dilatio ei penitus deneganda est: illi autem, qui in iudicium vocatur, danda est ad probanda precum mendacia vel proferenda aliqua instrumenta vel testes, quoniam instructus esse non potuit, si praeter spem ad alienum iudicium trahitur. * const. a. ad ursum vic.
If ever someone should bring back a rescript to an extraordinary judge, delay is to be utterly denied to him; but to the one who is called into court, it is to be granted for proving the falsehoods of the petitions or for producing some documents or witnesses, since he could not have been prepared, if beyond expectation he is dragged to another’s court. * const. a. to ursus vic.
A procedente iudice dilationem non convenit postulari, etiamsi utraque parte praesente tribuatur, cum non alias nisi causa cognita indulgeri queat et cognitio causae non interpellatione planaria, sed considente magis iudice legitime colligatur, et, si forte dilationis petitio fuerit improbata, suscepta quaestio per sententiam iudicis dirimatur. * const. a. ad catullinum procons.
When the judge is proceeding, it is not fitting to request a postponement, even if, with both parties present, it is granted, since it cannot be indulged otherwise than with the case known; and the cognition of the cause is not gathered by a planary interpellation, but rather lawfully with the judge sitting; and, if perchance the petition for dilation is disapproved, the question undertaken shall be resolved by the judge’s sentence. * a constitution of the Augustus to Catullinus, proconsul.
Cum a nobis fuerit ad appellationem consultationemve rescriptum, sive sit primo iudicio petita dilatio sive ea tributa non sit sive nec petita quidem, eam dare cuiquam non licebit eadem ratione, qua nec in iudiciis quidem cognitionum nostrarum dilatio tribui solet. * const. a. ad maximum.
When a rescript has been issued by us upon an appeal or a consultation, whether in the first hearing a postponement has been requested, or it has not been granted, or not even requested at all, it shall not be permitted to grant it to anyone, for the same reason by which a postponement is not even wont to be granted in the trials of our cognitions. * the constitution of the Augustus to Maximus.
Inter privatos et fiscum si aliqua lis mota fuerit, utrique parti petendae dilationis per defensores suos copia non est deneganda, si hoc commoditatis ratio postulaverit. * constantius et constans aa. ad petronium vic. africae.
Between private parties and the fisc, if any litigation has been brought, the opportunity of requesting a postponement through their own defenders is not to be denied to either party, if the rationale of convenience shall require this. * Constantius and Constans, emperors, to Petronius, vicar of Africa.
Quoniam consulis, an similis observantia a nobis adiciendarum feriarum, quae rebus feliciter gestis proveniunt, ad appellationum quoque tempora porrigenda sit, verine carissime, rescribi placuit experientiae tuae, ut in causis provocationum iugiter et sine additamento eiuscemodi dierum tempora scias servari debere et supra dictorum dierum in appellationum causis minime fieri adiectionem. * constantius et maxim. aa. et sev.
Since you ask whether a similar observance of adding holidays, which arise from affairs successfully accomplished, ought also to be extended to the periods for appeals, dearest Verinus, it has been decided to write back to Your Experience that in causes of appeals you should know that the time limits must be observed continually and without any addition of days of that kind, and that in appeal cases no addition of the aforesaid days is to be made at all. * constantius and maximian, augusti, and severus.
Omnes iudices urbanaeque plebes et artium officia cunctarum venerabili die solis quiescant. ruri tamen positi agrorum culturae libere licenterque inserviant, quoniam frequenter evenit, ut non alio aptius die frumenta sulcis aut vineae scrobibus commendentur, ne occasione momenti pereat commoditas caelesti provisione concessa. * const.
Let all judges and the urban plebes and the offices of all arts rest on the venerable day of the Sun. Yet those situated in the countryside may devote themselves to the cultivation of the fields freely and without hindrance, since it frequently happens that on no other day more fittingly are the grain-crops committed to the furrows or the vines to pits, lest, by the opportunity of the moment, the advantage granted by heavenly providence be lost. * const.
Illos tantum manere feriarum dies fas erit, quos geminis mensibus ad requiem laboris indulgentior annus accepit aestivis fervoribus mitigandis et autumnis fetibus decerpendis. <a 389 d. vii id. aug. romae timasio et promoto conss.>
Only those feast-days shall be permitted to remain, which the more indulgent year has admitted into the twin months for the repose of labor, for mitigating the summer fervors and for plucking the autumnal fruits. <a 389 on the 7th day before the ides of aug., at rome, timasius and promotus, consuls.>
His adicimus natalicios dies urbium maximarum romae atque constantinopolis, quibus debent iura differri, qui et ab ipsis nata sunt, sacros quoque paschae dies, qui septeno vel praecedunt numero vel sequuntur, dies etiam natalis atque epiphaniorum christi et quo tempore commemoratio apostolicae passionis totius christianitatis magistrae a cunctis iure celebratur: in quibus etiam praedictis sanctissimis diebus neque spectaculorum copiam reseramus. <a 389 d. vii id. aug. romae timasio et promoto conss.>
To these we add the natal days of the greatest cities, rome and constantinople, on which juridical rights ought to be deferred—rights which also took their birth from them—the sacred days of Pascha (Easter), which by the septenary number either precede or follow, the day also of the Nativity and of the Epiphanies of Christ, and the time at which the commemoration of the Apostolic Passion of the teacher of all Christianity is rightly celebrated by all: on which aforementioned most holy days neither do we unbar any provision of spectacles. <a 389 d. vii id. aug. romae timasio et promoto conss.>
Parem necesse est habere reverentiam, ut ne apud ipsos arbitros vel a iudicibus flagitatos vel sponte delectos ulla sit agnitio iurgiorum, nostris etiam diebus, qui vel lucis auspicia vel ortus imperii protulerunt. <a 389 d. vii id. aug. romae timasio et promoto conss.>
It is necessary to have equal reverence, such that there be no hearing of litigations before the arbitrators themselves, whether demanded by judges or chosen voluntarily, even on our days, which have brought forth either the auspices of light or the rising of the empire. <at rome, on aug. 7, in the year 389, in the consulship of timasius and promotus.>
Provinciarum iudices moneantur, ut in quaestionibus latronum et maxime isaurorum nullum quadragesimae nec venerabilem pascharum diem existiment excipiendum, ne differatur sceleratorum proditio consiliorum, quae per latronum tormenta quaerenda est, cum facillime in hoc summi numinis speretur venia, per quod multorum salus et incolumitas procuratur. * honor. et theodos.
Let the judges of the provinces be admonished that, in the inquisitions of brigands and especially of the Isaurians, they should deem no day of Quadragesima (Lent) nor the venerable day of Pasch to be excepted, lest the disclosure of the counsels of the criminals be deferred—which is to be sought through the tortures of the brigands—since most easily in this the pardon of the supreme divinity may be hoped for, whereby the welfare and safety of many is procured. * Honorius and Theodosius.
Dominicum itaque diem semper honorabilem ita decernimus venerandum, ut a cunctis exsecutionibus excusetur, nulla quemquam urgueat admonitio, nulla fideiussionis flagitetur exactio, taceat apparitio, advocatio delitescat, sit idem dies a cognitionibus alienus, praeconis horrida vox silescat, respirent a controversiis litigantes, habeant foederis intervallum, ad se veniant adversarii non timentes, subeat animos vicaria paenitudo, pacta conferant, transactiones loquantur. <a 469 d. v id. dec. constantinopoli zenone et marciano conss.>
Therefore we decree that the Lord’s day, ever honorable, be so venerated that it is excused from all executions, let no admonition press anyone, let no exaction of suretyship be demanded, let the apparitio be silent, let the advocation lie hidden, let that same day be alien from cognitions, let the dreadful voice of the crier be silent, let litigants breathe from controversies, let them have an interval for covenant, let adversaries come to one another not fearing, let a vicarious repentance come over their minds, let them compare their pacts, let transactions speak. <a 469 on the 5th day before the Ides of December at Constantinople, Zeno and Marcian consuls.>
Nec tamen haec religiosi diei otia relaxantes obscaenis quemquam patimur voluptatibus detineri. nihil eodem die sibi vindicet scaena theatralis aut circense certamen aut ferarum lacrimosa spectacula: etiam si in nostrum ortum aut natalem celebranda sollemnitas inciderit, differatur. <a 469 d. v id. dec.
Nor yet, in relaxing these leisures of the religious day, do we allow anyone to be detained by obscene voluptuousnesses. Let nothing on the same day claim for itself the theatrical scene, or the circus contest, or the tearful spectacles of wild beasts: even if a solemnity to be celebrated should fall on our birth or natal day, let it be deferred. <a 469 d. v id. dec.
Amissionem militiae, proscriptionem patrimonii sustinebit, si quis umquam hoc die festo spectaculis interesse vel cuiuscumque iudicis apparitor praetextu negotii publici seu privati haec quae hac lege statuta sunt crediderit temeranda. <a 469 d. v id. dec. constantinopoli zenone et marciano conss.>
He shall undergo loss of military service and proscription of his patrimony, if anyone ever on this festal day should attend spectacles, or if the apparitor of any judge, under the pretext of public or private business, should deem that these things which are established by this law are to be profaned. <a 469 on the 5th day before the Ides of December (December 9), at Constantinople, Zeno and Marcian, consuls.>
Non quidem fuit iudex procurator noster in lite privatorum: sed cum ipsi eum iudicem elegeritis et is consentientibus adversariis sententiam tulerit, intellegitis vos adquiescere debere rei ex consensu vestro iudicatae, cum et procurator iudicandi potestatem inter certas habeat personas, et vos incongruum eum esse vobis iudicem scientes tamen audientiam eius elegistis. * sev. et ant.
Our procurator was not indeed a judge in a lawsuit of private persons: but since you yourselves chose him as judge, and he, with the adversaries consenting, rendered sentence, you understand that you ought to acquiesce in the matter adjudged by your own consent, since both a procurator has the power of judging among certain persons, and you, knowing him to be an incongruous judge for you, nevertheless chose his hearing. * sev. and ant.
Iuris ordinem converti postulas, ut non actor rei forum, sed reus actoris sequatur: nam ubi domicilium habet reus vel tempore contractus habuit, licet hoc postea transtulerit, ibi tantum eum conveniri oportet. * diocl. et maxim.
You request that the order of law be inverted, so that not the plaintiff follow the defendant’s forum, but the defendant follow the plaintiff’s; for wherever the defendant has his domicile, or had it at the time of the contract, even if he later transferred it, there only ought he to be convened. * diocl. and maxim.
Nemo post litem contestatam ordinariae sedis declinet examen, nec prius praefecti praetorio aut comitis orientis vel alterius spectabilis iudicis imploret auxilium, sed appellatione legibus facta ad sacrum auditorium veniat. * const. a. ad universos provinciales.
No one, after the suit has been formally contested, is to decline the examination of the ordinary seat, nor should he first implore the aid of the Praetorian Prefect or the Count of the East or any other spectabilis judge, but, an appeal made according to the laws, let him come to the sacred auditorium. * Constantine Augustus to all provincials.
Is vero, qui suam causam sive criminalem sive civilem sine caelesti oraculo in vetito vocabit examine aut exsecutionem poposcerit militarem, actor quidem propositi negotii actione multetur, reus vero pro condemnato habeatur: et tribuni sive vicarii capitalem sibi animadversionem subeundam esse cognoscant, si vel suam vel militum exsecutionem interdictam praebuerint. <a 397 d. xv k. ian. mediolani caesario et attico conss.>
But that man who shall call his own cause, whether criminal or civil, into the forbidden examination without a heavenly oracle, or shall have demanded military execution, let the plaintiff indeed be penalized by the action for the business proposed, but let the defendant be held as condemned; and let the tribunes or the vicarii know that a capital animadversion is to be undergone by themselves, if they shall have provided the execution, either by themselves or by their soldiers, which has been interdicted. <a 397, on the 15th day before the Kalends of January, at Milan, in the consulship of Caesarius and Atticus.>
Magisteriae potestati inter militares viros vel privato actore in reum militarem etiam civilium quaestionum audiendi concedimus facultatem, praesertim cum id ipsum e re esse litigantium videatur constetque militarem reum nisi a suo iudice nec exhiberi posse nec, si in culpa fuerit, coerceri. * honor. et theodos.
We grant to the magisterial authority, among military men or with a private plaintiff, the faculty of hearing, in the case of a military defendant, even civil questions, especially since this very thing appears to be for the advantage of the litigants, and since it is established that a military defendant can neither be produced except by his own judge nor, if he is at fault, be coerced. * honorius and theodosius.
Periniquum et temerarium esse perspicimus eos, qui professiones aliquas seu negotiationes exercere noscuntur, iudicum, ad quos earundem professionum seu negotiationum cura pertinet, iurisdictionem et praeceptiones declinare conari. * anastas. a. constantino pp. * <a 502 d. xv k. mart.
We perceive it to be most inequitable and rash that those who are known to exercise certain professions or trades try to evade the jurisdiction and precepts of the judges to whom the care of those same professions or trades pertains. * anastasius augustus to constantine, praetorian prefect. * <in the year 502, on the 15th day before the Kalends of March.
Quapropter iubemus huiusmodi hominibus nec cuiuslibet militiae seu cinguli vel dignitatis praerogativam in hac parte suppetere, sed eos, qui statutis in quacumque militia connumerati sunt vel fuerint seu dignitatem aliquam praetendunt, sine quadam fori praescriptione his iudicibus tam in publicis quam in privatis causis oboedire compelli, ad quorum sollicitudinem professionis seu negotiationis , quam praeter militiam, ut dictum est, exercent, gubernatio videtur respicere, ita tamen, ut ipsis nihilo minus iudicibus, sub quorum iurisdictione militia seu dignitas eorum constituta est, procul dubio respondeant. <a 502 d. xv k. mart. constantinopoli probo et avieno conss.>
Wherefore we order that for men of this sort neither the prerogative of any militia or cingulum or dignity shall avail in this matter, but that those who by statutes are or have been enrolled in whatever militia, or who pretend to some dignity, be compelled, without any prescription of forum, to obey those judges in both public and private causes, to whose solicitude the government seems to have regard for the profession or negotiation which, besides militia, as has been said, they exercise; provided, however, that they nonetheless, without doubt, answer to those same judges under whose jurisdiction their militia or dignity is constituted. <a 502, on the 15th day before the Kalends of March, at Constantinople, Probus and Avienus, consuls.>
Si contra pupillos viduas vel diutino morbo fatigatos et debiles impetratum fuerit lenitatis nostrae iudicium, memorati a nullo nostrorum iudicum compellantur comitatui nostro sui copiam facere. quin immo intra provinciam, in qua litigator et testes vel instrumenta sunt, experiantur iurgandi fortunam atque omni cautela servetur, ne terminos provinciarum suarum cogantur excedere. * const.
If, in proceedings against wards, widows, or those wearied by a long-lasting disease and weak, a judgment of our lenity has been obtained, the persons aforesaid are not to be compelled by any of our judges to make their presence available to our comitatus (imperial court). Nay rather, within the province in which the litigant and the witnesses or the instruments (documents) are, let them try the fortune of litigating, and let every caution be observed, lest they be forced to exceed the boundaries of their provinces. * const.
Quod si pupilli vel viduae aliique fortunae iniuria miserabiles iudicium nostrae serenitatis oraverint, praesertim cum alicuius potentiam perhorrescunt, cogantur eorum adversarii examini nostro sui copiam facere. <a 334 d. xv k. iul. constantinopoli optato et paulino conss.>
But if wards or widows and others pitiable through the injury of fortune shall have petitioned the judgment of our Serenity, especially when they shudder at the power of some person, let their adversaries be compelled to afford their presence to our examination. <a 334 on the 15th day before the Kalends of July, at Constantinople, Optatus and Paulinus consuls.>
Qui certo loco se soluturum pecuniam obligat, si solutioni satis non fecerit, arbitraria actione et in alio loco potest conveniri: in qua venit aestimatio, quod alterutrius interfuit suo loco potius quam in eo in quo petitur solvi. * alex. a. heraclidae.
He who obligates himself to pay money at a certain place, if he has not satisfied the payment, can be proceeded against by an arbitral action and in another place; in which there enters an assessment of how much it was to either party’s interest that it be paid at its own place rather than in the place in which it is demanded. * alex. a. to heraclidas.
In rem actio non contra venditorem, sed contra possidentem competit. frustra itaque desideras non tecum congredi, sed cum auctore tuo dominium vindicantem, cum te possidere contendas. nam si denuntiasti ei qui tibi vendidit, intellegit evictionis periculum.
An action in rem lies not against the seller, but against the possessor. In vain, therefore, do you desire that he not contend with you, but with your auctor claiming dominium, when you assert that you possess. For if you have given notice to him who sold to you, he understands the peril of eviction.
Si quis alterius nomine quolibet modo possidens immobilem rem litem ab aliquo per in rem actionem sustineat, debet statim in iudicio dominum nominare, ut, sive in eadem civitate degat sive in agro sive in alia provincia sit, certo dierum spatio ab iudice finiendo eoque ad notionem eius perducendo, vel ipse in locis in quibus praedium situm est perveniens vel procuratorem mittens actoris intentiones excipiat. * const. a. ad universos provinciales.
If anyone, possessing an immovable in any manner in the name of another, should sustain a suit by someone through an in rem action, he ought at once in court to name the owner, so that, whether he resides in the same city or in the countryside or is in another province, within a fixed span of days to be set by the judge and bringing it under his cognizance, either he himself, arriving in the places in which the estate is situated, or by sending a procurator, may take up and answer the plaintiff’s claims. * a constitution of the Augustus to all provincials.
Si vero post huiusmodi indultum tempus minime hoc quod dispositum est facere maluerit, tamquam lite quae ei ingeritur ex die, quo possessor ad iudicium vocatus est, ad interrumpendam longi temporis praescriptionem contestata iudex, utpote domino possessionis nec post huiusmodi humanitatem sui praesentiam faciente, edictis legitimis proponendis eum citare curabit et tunc in eadem voluntate eo permanente negotium summatim discutiens in possessionem rerum actorem mitti non differet, omni adlegatione absenti de principali quaestione servata. <a 331 d. x k. aug. basso et ablabio conss.>
But if indeed, after a period of such indulgence, he should in no way prefer to do that which has been disposed, then, as with the suit which is brought against him from the day on which the possessor was called to judgment—its contestation serving to interrupt the long-term prescription—the judge, since the owner of the possession does not make his appearance even after such humanity, will take care to cite him by legitimate edicts to be published; and then, he remaining in the same disposition, the judge, discussing the matter summarily, will not defer that the plaintiff be sent into possession of the things, with every allegation of the absent party concerning the principal question being preserved.
Illic, ubi res hereditarias esse proponis, heredes in possessionem rerum hereditarium mitti postulandum est. ubi autem domicilium habet qui convenitur, vel si ibi ubi res hereditariae sitae sunt degit, hereditatis erit controversia terminanda. * valer.
There, where you assert the hereditary property to be, it must be petitioned that the heirs be put into possession of the hereditary things. But where the one who is sued has his domicile, or if he dwells there where the hereditary things are situated, the controversy of the inheritance shall be terminated. * valer.
Nemo post depositum cingulum privatae vitae redditus ob negotium, quod militiae causa est ei exortum praestandi ratiocinii gratia eius numeri, in quo militavit vel quem ipse gessit a quocumque pulsatus fori praescriptionibus utatur. unumquemque enim super huiuscemodi causis, id est publicis, quas dum militaret exercuit, super ratiociniis militaribus, per quae suos contubernales adflixisse adseritur, in militari oportet iudicio respondere, in quo et instructio sufficiens et nota testimonia et verissima possunt documenta praestari. * honor.
Let no one, after the belt has been laid aside and he has been returned to private life, when sued by anyone on account of a matter which has arisen to him by reason of military service for the sake of rendering an accounting of that unit (numerus) in which he served or which he himself commanded, employ the prescriptions of the civil forum. For each person, concerning causes of this kind—that is, public ones—which he handled while he was a soldier, concerning military accountings, by which he is asserted to have afflicted his tent‑companions (contubernales), ought to answer in a military court, in which both sufficient instruction and well‑known testimonies and most true documents can be produced. * honor.
Quae a te, cum tibi serviret, refugit et in aliam provinciam se contulit, libertatem sibi vindicans non iniuria eo loco litigare compellenda est, unde quasi fugitiva recessit. ideoque remittere eam in qua serviret praeses provinciae qui eo loco ius repraesentat curae habebit: sed non ubi deprehensa est audiri debet. * alex.
She who, while she was serving you, fled from you and betook herself into another province, vindicating liberty for herself, must, not unjustly, be compelled to litigate in the place from which she withdrew as if a fugitive. And therefore the governor of the province, who represents the jurisdiction in that place, will have the care to remit her to where she was serving; but she ought not to be heard where she was apprehended. * alex.
Si in possessione libertatis constituta es, cum in status etiam quaestione actor rei forum sequi debeat, ibi causam liberalem agi oportet, ubi consistit quae ancilla dicitur, licet senatoria dignitate actor decoretur. * diocl. et maxim.
If you are established in the possession of liberty, since even in a question of status the plaintiff ought to follow the defendant’s forum, the cause of liberty must be litigated where she who is said to be a slave resides, even if the plaintiff is adorned with senatorial dignity. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Iam dudum a nobis statutum est, ut, si quae causae libertinitatis est servitutis in provinciis inter fiscum et privatos exorerentur, ad rationalem vel magistrum privatae rei, hoc est unde mota est quaestio, remitterentur, si quae vero ingenuitatis essent, a rectore provinciae examinarentur. * diocl. et maxim.
It has long since been established by us that, if any causes of freedman‑status or of slavery in the provinces should arise between the fisc and private persons, they are to be remitted to the Rationalis or the Master of the Private Estate—that is, to the office whence the question was set in motion; but if any be of freeborn status, they are to be examined by the governor of the province. * Diocletian and Maximian.
In litibus, in quibus utrum ingenuus an libertinus sit aliquis quaeritur, quinquennii divisionem, post quod divino auditorio opus esse veteres leges praecipiebant, in posterum cessare sancimus et huiusmodi lites etiam post memoratum tempus ad exemplum ceterarum vel in provinciis apud earum moderatores vel in hac alma urbe apud competentia maxima iudicia examinari. quod etiam, si clarissima persona super tali condicione vel etiam servili quaestionem patiatur, tenere censemus. * iust.
In lawsuits in which it is asked whether someone is freeborn or a freedman, we sanction that the five-year division—after which the ancient laws prescribed that there was need of a divine audience—shall cease for the future; and that lawsuits of this kind, even after the aforesaid time, shall, after the example of the others, be examined either in the provinces before their governors or in this kindly city before the competent highest tribunals. Which we judge to hold even if a most illustrious person should undergo inquiry concerning such a condition, or even a servile one. * iust.
Si quis vel curiae vel officiis iudicum aut aliis quibuscumque corporibus obnoxius intra provinciam ab his erit quos aufugerat comprehensus, non expectata eius iudicis notione, sub quo per ambitum coeperat militare, penitusque emendicati honoris praescriptione submota ab iudice, qui in locis aditus fuerit, audiatur manifestarumque rerum probatione convictus eorum societati quos declinaverat adgregetur. * arcad. et honor.
If anyone subject to the curia, or to the offices of the judges, or to any other corporations whatsoever, within the province shall be apprehended by those from whom he had fled, without awaiting the cognizance of that judge under whom he had begun to serve through improper canvassing (ambitus), and with the plea of a begged-for honor entirely set aside, let him be heard by the judge who shall have been approached in those places; and, convicted by proof of manifest facts, let him be aggregated to the society of those whom he had avoided. * Arcadius and Honorius.
Hac perpetua lege sancimus provincialibus iudiciis non posse fori praescriptionem opponere eos, qui ad curiam vocantur vel cohortalibus deberi dicuntur officiis vel aliis corporibus obnoxii sunt, eos etiam, qui superexactiones vel concussiones perpetrasse firmentur: exceptis videlicet his qui armata militia praediti sunt, vel aliis qui speciali beneficio principali sese defendant, ita tamen ut, cui ex militaribus viris curiae nomen vel cohortalis officii quaestio ingeratur , rector provinciae super eius nomine tam ad sedem tuae magnificentiae quam ad magisteriam vel ad competentem referat potestatem, ut hi, qui velut debiti postulentur, provinciali iudicio destinati ibi eventum iudicii expectent, ubi iura moveri praecipiunt huiusmodi quaestiones. * theodos. et valentin.
By this perpetual law we sanction that, in provincial tribunals, those who are called to the curia or are said to owe cohortal duties or are liable to other corporations, and also those who are affirmed to have perpetrated over-exactions or concussions (extortions), cannot oppose a plea of forum-prescription: with these excepted, namely those endowed with the armed soldiery, or others who defend themselves by a special imperial beneficium; yet in such a way that, if from among military men the question of curial status or of a cohortal office is brought against someone , the governor of the province, concerning his status, shall report both to the seat of your Magnificence and to the Magisterial office or to the competent authority, so that those who are demanded as though owing, being assigned to the provincial tribunal, may there await the outcome of the judgment, where the laws prescribe that questions of this kind be moved. * theodosius and valentinian.
Ceteros excelsae tuae sedis et rectorum provinciarum in quolibet negotio declinare minime posse iudicium decernimus, ita ut, qui tam saluberrimam legem pertinaciter violare temptaverint, sciant a moderatoribus provinciarum adversus se tamquam in contumaces sententiam proferendam. <a 440 d. xi k. oct. constantinopoli valentiniano a. v et anatolio conss.>
We decree that others are by no means able, in any business, to decline the judgment of your exalted see and of the rectors of the provinces, such that those who should attempt pertinaciously to violate so most salutary a law may know that a sentence is to be pronounced against them by the moderators of the provinces, as against contumacious persons. <a year 440, day 11 before the kalends of october, at constantinople, valentinian augustus 5 and anatolius, consuls.>
Quicumque non illustris, sed tantum clarissima dignitate praeditus virginem rapuerit vel fines aliquos invaserit vel in aliqua culpa seu crimine fuerit deprehensus, statim intra provinciam in qua facinus perpetravit publicis legibus subiugetur nec fori praescriptione utatur. omnem enim huiusmodi honorem reatus excludit. * const.
Whoever is not illustrious, but only endowed with the rank of clarissimus, if he has carried off a maiden or has invaded some boundaries or has been apprehended in some fault or crime, let him immediately, within the province in which he perpetrated the deed, be subjected to the public laws, nor let him avail himself of a prescription of forum. For a criminal charge excludes every honor of this kind. * const.
Senatores in pecuniariis causis, sive in hac urbe sive in suburbanis degunt, in iudicio tam praetorianae quam urbicariae praefecturae nec non magistri officiorum ( quotiens tamen ad eum nostrae pietatis emanaverit iussio), in provinciis vero ubi larem fovent aut ubi maiorem bonorum partem possident et adsidue versantur respondebunt. * valens grat. et valentin.
Senators, in pecuniary causes, whether they dwell in this city or in the suburbs, shall answer in the court both of the Praetorian and of the Urban Prefecture, and also of the Master of the Offices ( however, as often as an order of our piety shall have emanated to him); but in the provinces they shall answer where they foster their hearth or where they possess the greater part of their goods and are continually engaged. * Valens, Gratian, and Valentinian.
Quotiens viro forte patricio vel ex patricio vel ei, quem praetorianae vel urbicariae amplissimae sedis administratio illustravit, vel consulari viro, quem tam ordinaria processio quam sacra nostrae pietatis pariter sublimavit oratio, quive magisteriae potestatis sudoribus clarus factus est, vel ei, qui magistri officiorum vel quaestoris officio functus aut sacri nostrae pietatis cubiculi praepositus post depositam administrationem senatorio ordini sociatus est, aut cui nostra serenitas domesticorum scholam regendam mandavit cuive sacros nostri numinis thesauros aut res privatas nostrae pietatis vel serenissimae augustae nostrae coniugis gubernandas iniunxit, post depositam videlicet administrationem cr imen publicum privatumve, cui tamen non per procuratorem respondere liceat, in hac alma urbe vel in provinciis commoranti ingeratur, nullius alterius iudicis nisi nostrae pietatis huiusmodi esse cognitionem vel sacri tantummodo cognitoris , cui nostra serenitas huiusmodi negotii audientiam vice sua sacris apicibus mittendis mandaverit, ita tamen, ut apud talem iudicem, nullius officii vel scholae intercedente ministerio, more atque habitu sacrarum consultationum absque ulla videlicet observatione dierum fatalium introductae causae, viris devotissimis sacri nostri scrinii libellensibus sollemnia implentibus, audiantur: eo qui in crimen vocatus erit, ne quas ante probationes iniurias patiatur, sedendi quoque in aliqua secretarii parte, quae iudicibus inferior, altercantibus vero superior esse videatur, habituro licentiam. * zeno a. arcadio pp. * <a 485 - 486? d. constantinopoli.
As often as by chance to a patrician man or one from patrician rank, or to him whom the administration of the most ample praetorian or urban prefecture has made illustrious, or to a consular man, whom both the ordinary progression and the sacred oration of our piety alike have exalted, or whoever has been made renowned by the toils of magisterial power, or to him who, having performed the office of master of the offices or of quaestor, or having been prepositus of the sacred bedchamber of our piety, after laying down his administration has been associated to the senatorial order; or to whom our serenity has entrusted the school of the domestics to be ruled; or to whom it has enjoined the sacred treasures of our numen or the private estates of our piety or of our most serene Augusta, our consort, to be governed—after the administration, namely, has been laid down—if a public or private crime be brought against him, to which, however, it is not permitted to answer through a procurator, while he is residing in this kindly city or in the provinces, let the cognizance of such a matter belong to no other judge than our piety, or only to a sacred cognitor, to whom our serenity shall have commanded, by sending sacred letters, that the hearing of such a business be held in its stead; so, however, that before such a judge, with the ministry of no office or school intervening, in the manner and guise of sacred consultations, without, namely, any observance of the fatal days, the causes introduced be heard, the most devoted men, the libellenses of our sacred scrinium, fulfilling the solemnities: with this, that he who shall have been called into a charge, lest he suffer any injuries before proofs, shall also have leave of sitting in some part of the secretarium which appears lower than the judges, but higher than the litigants. * Zeno Augustus to Arcadius, Praetorian Prefect. *
Adeo autem tantarum honores dignitatum duximus augendos, ut nec sacro quidem cognitori, nec postquam crimen fuerit patefactum, contra huiusmodi viros vel eorum substantias statuendi aliquid concedamus facultatem, sed hoc solummodo in huiusmodi viros vice quoque principis audituro licebit, ut intentatum apud se crimen , si patefactum fuisset, ad principalem referat notionem. <a 485 - 486? d. constantinopoli.
Moreover, to such an extent have we judged that the honors of such great dignities must be augmented, that not even to the sacred cognitor (judge), nor after the crime has been laid open, do we grant the faculty of ordaining anything against men of this sort or their substances (estates); but this alone will be permitted in regard to men of this sort, even to one who will hear in the place of the princeps: that a charge not yet attempted before him, if it should have been disclosed, he shall refer to the principal (imperial) cognizance. <a 485 - 486? at Constantinople.
Ultionis autem tantis inferendae dignitatibus modus non nisi in principis residebit arbitrio, cum sit certum oportere accusatoris calumniam ( reo videlicet protinus absolvendo) inconsulta quoque nostra serenitate prout leges sanciunt coerceri, nisi forte accusator quoque non minoris quam reus sit dignitatis: in hoc namque casu super coercenda huiusmodi accusatoris calumnia non immerito consulenda erit principalis auctoritas. <a 485 - 486? d. constantinopoli.
However, the measure of vengeance to be inflicted upon persons of such high dignities will reside only in the emperor’s discretion, since it is certain that the accuser’s calumny ( namely by acquitting the defendant at once) is to be restrained, even without consulting Our Serenity, as the laws sanction, unless perhaps the accuser too is of no less dignity than the defendant: for in this case, concerning the restraining of an accuser’s calumny of this sort, the princely authority will not undeservedly have to be consulted. <a 485 - 486? at Constantinople.
Viros autem illustres in hac inclita urbe degentes, qui sine administratione honorariis decorati fuerint codicillis, licet talem praerogativam nostrae iussionis meruerint, ut quod non egerint videantur egisse, in criminalibus causis magnificae tuae sedis et illustrissimae urbicariae praefecturae nec non etiam viri magnifici magistri officiorum ( quotiens tamen ad eius iudicium specialis nostrae pietatis emanaverit iussio) sententiis respondere decernimus, ita ut huiusmodi viri sedendi quidem in cognitionibus dicendis minime sibi vindicent facultatem. <a 485 - 486? d. constantinopoli.
But as for illustrious men dwelling in this famed city, who shall have been adorned with honorary codicils without an administration, although they have merited such a prerogative of our command that they seem to have done what they have not done, we decree that in criminal causes they must answer to the sentences of your magnificent seat and of the most illustrious Urban Prefecture, and also of the magnificent man, the Master of the Offices ( whenever, however, a command of our special piety shall have issued to his judgment), with the proviso that men of this sort by no means claim for themselves the faculty of sitting when adjudications are to be pronounced.
Quotiens autem viri illustres in provinciis constituti ( non hi tamen, quorum cognitio ad nostram maiestatem vel ad vice nostri numinis auditurum pertineat) in querimoniam fuerint criminalem vocati, et sedendi, cum celebratur cognitio, in secretariis iudicantium ius consequantur et iudices patefactis quoque criminibus ferendis contra huiusmodi viros vel facultates eorum sententiis abstineant, dum nostrae pietatis ad suas meruerint relationes responsum: supplicio videlicet, quod accusatoribus patefacta eorum calumnia ingerendum est, nec apud provinciales iudices, si non, sicut superius dictum est, similem dignitatem habeant, differendo. <a 485 - 486? d. constantinopoli.
Whenever, moreover, illustrious men established in the provinces (not, however, those whose cognitio pertains to be heard by our majesty or by one who is to hear in the stead of our divine authority) have been called into a criminal complaint, they shall obtain the right of sitting, when the hearing is celebrated, in the secretariats of the judges; and the judges, even with the crimes laid open, shall abstain from delivering sentences to be carried against such men or their faculties, until they shall have earned from our piety a response to their reports: namely, with the punishment which, their calumny having been exposed, is to be inflicted upon the accusers, not being deferred even before provincial judges, if they do not, as said above, have a similar dignity. <a 485 - 486? dated at Constantinople.
Omnes omnino domesticos et agentes in rebus et quaecumque alia praetenditur militia vel dignitas sub moderatoribus provinciarum pro functionibus publicis respondere nulla fori praescriptione valitura sancimus, si hac qui exiguntur publica debita uti temptaverint. * theodos. et valentin.
We ordain that absolutely all the domestici and the agentes in rebus, and whatever other service or dignity is put forward, shall answer under the governors of the provinces for public functions, with no forum-prescription to have force, if those from whom public debts are exacted should attempt to use this. * Theodosius and Valentinian.
Immo et in aliis privatis actionibus occupatos volumus respondere, qui per provincias negotiantur vel conductorum vocabulis, cum non armata militia praediti sunt, defenduntur, sive domorum divinarum sive virorum potentium seu cuiuslibet condicionis sunt conductores, nisi forte commeatum ad rem propriam componendam unius anni indutias ostenderint se accepisse. <a 439 d. xiii k. febr. constantinopoli theodosio a. xvii et festo conss.>
Indeed, we wish even those occupied in other private actions to appear and answer, who do business through the provinces or are protected under the appellations of conductors (lessees/contractors), though they are not endowed with armed soldiery, whether they are conductors of the divine houses or of powerful men or of whatever condition, unless perhaps they shall have shown that they received a leave of absence of one year to set their own affairs in order. <a 439, on the 13th day before the Kalends of February, at Constantinople, Theodosius Augustus 17 and Festus, consuls.>
Non defensae mortis quaestionem apud procuratores nostros non oportere tractari quis ignorat, nec bona fisco peti posse, quam si de crimine constiterit apud eum , cui convictis poenam inrogare licet? plane defunctis homicidii reis apud procuratores quoque causam agendam esse ratio permittit. * sev.
Who is unaware that an inquiry into an unavenged death ought not to be handled before our procurators, nor that goods can be sought for the fisc, unless the crime has been established before him , to whom it is permitted to inflict punishment upon the convicted? plainly, when the defendants in a homicide case are deceased, reason permits that the case be prosecuted also before the procurators. * sev.
Non animadvertimus, cur causam ad officium procuratorum nostrorum pertinentem ad proconsulis notionem advocare velis. nam cum hoc quaeratur, an pater tuus mortem sibi consciverit metu alicuius poenae ac propterea bona fisco debeant vindicari, iam non de crimine aut poena mortui, sed de bonis quaerendum est. * sev.
We do not perceive why you should wish to call into the proconsul’s cognizance a case pertaining to the office of our procurators. For since the question is whether your father procured death for himself from fear of some penalty, and therefore the goods ought to be claimed for the fisc, now the inquiry is not about the crime or the punishment of the dead man, but about the goods. * Severus.
Cum his, quibus mandantibus eadem praedia emisse te et tradidisse dicas, agente te procurator meus, si eius audientiam elegeris, cognoscet, ut pecuniam quae pretii nomine tibi debetur et usuras quae fisco solvendae sunt consequi possis. <a 233 pp. iiii id. oct. maximo et paterno conss.>
As to those at whose mandate you say that you bought and delivered the same estates, my procurator will take cognizance, you acting, if you choose his hearing, so that you may be able to recover the money which is owed to you under the name of price and the interest which are to be paid to the fisc. <in the year 233, four days before the Ides of October, in the consulship of Maximus and Paternus.>
Si quis adversus conductorem nostrum aliquid agendum crediderit, viro illustri comiti rerum privatarum referri oportet, ne et iudici existimationis et officio eius salutis discrimen immineat. * constantius a. ad italicum. * <d. k. febr..... conss.>
If anyone believes that something ought to be prosecuted against our lessee, it must be referred to the illustrious man, the Count of the Private Property, lest both a peril to the judge’s reputation and to his safety in his office impend. * Constantius Augustus to Italicus. * <on the Kalends of February..... consuls.>
Cum aliquid colonus aut servus rei privatae nostrae contra disciplinam publicam adseratur perpetrare, ad iudicium rectoris provinciae venire cogendus est, sic videlicet, ut praesente rationali vel procuratore domus nostrae inter eum et accusatorem causa tractetur et, si facinus fuerit adprobatum, iuris severitas exseratur. * constant. a. ad taurum pp. * <a 358 d. v non.
Whenever a colonus or a slave of our private estate is asserted to perpetrate something against public discipline, he must be compelled to come to the judgment of the rector of the province, namely in such a way that, with the rationalis or the procurator of our house present, the case be handled between him and the accuser; and, if the crime be proved, the severity of the law be brought to bear. * constantius augustus to taurus, praetorian prefect. * <a 358 d. 5 non.
Universi fiduciam gerant, ut, cum quis eorum ab actore rerum privatarum nostrarum sive a procuratore fuerit vexatus iniuriis, super eius contumeliis vel depraedationibus deferre querimoniam sinceritati tuae vel rectori provinciae non dubitet et ad publicae sententiam vindictae sine aliqua trepidatione convolare. quae res cum fuerit certis probationibus declarata, sancimus et edicimus, ut, si in provincialem hanc audaciam quisquam moliri fuerit ausus, publice vivus concremetur. * valentin.
Let all have confidence, that, when any one of them has been harassed with injustices by the agent of our private affairs or by a procurator, he should not hesitate, concerning his contumelies or depredations, to bring a complaint to your Sincerity or to the rector of the province and to hasten without any trepidation to the public sentence of vengeance. When this matter has been made clear by sure proofs, we sanction and proclaim that, if anyone shall have dared to undertake this audacity against a provincial, he shall be publicly burned alive. * Valentinian.
Hac lege sancimus, ut, sive agat domorum nostrarum colonus aut inquilinus aut servus seu pulsetur ab aliquo super criminali vel civili negotio, non alibi quam tui culminis ac viri spectabilis comitis domorum petatur examen: nullius adlegatione super fori praescriptione penitus admittenda. * theodos. et valentin.
By this law we sanction that, whether a tenant-farmer of our households or a lodger or a slave brings suit or is impleaded by someone concerning a criminal or civil matter, the hearing be sought nowhere else than at the tribunal of your eminence and of the man of distinction, the Count of the Households: with no allegation regarding forum prescription to be admitted at all. * theodosius and valentinian.
Liberam resistendi cunctis tribuimus facultatem, ut quicumque militum vel privatorum ad agros nocturnus populator intraverit aut itinera frequentata insidiis adgressionis obsederit, permissa cuicumque licentia dignus ilico supplicio subiugetur ac mortem quam minabatur excipiat et id quod intendebat incurrat. melius enim est occurrere in tempore, quam post exitum vindicare. * valentin.
We grant to all the free faculty of resisting, so that whoever—whether of the soldiers or of private persons—as a nocturnal depredator shall have entered the fields, or shall have beset frequented roads with ambushes of aggression, with license granted to anyone, may be straightway subjected to the deserved punishment and receive the death which he was menacing and incur that which he intended. For it is better to meet in time than to avenge after the outcome. * Valentinian.
Opprimendorum desertorum facultatem provincialibus iure permittimus. qui si resistere ausi fuerint, in his velox ubicumque iubemus esse supplicium. cuncti etenim adversus latrones publicos desertoresque militiae ius sibi sciant pro quiete communi exercendae publicae ultionis indultum.
We permit by right to the provincials the faculty of suppressing deserters. And if they should dare to resist, in their case we order swift punishment to be wherever. For let all know that, against public brigands and deserters from military service, the right has been granted to them, for the common quiet, of exercising public vengeance.
Cum de inofficioso matris suae testamento filius dicere velit adversus eum, qui ex causa fideicommissi hereditatem tenet, non est iniquum hoc ei accommodari, ut perinde fideicommissarius teneatur, ac si pro herede aut pro possessore possideret. * sev. et ant.
When a son wishes to plead concerning the inofficious testament of his mother against him who holds the inheritance by reason of a fideicommissum, it is not inequitable for this to be accommodated to him: that the fideicommissary be held just as if he possessed as heir or as possessor. * Severus and Antoninus.
Sed cum eam in puerperio vita cessisse proponas, repentini casus iniquitas per coniecturam maternae pietatis emendanda est. quare filio tuo, cui nihil praeter maternum fatum imputari potest, perinde virilem portionem tribuendam esse censemus, ac si omnes filios heredes instituisset. <a 197 pp. viii k. iul.
But since you set forth that she departed life in childbirth, the unfairness of the sudden mischance must be corrected by a conjecture of maternal piety. Wherefore to your son, to whom nothing can be imputed except the maternal fate, we judge that the virile portion must be granted, just as if she had instituted all the sons as heirs. <a 197 pp. viii k. iul.
Parentibus arbitrium dividendae hereditatis inter liberos adimendum non est, dum non minus, qui pietatis sibi conscius est, partis quae intestato defuncto potuit ad eum pertinere quarta ex iudicio parentis obtineat. * ant. a. florentino.
The arbitrium of dividing the inheritance among the children is not to be taken away from parents, provided that at least he who is conscious of his pietas obtains, by the parent’s judgment, a fourth of that share which could have pertained to him if the deceased had died intestate. * Antoninus Augustus to Florentinus.
Qui autem agnovit iudicium defuncti eo, quod debitum paternum pro hereditaria parte persolvit vel alio legitimo modo, etiamsi minus quam ei debebatur relictum est, si is maior viginti quinque annis est, accusare ut inofficiosam voluntatem patris quam probavit non potest. <a 223 pp. vii id. febr. maximo ii et aeliano conss.>
But he who has recognized the judgment of the deceased, in that he has paid a paternal debt according to his hereditary share or in another legitimate way, even if less has been left to him than was owed, if he is over twenty-five years old, cannot accuse as undutiful the will of his father which he has approved. <a 223 pp. Feb. 7, under the consuls Maximus 2 and Aelianus.>
Si heredum quintiani, quem patrem tuum esse dicis, adversus quos de inofficioso testamento acturus eras, iure successionis bona ad fiscum pertinent, vel ipsius quintiani bona utpote vacantia fiscus tenet, causam apud procuratorem meum agere potes. * ant. a. quintiliano.
If, as to the heirs of Quintianus, whom you say is your father, against whom you were going to bring an action concerning an inofficious testament, the goods, by right of succession, pertain to the fisc; or if the fisc holds the goods of Quintianus himself as being vacant, you can plead the case before my procurator. * Antoninus Augustus to Quintilianus.
In harenam non damnato, sed sua sponte harenario constituto legitimae successiones integrae sunt, sicuti civitas et libertas manet. sed si testamentum parens eius fecit, neque de inofficioso testamento accusatio neque bonorum possessio ei competit: nam talem filium merito quis indignum sua successione iudicat, nisi et ipse similis condicionis est. * ant.
In the case of one not condemned to the arena, but who has, of his own accord, been constituted an arena‑fighter, the legitimate successions remain intact, just as citizenship and liberty remain. But if his parent made a testament, neither an accusation concerning an inofficious testament nor possession of the goods belongs to him: for one rightly judges such a son unworthy of his succession, unless he himself is of a like condition. * ant.
Si pater puellae, cuius vos curatores esse dicitis, filio ex semisse, ipsa autem ex triente et uxore ex reliquo sextante scriptis heredibus, fidei filiorum commisit, ut, si quis eorum intra viginti quinque annos aetatis decederet, superstitibus portionem suam restitueret, praeterea uxori, ut id, quod ex causa hereditatis ad eam pervenisset, filiis post mortem suam restitueret, fideicommisit, calumniosam inofficiosi actionem adversus iustum iudicium testatoris instituere non debetis, cum ex huiusmodi fideicommissaria restitutione tam matris quam fratris eius portio ad eam poterat pervenire. * ant. a. liciniano et diogeniano.
If the father of the girl, whose curators (guardians) you say you are, with the son written heir for a half, she herself for a third, and the wife for the remaining sixth, committed to the trust of the sons that, if any of them should die within 25 years of age, he should restore his portion to the survivors, and furthermore imposed a fideicommiss on the wife that what had come to her by reason of the inheritance she should restore to the sons after her death, you ought not to institute a calumnious inofficious-will action against the just judgment of the testator, since from such fideicommissary restitution both her mother’s and her brother’s portion could come to her. * ant. a. liciniano et diogeniano.
Cum duobus heredibus institutis, uno ex quinque, altero ex septem unciis, adversus eum qui ex septem unciis heres scriptus fuerat iusta querella contendisse, ab altero autem victum fuisse adlegas, pro ea parte, qua resolutum est testamentum, cum iure intestati qui obtinuit succedat, neque legata neque fideicommissa debentur, quamvis libertates et directae competant et fideicommissariae praestari debeant. * gord. a. prisciano.
When two heirs had been instituted, one for 5 unciae, the other for 7 unciae, you allege that, with a just complaint, you contended against him who had been written as heir for 7 unciae, but that you were defeated by the other; as to the portion for which the testament has been rescinded, since the one who prevailed succeeds by the right of intestacy, neither legacies nor fideicommissa are owed, although direct liberties are competent and fideicommissary liberties must be provided. * gordian augustus to priscianus.
Eum, qui inofficiosi querellam delatam non tenuit, a falsi accusatione non submoveri placuit. idem observatur et si e contrario falsi crimine instituto victus postea de inofficioso actionem exercere maluerit. * gord.
It has been decided that one who did not sustain a complaint of an undutiful will when it was brought is not to be removed from an accusation of falsity. The same is observed also if, conversely, after a charge of falsity has been instituted and he has been defeated, he should afterwards prefer to exercise the action on an undutiful will. * gord.
Contra maiores viginti quinque annorum duplicem actionem inferentes, primam, quasi testamentum non iure sit perfectum, alteram, quasi inofficiosum, licet iure perfectum, praescriptio ex prioris iudicii mora quinquennalis temporis non nascitur, quae officere non cessantibus non potest. * valer. et gallien.
Against those over twenty-five years old bringing a double action—the first, as if the testament were not duly perfected, the second, as if it were inofficious, although duly perfected in law—the prescription from the delay of the prior suit for a five-year period does not arise, which cannot hinder those who have not been remiss. * valerian and gallienus.
Cum te pietatis religionem non violasse, sed mariti coniugium quod fueras sortita distrahere noluisse ac propterea offensum atque iratum patrem ad exheredationis notam prolapsum esse dicas, inofficiosi testamenti querellam inferre non vetaberis. * diocl. et maxim.
Since you say that you did not violate the obligation of pietas, but were unwilling to sever the conjugal bond with the husband to whom you had been allotted, and that for this reason your father, offended and angry, proceeded to disinherit you, you will not be forbidden to bring a complaint of an undutiful will. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Filia in orbitate patris relicta cum marito, cui matre volente nupsit, colens concordiam iustas offensionis post eiusdem matris paenitentiam causas non praestat nec ex momentariis voluntatibus matris nupta atque vidua esse iure compellitur. * diocl. et maxim.
A daughter, left fatherless, living with the husband whom she married with her mother willing, nurturing concord, does not furnish just causes of offense after the repentance of that same mother, nor, by the mother’s momentary volitions, is she compelled by law to be married and widowed. * diocl. and maxim.
Fratris vel sororis filii, patrui vel avunculi, amitae etiam et materterae testamentum inofficiosum frustra dicunt, cum nemo eorum qui ex transversa linea veniunt exceptis fratre et sorore ad inofficiosi querellam admittatur. de falso sane per accusationem criminis queri non prohibentur. * diocl.
The sons of a brother or sister, a paternal or maternal uncle, and likewise a paternal aunt and a maternal aunt, assert in vain that a testament is inofficious, since none of those who come from the collateral line, except the brother and the sister, is admitted to the complaint of an inofficious testament. As to forgery, however, they are not prohibited from complaining by an accusation of crime. * Diocletian.
Si maritus tuus facto testamento te quidem ex asse scripsit heredem, filia autem quam habuit in potestate exheredata facta minime probetur nihilque ei relictum est neque iustas causas offensae praestitisse convincatur, eam de inofficioso testamento patris querentem totam hereditatem obtinere posse non ambigitur. * diocl. et maxim.
If your husband, after making a testament, indeed appointed you heir for the whole, but as to the daughter whom he had under his power, it is in no way proven that she was disinherited, and nothing was left to her, nor is he shown to have furnished just causes of offense, it is not doubted that she, complaining of the undutiful testament of her father, can obtain the entire inheritance. * diocl. et maxim.
Filiis matrem, quae de mariti moribus secus suspicetur, ita posse consulere iure compertum est, ut eos sub hac condicione instituat heredes, si a patre emancipati fuerint, atque eo pacto secundum tabulas bonorum possessionem patrem cum re accipere non videri, qui condicioni minime obtemperavit, neque ei nomine filiorum inofficiosi eo modo actionem posse competere, quibus nullam iniuriam fecerit mater, sed potius putaverit providendum, restituere debet. * diocl. et maxim.
It is established in law that a mother may thus be able to look out for her sons, who suspects otherwise of her husband’s morals: that she institute them as heirs under this condition, if they shall have been emancipated from their father; and that by that pact the father who has in no way obeyed the condition is not considered to receive, secundum tabulas (according to the tablets, i.e., the will), the bonorum possessio cum re; nor can an inofficiosi action in the name of the sons in that way be competent to him, for whom the mother has done no injury, but rather thought that provision should be made; he must restore. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Fratres vel sorores uterini ab inofficiosi actione contra testamentum fratris vel sororis penitus arceantur: consanguinei autem durante vel non agnatione contra testamentum fratris sui vel sororis de inofficioso quaestionem movere possunt , si scripti heredes infamiae vel turpitudinis vel levis notae macula adsparguntur vel liberti, qui perperam et non bene merentes maximisque beneficiis suum patronum adsecuti instituti sunt, excepto servo necessario herede instituto. * const. a. ad lucrium verinum.
Uterine brothers or sisters are to be utterly barred from an inofficious action against the testament of a brother or sister: but consanguines, whether agnation is subsisting or not, can raise the question concerning inofficiousness against the testament of their brother or sister , if the heirs instituted (named) are tainted with the stain of infamy or turpitude or of a slight blemish, or freedmen, who, improperly and not well‑deserving, and having obtained from their patron the very greatest benefits, have been instituted, except where a slave has been instituted as a necessary heir. * a constitution of the Augustus to Lucrius Verinus.
Liberi de inofficioso querellam contra testamentum parentum moventes probationes debent praestare, quod obsequium debitum iugiter, prout ipsius naturae religio flagitabat, parentibus adhibuerunt, nisi scripti heredes ostendere maluerint ingratos liberos contra parentes extitisse. * const. a. ad claudium praes.
Children bringing an inofficious complaint against the testament of their parents must furnish proofs that they continually rendered the due obsequium to their parents, as the religio of nature itself demanded, unless the instituted heirs should prefer to show that the children have been ungrateful toward their parents. * constantine augustus to claudius, the praeses.
Sin autem mater contra filii testamentum inofficiosi actionem instituat, inquiri diligenter iubemus, utrum filius nulla ex iusta causa laesus matrem novissima laeserit voluntate nec luctuosam ei et legitimam reliquerit portionem, ut testamento remoto matri successio deferatur. <a 321 d. viii id. febr. serdicae crispo ii et constantino ii cc. conss.>
But if the mother should institute an action of inofficiousness against the son’s testament, we order that diligent inquiry be made whether the son, injured by no just cause, injured his mother by his very last will and did not leave to her the mournful and legitimate portion, so that, the testament being removed, succession be conferred upon the mother. <a 321 on the 8th day before the ides of february at serdica, in the consulship of crispus 2 and constantine 2, caesars, consuls.>
Si tamen mater inhonestis factis atque indecentibus machinationibus filium forte obsedit insidiisque eum vel clandestinis vel manifestis appetiit vel inimicis eius suas amicitias copulavit atque in aliis sic versata est, ut inimica eius potius quam mater crederetur, ut hoc probato invita etiam adquiescat filii voluntati. <a 321 d. viii id. febr. serdicae crispo ii et constantino ii cc. conss.>
If, however, the mother has perhaps beset her son with dishonorable deeds and indecent machinations, and has attacked him with ambushes, either clandestine or manifest, or has coupled her friendships with his enemies, and has in other ways so conducted herself that she would be believed his enemy rather than his mother, then, this being proved, let her, even unwilling, acquiesce to the son’s will. <in the year 321, on the 8th day before the Ides of February, at Serdica, Crispus 2 and Constantine 2, Caesars, consuls.>
Quoniam novella constitutio divi leonis ante nuptias donationem a filio conferri ad similitudinem dotis quae a filia confertur praecepit, etiam ante nuptias donationem filio in quartam praecipimus imputari. * zeno a. sebastiano pp. * <a 479 d. k. mai. ipso a. ii conss.>
Since the novella constitution of the divine Leo prescribed that a donation before nuptials be conferred by a son in likeness to the dowry that is conferred by a daughter, we likewise order that the donation before nuptials be imputed to the son toward the fourth part. * Zeno Augustus to Sebastianus, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 479 on the Kalends of May; when the same Augustus was consul for the 2nd time.>
Eodemque modo cum mater pro filia dotem vel pro filio ante nuptias donationem vel avus paternus aut maternus vel avia paterna aut materna pro sua nepte vel pro suo nepote vel proavus itidem vel proavia paterna aut materna pro sua pronepte vel pro suo pronepote dederit, non tantum eandem dotem vel donationem conferri, verum etiam in quartam partem ad excludendam inofficiosi querellam tam dotem datam quam ante nuptias donationem praefato modo volumus imputari, si ex substantia eius profecta sit, cuius de hereditate agitur. <a 479 d. k. mai. ipso a. ii conss.>
And in the same way, when a mother has given a dowry for her daughter or an ante-nuptial donation for her son, or a paternal or maternal grandfather or a paternal or maternal grandmother for their granddaughter or for their grandson, or likewise a great-grandfather or a paternal or maternal great-grandmother for their great-granddaughter or for their great-grandson, we will not only that the same dowry or donation be collated, but also that both the dowry given and the ante-nuptial donation, in the aforesaid way, be imputed toward the fourth part for the exclusion of the inofficious complaint, if it has proceeded from the substance of the person whose inheritance is at issue. <a 479 d. k. mai. ipso a. ii conss.>
Omnimodo testatorum voluntatibus prospicientes magnam et innumerabilem occasionem subvertendae eorum dispositionis amputare censemus et in certis casibus, in quibus de inofficiosis defunctorum testamentis vel alio modo subvertendis moveri solebat actio, certa et statuta lege tam mortuis consulere quam liberis eorum vel aliis personis, quibus eadem actio competere poterat: ut, sive adiciatur testamento de implenda legitima portione sive non, firmum quidem testamentum sit, liceat vero his personis, quae testamentum quasi inofficiosum vel alio modo subvertendum queri poterant, id quod minus portione legitima sibi relictum est ad implendam eam sine ullo gravamine vel mora exigere, si tamen non ingrati legiti mis modis arguantur, cum eos scilicet ingratos circa se fuisse testator edixit: nam si nullam eorum quasi ingratorum fecerit mentionem, non licebit eius heredibus ingratos eos nominare et huiusmodi quaestionem introducere. et haec quidem de his personis statuimus, quarum mentionem testantes fecerint et aliquam eis quantitatem in hereditate vel legato vel fideicommisso, licet minorem legitima portione, reliquerint. * iust.
Looking in every way to the wills of testators, we deem it right to cut off the great and innumerable occasion for subverting their disposition, and, in certain cases in which an action used to be brought concerning unofficious wills of the deceased or for overturning them in another manner, by a fixed and established law to provide both for the dead and for their children or other persons to whom the same action could be competent: so that, whether there be added to the testament a clause about fulfilling the legitimate portion or not, the testament shall indeed be firm, yet it shall be permitted to those persons who could complain that the testament was as it were unofficious or to be overturned in another way to exact, without any burden or delay, that by which what was left to them falls short of the legitimate portion, so as to make it up—provided, however, that they are not accused as ungrateful by legitimate modes, namely where the testator has declared that they were ungrateful toward him: for if he has made no mention of them as ungrateful, it will not be permitted to his heirs to name them ungrateful and to introduce a question of this kind. And these things indeed we have established concerning those persons of whom testators have made mention, and have left to them some quantity in the inheritance or by legacy or by fideicommissum, although less than the legitimate portion. * iust.
Sin vero vel praeterierint aliquam eorum personam iam natam vel ante testamentum quidem conceptam, adhuc vero in ventre constitutam, vel exheredatione vel alia eorum mentione facta nihil eis penitus reliquerint, tunc vetera iura locum habere sancimus, nullam ex praesenti promulgatione novationem vel permutationem acceptura. <a 528 d. k. iun. constantinopoli iustiniano a. ii cons.>
But if indeed they have passed over any person of theirs already born, or conceived before the testament yet still established in the womb, or, disinheritance or some other mention of them having been made, have left them utterly nothing, then we sanction that the old laws have place, to receive no novation or permutation from this present promulgation. <in the year 528, on the Kalends of June, at Constantinople, in the 2nd consulate of Justinian Augustus.>
Imputari vero filiis aliisque personis, quae dudum ad inofficiosi testamenti querellam vocabantur, in legitimam portionem et illa volumus, quae occasione militiae ex pecuniis mortui eisdem personis adquisitae posse lucrari eas manifestum est, eo quod talis sit militia, ut vendatur vel mortuo militante certa pecunia ad eius heredes perveniat, ita tamen, ut ille gradus eiusdem militiae inspiciatur, quem morte testatoris militans obtinet, ut tanta ei pecunia in legitimam portionem computetur, quantam dari statutum est, si in eo gradu mortuus esset is, qui militiam ex pecuniis testatoris adeptus est. <a 528 d. k. iun. constantinopoli iustiniano a. ii cons.>
However, we will that there be imputed to the sons and to the other persons who were formerly called to the complaint of an undutiful testament, into the legitimate portion, even those gains which, on the occasion of a militia (service) acquired out of the deceased’s monies, it is manifest the same persons can obtain; because such is the militia that it is sold, or, when the one serving has died, a fixed sum of money comes to his heirs; provided, however, that the grade (rank) of that same militia be considered which the serviceman holds at the testator’s death, so that there be computed to him into the legitimate portion so much money as it is established would be given, if in that grade the one who obtained the militia from the testator’s funds had died. <a 528 d. k. iun. constantinopoli iustiniano a. ii cons.>
Exceptis solis viris spectabilibus silentiariis sacri nostri palatii, quibus praestita iam specialia beneficia tam de aliis capitulis quam de pecuniis super memorata militia a parentibus eorum datis, ne in legitimam portionem eis computentur, rata esse praecipimus: in ceteris vero personis praedictam observationem tenere volumus. <a 528 d. k. iun. constantinopoli iustiniano a. ii cons.>
With the sole exception of the men of spectabilis rank, the silentiaries of our sacred palace, for whom special benefits already granted both under other chapters and from moneys given by their parents regarding the aforementioned militia-service, lest they be counted to them in the legitime portion, we command to stand valid: but as to the other persons, we wish to maintain the aforesaid observance. <a 528 on the kalends of june at constantinople, in the 2nd consulship of justinian augustus.>
Quae nuper ad testamenta conservanda nec facile retractanda sanximus, ut ratione falcidiae minime illis personis derelicta, quae ad inofficiosi testamenti querellam ex prioribus vocabantur legibus, non periclitentur testamenta, sed quod deest legitimae portioni, id est quartae parti ab intestato successionis, tantum repleatur, exceptis illis quibus nihil in testamento derelictum est, in quibus prisca iura illibata servavimus, etiam ad testamenta sine scriptis facienda locum habere sancimus. * iust. a. menae pp. * <a 528 d. iii id. dec.
What we have recently ordained for preserving testaments and not allowing them to be easily retracted, so that, with the Falcidian allowance by no means left to those persons who under earlier laws were called to the complaint of an undutiful testament, testaments are not put in peril, but only what is lacking to the legitimate portion, that is, to the fourth part of succession ab intestato, be made up, excepting those to whom nothing is left in the testament, in which cases we have kept the ancient rights inviolate, we also ordain to have application to the making of testaments without writings. * justinian augustus to mena, praetorian prefect. * <a 528 d. 3 id. dec.
Quoniam in prioribus sanctionibus illud statuimus, ut, si quid minus legitima portione his derelictum sit, qui ex antiquis legibus de inofficioso testamento actionem movere poterant, hoc repleatur nec occasione minoris quantitatis testamentum rescindatur, hoc in praesenti addendum esse censemus, ut, si condicionibus quibusdam vel dilationibus aut aliqua dicpositione moram vel modum vel aliud gravamen introducente eorum iura, qui ad memoratam actionem vocabantur, minuta esse videantur, ipsa condicio vel dilatio vel alia dispositio moram vel quodcumque onus introducens tollatur et ita res procedat, quasi nihil eorum testamento additum esset. * iust. a. menae pp. * <a 529 d. ii k. april.
Since in earlier sanctions we established this: that, if less than the legitimate portion has been left to those who, under the ancient laws, could bring an action on an undutiful testament, this shall be made up, and the testament shall not be rescinded on the pretext of the lesser quantity; we judge that the following must now be added in the present: that, if by certain conditions or dilations (delays), or by any disposition introducing a delay or a mode or any other gravamen, the rights of those who were called to the aforesaid action seem to have been diminished, the condition or dilation or other disposition introducing delay or whatever burden shall be removed, and the matter shall proceed as if none of these had been added to the testament. * Justinian Augustus to Mena, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 529 d. 2 k. April.
Si quis suo testamento maximam quidem portionem libero derelinquat, minusculam autem alii vel aliis de sua stirpe progenitis, ipsam tamen legitimam sive in hereditate vel in legato vel in fideicommisso, ut non possit locus de inofficiosi testamenti querellae fieri, et ille quidem, qui ex parvulo genitoris sui consequitur substantiam, eam suscipere maluerit, qui autem ex maiore parte eam amplexus est, sive unus vel si plures sint, non statim et sine contentioso proposito vel ulla mora eam restituere voluerit, sed expectato iudiciorum strepitu et multis variisque certaminibus habitis post longum tempus ex sententia iudicis vix eam reddiderit, crudelitatem eius competenti poena adgredimur, ut, si haec fuerint subsecuta, non tantum in quod testator voluit eum restituere condemnetur, s ed etiam aliam tertiam partem quantitatis, quae fuerat in testamento derelicta, modis omnibus reddere, ut avaritia eius legitimis ictibus feriatur: aliis omnibus, quae in eodem testamento vel elogio scripta sunt, pro sui tenore ad effectum perducendis. * iust. a. demostheni pp. * <a 529 d. xv k. oct.
If anyone by his own testament should leave indeed the greatest portion to one child, but a very small one to another or to others sprung from his own stock—yet the very legitima, whether in the inheritance or in a legacy or in a fideicommissum—so that there cannot be room for a complaint of an undutiful testament; and the one who, from the small share of his begetter, obtains the substance should prefer to accept it, but the one who has embraced the greater part, whether one or several, should not wish to restore it at once and without a litigious intention or any delay, but, the clamor of lawsuits being awaited and many and various contests having been held, after a long time should scarcely return it by the sentence of a judge—we assail his cruelty with a fitting penalty: that, if these things shall have followed, he shall be condemned not only to restore what the testator wished him to restore, but also by all means to render another third part of the amount which had been left in the testament, so that his avarice may be struck by legitimate blows; all other things which are written in the same testament or codicil, to be carried through to effect according to their tenor. * justinian augustus to demosthenes, praetorian prefect. * <a 529 d. 15 k. oct.
Legis autem veteris iniquitatem tollentes, ut non diutius erubescat posita, quam iulius paulus in suis scripsit quaestionibus, hanc piissimam adgredimur sanctionem. cum enim infantem suum non posse ingratum a matre sua vocari scripsit neque propter hoc ab ultima suae matris hereditate repelli, nisi hoc odio sui fecerit mariti, ex quo infans progenitus est, hoc iniquum iudicantes, ut alieno odio alius praegravetur, penitus delendum esse sancimus et huiusmodi causam liberis non tantum infantibus, sed etiam quamcumque aetatem agentibus opponi minime concedimus, cum possit sub condicione emancipationis hereditatem suam mater filio derelinquens et patris odium punire et iuri filii sui minime nocere nec suam ma turam fallere. satis enim crudele nobis esse videtur eum qui non sentit ingratum existimari.
Removing the iniquity of the old law, so that the rule set forth by Julius Paulus in his Questions may no longer stand to our shame, we undertake this most pious sanction. For he wrote that an infant cannot be called “ungrateful” by his mother, nor on that account be repelled from his mother’s last inheritance, unless she did this from hatred of her own husband, from whom the infant was begotten; judging this inequitable, namely that one be burdened by another’s hatred, we decree it to be utterly deleted, and we by no means permit a cause of this kind to be opposed to children, not only to infants but also to those of whatever age; since, under the condition of emancipation, a mother, in leaving her inheritance to her son, can both punish the hatred of the father and in no way harm the right of her son, nor betray her own nature. For it seems to us sufficiently cruel that he who does not perceive should be deemed ungrateful.
Si quis filium suum exheredatum fecerit alio scripto herede, reliquerit autem ex eo nepotem vel vivum vel in ventre nurus suae constitutum, deliberante vero scripto herede filius decesserit, nulla hereditatis petitione ex nomine de inofficioso constituta vel praeparata omne adiutorium nepotem dereliquit. nec enim pater nepoti aliquod ius, cum decesserit, contra patris sui testamentum dereliquit , quia postea et adita est ab extraneo hereditas et supervixit avo pater eius, ut neque ex lege vellaea possit in locum patris sui succedere et rescindere testamentum. et hoc nonnulli iuris consulti in medio proponentes inhumane reliquer unt.
If anyone has made his son disinherited, another written as heir, but has left from him a grandson either living or constituted in the womb of his daughter-in-law, and indeed while the written heir is deliberating the son has died, he left the grandson without any aid, with no petition of inheritance established or prepared in his name on account of an inofficious will. For the father left to the grandson, when he died, no right against his own father’s testament, because afterwards the inheritance was also entered upon by an outsider and his father outlived his grandfather, so that neither by the Lex Vellaea can he succeed into his father’s place and rescind the testament. And certain jurisconsults, proposing this in the midst, have left it inhumane.
Sed nos, qui omnes subiectos nostros et filios et nepotes habere existimamus adfectione paterna et imitatione, secundum quod possibile est omnium commodo prospicientes iubemus in tali specie eadem iura nepoti dari, quae filius habebat, et nisi praeparatio facta est ad inofficiosi querellam instituendam, tamen posse nepotem eandem causam proponere: et si non heres apertissimis probationibus ostenderit ingratum patrem nepotis circa testatorem fuisse, testamento remoto ab intestato eum vocari, nisi certa quantitas patri eius minor parte legitima relicta est: tunc etenim secundum novellam nostri numinis constitutionem repletio quartae partis nepoti superest, si qua patri eius competebat: et perfruatur nostro beneficio a vetustate quidem neglectus, a nostro autem vigore recreatus, nisi pater adhuc superstes vel repudiavit querellam vel quinquennium tacuit, scilicet post aditam hereditatem. <a 531 d. iii k. aug. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
But we, who consider all our subjects to be our sons and grandsons by paternal affection and imitation, looking to the advantage of all so far as possible, order that in such a case the same rights be given to a grandson as the son had; and even if no preparation has been made to institute a complaint of an inofficious will, nevertheless the grandson can advance the same cause: and if the heir does not show by most evident proofs that the grandson’s father was ungrateful toward the testator, with the testament removed, let him be called to the inheritance as on intestacy, unless a definite quantity, smaller than the lawful portion, was left to his father: for then, according to the novel constitution of our divinity, the replenishment of the fourth part remains to the grandson, if any belonged to his father: and let him enjoy our beneficium, neglected indeed by antiquity but revived by our vigor, unless the father, still surviving, either repudiated the complaint or kept silence for 5 years, namely after the inheritance was accepted. <at Constantinople, on July 30, 531, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Si quando talis concessio imperialis processerit, per quam libera testamenti factio conceditur, nihil aliud videri principem concedere, nisi ut habeat consuetam et legitimam testamenti factionem. neque enim credendum est romanum principem qui iura tuetur huiusmodi verbo totam observationem testamentorum multis vigiliis excogitatam atque inventam velle everti. * iust.
If ever such an imperial concession should issue, by which free power to make a will is granted, the prince is to be seen as conceding nothing other than that one have the customary and lawful capacity for making a will. For it is not to be believed that the Roman prince, who guards the laws, by such a word wishes the entire observance of testaments, devised and discovered with much painstaking, to be overturned. * iust.
Illud etiam sancimus, ut, si quis a patre certas res vel pecunias accepisset et pactus fuisset, quatenus de inofficiosi querella adversus testamentum paternum minime ab eo moveretur, et post obitum patris filius cognito paterno testamento non agnoverit eius iudicium, sed oppugnandum putaverit, vetere iurgio exploso huiusmodi pacto filium minime gravari secundum papiniani responsum, in quo definivit meritis filios ad paterna obsequia provocandos quam pactionibus adstringendos. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
We also sanction this: that, if anyone had received certain things or monies from his father and had bargained to the effect that an inofficious complaint against the paternal testament should by no means be brought by him, and after the father’s death the son, once the paternal testament was known, did not acknowledge its judgment but thought it should be assailed, the old wrangle being exploded, by a pact of this sort the son is not at all to be burdened, according to the responsum of Papinian, in which he defined that sons are to be provoked to paternal duties by merits rather than to be bound by pactions. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
Et generaliter definimus, quando pater minus legitima portione filio reliquerit vel aliquid dederit vel mortis causa donatione vel inter vivos sub ea condicione , ut haec inter vivos donatio in quartam ei computetur, si filius post obitum patris hoc quod relictum vel datum est simpliciter agnoverit, forte et securitatem heredibus fecerit quod ei relictum est accepisse, non adiciens nullam sibi superesse de repletione quaestionem, nullum filium sibi facere praeiudicium, sed legitimam partem repleri, nisi hoc specialiter sive in apocha sive in transactione scripserit vel pactus fuerit, quod contentus relicta vel data parte de eo quod deest nullam habet quaestionem: tunc etenim omni exclusa querella paternum amplecti compellitur iudicium. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
And in general we define that, when a father has left to a son less than the legitimate portion, or has given something either by a donation mortis causa or inter vivos under the condition that this inter vivos donation be reckoned to him in the quarter, if the son after the death of the father has simply acknowledged what has been left or given—perhaps even has made a security to the heirs that he has received what was left to him—without adding that no question remains to him concerning replenishment, no son thereby makes a prejudice against himself, but the legitimate part is to be replenished, unless he has specifically either in the apocha or in the transaction written or stipulated that, content with the part left or given, he has no question regarding what is lacking: then indeed, with every complaint excluded, he is compelled to embrace the paternal judgment. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
Quae omnis sanctio suas radices extendat non solum ad filium vel filiam, sed etiam ad omnes personas, quae de inofficioso querellam contra mortuorum ultima elogia possunt movere. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
May this whole sanction extend its roots not only to a son or a daughter, but also to all persons who can bring a complaint of inofficiousness against the final testaments of the deceased. <a 531 on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men.>
Scimus ante constitutionem fecisse, qua cautum est, si pater minorem debita portionem filio suo reliquisset, omnimodo, etsi non adiciatur viri boni arbitratu repleri filio, attamen ipso iure inesse eandem repletionem. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 531 d. k. sept.
We know that previously we issued a constitution, by which it is provided that, if a father had left to his son a portion less than what is due, in every way, even if it is not added that it be made up to the son by the arbitration of a good man, nevertheless by the law itself that same repletion is present. * justinian, augustus, to john, praetorian prefect. * <a 531 on the kalends of september.
Quaerebatur itaque, si quis rem donatam vel inter vivos vel mortis causa vel in testamento relictam agnoverit et pro parte sua habuerit, deinde eadem res evicta vel tota vel pro parte fuerit, an debeat ex nostra constitutione pars legitima post evictionem suppleri: vel si ex lege falcidia minuantur legata vel fideicommissa vel mortis causa donationes, debet tamen ex hoc casu supplementum introduci: ne, dum totam falcidiam accipere heres nititur, etiam totum commodum hereditatis amittat. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
It was therefore asked, if someone has acknowledged a thing donated either inter vivos or mortis causa or left in a testament, and has held it for his share, then the same thing has been evicted either in whole or in part, whether the legitimate portion ought to be supplemented after the eviction by virtue of our constitution; or, if by the Falcidian law legacies or fideicommissa or mortis causa donations are reduced, nevertheless a supplementation ought to be introduced in this case, lest, while the heir strives to receive the whole Falcidian portion, he also lose the whole benefit of the inheritance. <a 531 on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most renowned men.>
Sancimus itaque in omnibus istis casibus, sive in totum evictio subsequatur sive in partem, emendari vitium et vel aliam rem vel pecunias restitui vel repletionem fieri, nulla falcidia interveniente, ut, sive ab initio minus fuerit derelictum sive extrinsecus qualiscumque causa interveniens aliquod gravamen imponat vel in quantitate vel in tempore, hoc modis omnibus repleri et nostrum iuvamen purum filiis inferri. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
We ordain therefore that in all these cases, whether eviction follows in whole or in part, the defect be corrected and either another thing or moneys be restored or repletion be made, with no Falcidian deduction intervening, so that, whether from the beginning less was left, or some external cause of whatever sort intervening imposes a burden either in the quantity or in the time, this be in every way replenished, and our assistance be brought pure to the children. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
Repletionem autem fieri ex ipsa substantia patris, non si quid ex aliis causis filius lucratus est vel ex substitutione vel ex iure adcrescendi, puta usus fructus: humanitatis etenim gratia sancimus ea quidem omnia quasi iure adventicio eum lucrari, repletionem autem ex rebus substantiae fieri. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
But let the repletion be made from the father’s very substance, not from whatever the son has gained from other causes, whether from substitution or from the right of accretion, for instance a usufruct: for by favor of humanity we sanction that he indeed acquires all those things as if by an adventitious right, but that the repletion be made from the things of the substance (estate). <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
Cum autem quis extraneo herede instituto filio suo restituere eum hereditatem suam, cum moriatur, disposuerit, vel in tempus certum restitutionem distulerit, quia nostra constitutio, quae antea posita est, omnem dilationem omnem moram censuit esse abstrahendam, ut quarta pars pura et mox filio restituatur, in huiusmodi specie quid faciendum sit, dubitabatur. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
But when someone, with a stranger heir instituted, has disposed that he restore to his son his inheritance when he dies, or has deferred the restitution to a fixed time, since our constitution, which has been set forth above, has judged that every dilatation, every delay, must be removed, so that a fourth part be pure and at once restored to the son, in a case of this sort it was doubted what should be done. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
Sancimus itaque quartae quidem partis restitutionem iam nunc celebrari non expectata nec morte heredis nec temporis intervallo, reliquim autem, quod post legitimam portionem restat, tunc restitui, quando testator disposuit. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
We decree, therefore, that the restitution of the fourth part be carried out now at once, awaiting neither the heir’s death nor any interval of time; but that the remainder, which is left after the legitimate portion, be restored then, when the testator has arranged. <a 531 on the kalends of sept., at constantinople, after the consulship of lampadius and orestes, most distinguished men.>
Sic etenim filius suam habebit portionem integram et qualem leges et nostra constitutio definivit, et scriptus heres commodum quod ei testator dereliquit cum legitimo moderamine sentiet. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
Thus indeed the son will have his portion entire and such as the laws and our constitution have defined, and the written heir will enjoy the benefit which the testator left to him, with lawful moderation. <in the year 531, on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men>
Illud praeterea sancimus, ut tempora de inofficiosi querellae ab adita hereditate secundum ulpiani opinionem currant, herennii modestini sententia recusata, qui a morte testatoris ilico cursum de inofficioso querellae temporibus dabat, ut non liceat heredi quando voluerit adire, ne per huiusmodi tramitem iterum filius defraudetur debito naturali. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
We further ordain that the periods for the complaint of inofficiousness shall run from the time the inheritance is entered upon, according to Ulpian’s opinion, rejecting the view of Herennius Modestinus, who assigned the running of the times for the complaint of inofficiousness immediately from the death of the testator, so that it may not be permitted to the heir to enter whenever he wishes, lest by a pathway of this sort the son again be defrauded of his natural due. <a in the year 531, on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men.>
Sancimus itaque, ubi testator decesserit alio scripto herede et speratur de inofficioso querella, necessitatem habere scriptum heredem, si quidem praesto est in eadem commanens provincia, intra sex mensuum spatium, sin autem seorsum utraque pars in diversis provinciis degit, tunc intra annale tantummodo spatium simili modo per continuum a morte testatoris numerandum omnimodo adire huiusmodi hereditatem, vel manifestare suam sententiam, quod hereditatem minime admittit: expeditus etenim ita tractatus inducitur filio memoratam movere querellam: sin vero scriptus heres intra statuta tempora minime adierit, per officium quidem iudicis scriptum compelli hoc facere. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
We therefore sanction that, when the testator has deceased with another written as heir and a complaint of inofficiousness is expected, the written heir have the necessity—if indeed he is present, dwelling in the same province—to do so within a span of six months; but if each party lives separately in different provinces, then within only an annual span, likewise to be reckoned continuously from the death of the testator, by all means either to enter upon such an inheritance, or to manifest his opinion that he by no means admits the inheritance: for thus an expedited handling is introduced for the son to move the aforementioned complaint: but if the written heir shall not have entered within the times established, through the office of the judge the written (heir) is to be compelled to do this. <a 531, on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
In medio tamen, id est a morte quidem testatoris, ante aditam autem hereditatem, etsi decesserit filius, huiusmodi querellam, licet non se praeparavit, ad suam posteritatem transmittet, ad extraneos vero heredes tunc tantummodo, quando antiquis libris insertam faciat praeparationem. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
However, in the intermediate time, that is, indeed from the death of the testator but before the inheritance has been entered upon, even if the son has died, he will transmit this kind of complaint, although he did not make preparation, to his own posterity; but to extraneous heirs only then, when he makes a preparation inserted in the ancient books. <a 531, on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men.>
In tali igitur peculio, quod quasi castrense appellatur, quibusdam personis licentia conceditur condere quidem testamenta, sed non quasi militibus pro voluerint modo, sed communi et licito et consueto ordine observando, quemadmodum constitutum fuerat in consulibus et praefectis legionum et praesidibus provinciarum et omnibus generaliter, qui in diversis dignitatibus vel administrationibus positi a nostra consequuntur manu vel ex publicis salariis quasdam largitates. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv cc.>
in such a peculium, therefore, which is called quasi-castrense, to certain persons license is granted indeed to make testaments, but not, as for soldiers, in whatever manner they may wish, rather by observing the common, lawful, and customary order, just as it had been established for consuls and prefects of legions and governors of provinces and, generally, for all who, being placed in diverse dignities or administrations, receive from our hand or from public salaries certain largesses. <a 531 on the day of the kalends of september, at constantinople, after the consulship of lampadius and orestes, most distinguished men.>
Sed et veterani, qui tempore quidem militiae sibi peculium adquisierunt, militiam autem deposuerunt, testari ( licito tamen modo) non prohibentur. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv cc.>
But also veterans, who indeed during the time of military service acquired for themselves a peculium, but have laid down their service, are not prohibited from making a testament ( yet in a licit manner). <a 531 on the Kalends of September at Constantinople after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Sed prior quaestio erat, si omnes qui quasi castrense peculium habent testari in hoc possint, quia non omnibus passim, sed quibusdam personis hoc privilegii loco concessum est: quia militibus quidem et veteranis testamenta facere in castrensi peculio undique concessum fuerat, sed militibus quidem in expeditione constitutis iure suo, veteranis autem iure communi: de aliis autem personis omnibus, quae non per speciale privilegium hoc acceperunt, si possint testari, dubitatum fuerat, ut puta viris disertissimis patronis causarum virisque devotissimis memorialibus et agentibus in rebus nec non magistris studiorum liberalium, archiatris quoque et omnibus omnino, qui salaria vel stipendia percipiunt publica. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv cc.>
But the prior question was, whether all who have a quasi-castrense peculium can make a testament with respect to this, since it has not been granted indiscriminately to all, but to certain persons as in the place of a privilege: for to soldiers and to veterans it had in every way been granted to make testaments in the castrense peculium, but to soldiers indeed, when placed on expedition, by their own law, and to veterans by the common law: but concerning all other persons who have not received this by a special privilege, whether they can make a testament, there had been doubt—for instance, to most eloquent men, patrons of causes, and to most devoted men, the memoriales and the agentes in rebus, as well as to the masters of liberal studies, and also to the archiatri, and, in general, to all who receive public salaries or stipends. <a 531 on the Kalends of September at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men.>
In his itaque omnibus sancimus, quia ad imitationem peculii castrensis quasi castrense peculium supervenit, omnibus, qui tale peculium possident, super ipsis tantummodo rebus, quae quasi castrensis peculii sunt, ultima condere ( secundum leges tamen) posse elogia: hoc nihilo minus eis addito privilegio, ut neque eorum testamenta de inofficioso querella expugnentur. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv cc.>
In all these matters, therefore, we sanction that, since in imitation of the castrense peculium a quasi-castrense peculium has supervened, all who possess such a peculium may, with respect only to those very things which are of the quasi-castrense peculium, compose final elogia ( nevertheless according to the laws): none the less with this privilege added to them, that their testaments are not assailed by a querella de inofficioso. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv cc.>
Si enim patronus adversus res, quas libertus eius ex castris quaesivit sui iuris indubitanter constitutus, praeteritus fuerit ab ingrato liberto, tamen contra eiusmodi peculium contra tabulas bonorum possessionem non habet secundum veterum legum sanctionem, quemadmodum oportet praefata peculia, quae ad instar castrensis peculii introducta sunt, de inofficioso querellae esse supposita? <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv cc.>
For if indeed a patron, unquestionably constituted sui iuris, with respect to the things which his freedman acquired from the camp, has been passed over by an ungrateful freedman, nevertheless he does not have possession of goods contra tabulas against such a peculium according to the sanction of the ancient laws; how is it proper that the aforesaid peculia, which have been introduced on the model of the castrense peculium, be subjected to a complaint de inofficioso? <a 531 on the Kalends of September at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Sed haec obtinere oportet, donec in sacris parentum suorum constituti sunt hi qui quasi castrense peculium possident. si enim sui iuris efficiantur, procul dubio est eorum testamenta et pro ipsis rebus, quas antea ex quasi castrensi peculio habebant, posse de inofficioso querellam sustinere, cum neque nomen peculii permanet, sed aliis rebus confunditur et similem fortunam recipit, quemadmodum et ceterae res eorum, et unum congregatur ex omnibus patrimonium. <a 531 d. k. sept.
But these provisions ought to obtain, so long as those who possess a quasi‑military peculium are established in the sacra of their parents. For if they become sui iuris, it is beyond doubt that both their testaments and, with respect to the very things which previously they held from the quasi‑military peculium, can sustain a complaint of inofficiousness, since neither does the name of peculium remain, but it is mixed together with other things and receives a similar fortune, just as their other assets, and from all there is gathered one patrimony. <a 531 d. k. sept.
Si, ut adlegatis, mater vestra ad deludendam inofficiosi querellam paene universas facultates suas, dum ageret in rebus humanis, factis donationibus sive in quosdam liberos sive in extraneos exhausit ac postea vos ex duabus unciis fecit heredes easque legatis et fideicommissis exinanire gestivit, non iniuria iuxta formam super inofficioso testamento constitutorum subveniri vobis utpote quartam partem non habentibus desideratis. * philipp. a. nicanori et papinianae.
If, as you allege, your mother, to elude the complaint of inofficiousness, while she was engaged in human affairs, exhausted almost all her resources by donations, either to certain children or to outsiders, and afterwards made you heirs for two twelfths and wished to empty even these by legacies and fideicommissa, it is not unjust—according to the form of the constitutions concerning an inofficious testament—that relief be afforded to you, since you do not have the fourth part, as you desire. * philipp., the emperor, to Nicanor and Papinianae.
Pater si omne patrimonium suum impetu quodam immensae liberalitatis in filium effudit, aut in potestate is permansit, et arbitri familiae erciscundae officio congruit, ut tibi quartam debitae ab intestato portionis praestet incolumen, aut emancipatus fuerit, et, quia donatio non indiget alieno adminiculo, sed suis viribus nititur, iuxta constitutiones is qui provinciam regit ad similitudinem inofficiosi querellae auxilium tibi aequitatis impertiet. * valer. et gallien.
If a father, by a certain impulse of immense liberality, has poured out all his patrimony upon his son, then, if he has remained under paternal power, it accords with the office of the arbiter in a suit for partition of a family estate (familiae erciscundae) that he render to you intact the fourth of the share due ab intestato; or, if he has been emancipated, since a donation does not need another’s assistance but relies upon its own forces, the governor of the province, in accordance with the constitutions, will impart to you the aid of equity in the likeness of the complaint of undutifulness (querella inofficiosi). * Valerian and Gallienus.
Precibus quidem tuis proposita rescripta eos parentes denotant, qui, cum testamento facto vivi patrimonium suum immensis donationibus exinanissent, inane nomen heredum liberis reliquissent. sed ad intestatos quoque eadem ratio aequitatis extenditur. * valer.
Indeed, the rescripts set forth in your petitions denote those parents who, after making a will, while still alive had emptied their patrimony by immense donations, leaving to their children the empty name of heirs. But the same rationale of equity is extended also to those dying intestate. * valer.
Si filius tuus immoderatae liberalitatis effusione patrimonium suum exhausit, praesidis provinciae auxilio uteris, qui discussa fide veri, si in integrum restitutionem ex filii persona competere tibi ob improbabilem donationis enormitatem animadverterit, in removendis his quae perperam gesta sunt tibi subveniet. ideoque non est tibi necessarium adversus immodicas donationes auxilium ad instar inofficiosi testamenti. * diocl.
If your son, by an outpouring of immoderate liberality, has exhausted his patrimony, you shall use the aid of the governor of the province, who, once the truth has been sifted, if he observes that a restitution in integrum, in your son’s person, is competent to you on account of the unconscionable enormity of the donation, will assist you in removing those things that have been wrongly done. And therefore it is not necessary for you, against immoderate donations, to seek a remedy after the fashion of the action for an inofficious testament. * diocl.
Si totas facultates tuas per donationes vacuefecisti, quas in emancipatos filios contulisti, id, quod ad submovendas inofficiosi testamenti querellas non ingratis liberis relinqui necesse est, ex factis donationibus detractum, ut filii vel nepotes, qui postea ex quocumque legitimo matrimonio nati sunt, debitum bonorum subsidium consequantur, ad patrimonium tuum revertetur. * diocl. et maxim.
If you have emptied your entire means through donations, which you have conferred upon emancipated sons, that which, for the removing of complaints of an undutiful testament, must be left to children not ungrateful—being subtracted from the donations made—will revert to your patrimony, so that sons or grandsons who are afterwards born from any legitimate marriage may obtain the due subsidy of goods. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Cum donationibus in fratrem tuum collatis facultates patris tui exhaustas esse eundemque patrem vestrum ea quae superfuerant codicillis inter vos divisisse proponas, si voluntatem eius non agnovisti nec beneficio aetatis adversus haec iuvari poteris nec tantum dos a patre data et fideicommissum continent, quantum ad submovendam querellam sufficiat, de enormitate donationum ad exemplum inofficiosi testamenti praeses provinciae iurisdictionis suae partes exhibebit. * diocl. et maxim.
Since you allege that by donations conferred upon your brother your father’s resources have been exhausted, and that this same father of yours divided by codicils among you the things which had remained, if you did not acknowledge his will and you cannot be aided against these by the benefit of age, and neither the dowry given by the father nor the fideicommissum contain so much as suffices to remove the complaint, on account of the enormity of the donations, on the model of the inofficious testament, the governor of the province will exercise the functions of his jurisdiction. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si mater tua ita patrimonium suum profunda liberalitate in fratrem tuum evisceratis opibus suis exhausit, ut quartae partis dimidium, quod ad excludendam inofficiosi testamenti querellam adversus te sufficeret, in his donationibus quas tibi largita est non habeas, quod immoderate gestum est revocabitur. * diocl. et maxim.
If your mother has so exhausted her patrimony upon your brother, with her own resources eviscerated by profound liberality, that you do not have, in those donations which she bestowed upon you, the half of a fourth part, which would suffice to exclude a complaint of an undutiful testament against you, what was done immoderately will be revoked. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si liqueat matrem tuam intervertendae quaestionis inofficiosi causa patrimonium suum donationibus in unum filium collatis exhausisse, cum adversus eorum cogitationes, qui consiliis supremum iudicium anticipare contendunt et actiones filiorum exhauriunt, aditum querellae ratio deposcat, quod donatum est pro ratione quartae ad instar inofficiosi testamenti convicti deminuetur. * diocl. et maxim.
If it be clear that your mother, for the sake of thwarting an inofficious complaint, exhausted her patrimony by donations conferred upon one son, since, against the schemes of those who by counsels strive to anticipate the last judgment and drain the actions of their children, the rationale demands that an avenue of complaint be afforded, what has been donated shall be diminished, according to the ratio of a fourth, after the pattern of an inofficious testament once convicted. * Diocl. and Maxim.
Nam quod uxor a marito in se matrimonii tempore donationis causa collatum emancipato filio communi consentiente domino donavit, velut ex bonis patris, de cuius substantia prohibente matrimonio non potuit exire, datum accipi rationis est: in cuius bonis si idem consilium et eventus comprehendatur, lex, quam patrimonio matris ediximus, observabitur. <a 294 pp. iii id. sept. cc. conss.>
For that which a wife, from her husband, during the time of marriage, had been conferred upon herself for the cause of a donation, and she donated to their common emancipated son with the common owner consenting, is to be received as given as though from the father’s goods, out of whose substance, marriage prohibiting, it could not go forth; and if in his goods the same plan and outcome be comprised, the law which we have proclaimed concerning the mother’s patrimony shall be observed. <a 294 pp. 3 id. sept. cc. conss.>
Non convenit dubitari, quod immodicarum donationum omnis querella ad similitudinem inofficiosi testamenti legibus fuerit introducta et sit in hoc actionis utriusque vel una causa vel similis aestimanda vel idem et temporibus et moribus. * consius. a. olybrio.
It is not fitting to be doubted that every complaint about immoderate donations was introduced by the laws in the likeness of the suit for an undutiful will, and that in this matter, for both actions, either one and the same ground is to be assessed or a similar one, and the same as to time limits and usages. * in the consulship of A. Olybrius.
Cum omnia bona a matre tua dote dicantur exhausta, concordare legibus promptum est, ut ad exemplum inofficiosi testamenti adversus dotem immodicam exercendae actionis copia tribuatur et filiis conquerentibus emolumenta debita deferantur. * constantius a. ad maximum praes. ciliciae.
Since all goods are said to have been exhausted by your mother’s dowry, it readily accords with the laws that, on the exemplar of an inofficious will, the facility for exercising an action against an immoderate dowry be granted, and that to the sons who complain the due emoluments be delivered. * constantius augustus to maximum, governor of cilicia.
Usuras vero pecuniarum ante litis contestationem ex die venditionis hereditarium rerum ab eo factae qui antea possidebat collectas nec non etiam fructus bonae fidei possessores reddere cogendi non sunt, nisi ex his locupletiores extiterunt. <a 170 pp. vi k. febr. claro et cethego conss.>
Truly, interest on monies collected before the contestation of the suit, from the day of the sale of hereditary things made by him who previously possessed them, and likewise the fruits, possessors in good faith are not to be compelled to restore, unless they have become enriched from these. <a 170 pp. 6th day before the Kalends of February, Claro and Cethegus, consuls.>
Post litem autem contestatam tam fructus non venditarum rerum, non solum quos perceperunt, sed etiam quos percipere poterant, quam usuras pretii rerum ante litis contestationem venditarum ex die contestationis computandas omnimodo reddere compellantur. <a 170 pp. vi k. febr. claro et cethego conss.>
But after the contestation of the suit, they are in every way compelled to restore both the fruits of the things not sold—not only those which they have perceived, but also those which they could have perceived—and the interest of the price of the things sold before the contestation of the suit, to be computed from the day of contestation. <a 170 pp. 6 k. febr. claro et cethego conss.>
Si post motam controversiam menecratis bonorum partem dimidiam musaeus ab herede scripto quaestionis illatae non ignarus comparavit, tam ipse quasi malae fidei possessor quam heredes eius fructus restituere coguntur. * sev. et ant.
If, after the controversy has been set in motion, Musaeus, not unaware of the question that had been brought, acquired from the instituted heir the half part of the estate of Menecrates, both he himself, as a possessor in bad faith, and his heirs are compelled to restore the fruits. * Severus and Antoninus.
Hereditas materterae petita non infringit alterius hereditatis petitionem, quae venit ex alia successione. sed et si quaestionis titulus prior inofficiosi testamenti causam habuisset, iudicatae rei praescriptio non obstaret eandem hereditatem ex alia causa vindicanti. * sev.
The inheritance of a maternal aunt, when sought, does not infringe the petition for another inheritance, which comes from a different succession. And even if the title of the prior suit had been the cause of an inofficious testament, the prescription of res judicata would not stand in the way of one vindicating the same inheritance from another cause. * sev.
De hereditate, quam bona fide possidebas, si contra te pronuntiatum est, in restitutione eius detrahetur, quod creditoribus eiusdem hereditatis exsolvisse te bona fide probaveris: nam repeti a creditoribus, qui suum receperint, non potest. * ant. a. postumianae.
On the inheritance, which you possessed bona fide, if judgment has been pronounced against you, there shall be deducted upon its restitution what you shall have proven that you paid bona fide to the creditors of that same inheritance: for it cannot be reclaimed from creditors who have received what is theirs. * Antoninus to Postumiana.
Si putas non iure tutores datos nepotibus tuis, quod eos dicas in potestate tua esse, petere ab his hereditatem filii tui emancipati non moreris, cuius commodum ad te pertinere dicis, iudice statuturo, an a praesidalibus actis discedendum sit, qui eis tutores dedit, cum in tua potestate negarentur esse. * alex. a. firmino.
If you think tutors were not lawfully given to your grandsons, because you say that they are in your power, you need not delay to seek from them the inheritance of your emancipated son, whose advantage you say pertains to you, the judge to determine whether there should be a departure from the praesidial acts by which tutors were given to them, when they were denied to be in your power. * alex. a. to firminus.
Cum hereditatis petitioni locus fuerat, exceptio adsumebatur, quae tuebatur hereditatis petitionem, ne fieret ei praeiudicium. magnitudo etenim et auctoritas centumviralis iudicii non patiebatur per alios tramites viam hereditatis petitionis infringi. * iust.
When there was occasion for an inheritance petition, an exception was taken up which protected the inheritance petition, lest prejudice be done to it. For the magnitude and authority of the centumviral court did not allow the way of the inheritance petition to be infringed by other bypaths. * Justinian.
Cumque multae varietates et controversiae veterum exortae sunt, eas certo fine concludentes sancimus, si quis hereditatis petitionem vel susceperit vel suscipere sperat vel movere, alius autem superveniens vel ex deposito vel commodato vel legato vel ex fideicommisso vel ex aliis causis inquietare vel reum vel agentem ex persona defuncti crediderit sibi esse necessarium, si quidem pro legato vel fideicommisso hoc faciat, rem expeditae quaestionis esse, cum possit scriptus heres cautione interposita non differre hanc petitionem, sed recte exigi vel legatum vel fideicommissum sub cautela vel satisdatione pro qualitate personarum , quod, si non obtinuerint eius iura, restituet legatarius vel fideicommissarius ei datam pecuniam cum usuris ex quarta centesimae parte currentibus, vel agrum cum fructibus quos percepit, vel domum cum pensionibus , scilicet in utroque eorum expensis antea necessariis et utilibus deductis: vel si ipse maluerit litem quidem contestari, expectare autem hereditatis petitionis eventum, hoc ei liceat facere, ut restitutio, si competeret, cum legitimis augmentis legatario vel fideicommissario accedat. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
And since many varieties and controversies of the ancients have arisen, bringing them to a fixed end we sanction: if anyone has either undertaken or hopes to undertake or to set in motion an inheritance claim, but another person supervenes and, whether from deposit, loan for use (commodatum), legacy, fideicommissum, or other causes, thinks it necessary for himself to disturb either the defendant or the plaintiff on the person of the deceased—if indeed he does this on account of a legacy or a fideicommissum, the matter is one for expedited disposition, since the named heir, security having been interposed, can avoid deferring this claim, but the legacy or fideicommissum is rightly to be exacted under caution or surety according to the quality of the persons; with the proviso that, if his rights do not prevail, the legatee or the fideicommissary shall restore to him the money given, with interest running at one-fourth of the centesima rate, or the field with the fruits he has taken, or the house with the rents—namely, in each of those, the necessary and useful expenses previously deducted; or, if he himself would prefer indeed to join issue but to await the outcome of the inheritance claim, let it be permitted him to do this, so that the restitution, if it should be due, may accrue to the legatee or fideicommissary with lawful augmentations. <a 531 on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Sin autem ex contractibus defuncti agatur contra possessorem hereditatis vel eius rei de qua agitur, si quidem res sint vel depositae vel commodatae vel pignori datae vel aliae quae extant, non differri sub praetextu hereditatis petitionis memoratum iudicium, quemadmodum, si pro fenerata pecunia vel alia personali actione agatur contra possessorem vel petitorem, non debet iudicium differri, sed exitum suum accipere. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
But if, however, suit is brought from the contracts of the deceased against the possessor of the inheritance or of the very thing at issue—if indeed the things are either deposited, or loaned for use (commodated), or given in pledge, or other items which are extant—the aforesaid proceeding is not to be deferred under the pretext of an inheritance claim; just as, if suit is brought for money lent at interest or another personal action against the possessor or the claimant, the proceeding ought not to be deferred, but should receive its outcome. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
Postquam etenim hereditatis petitionis iudicium finem accipiat, tunc inter petitorem hereditatis et possessorem rationibus contractis non aliter possessor, si victus fuerit, hereditatem restituere compellitur, nisi pro omnibus quae rite ab eo gesta sunt petitor ei satisfaciat. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
For after the judgment of the petition of inheritance takes its end, then, between the petitioner of the inheritance and the possessor, with the accounts settled, the possessor, if he shall have been defeated, is not compelled to restitute the inheritance otherwise, unless the petitioner satisfies him for all things which were duly done by him. <at 531 on the Kalends of September, at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Quod si petitor fuerit victus, simili modo a possessore iudicis officio ei satisfiat vel, si hoc fuerit praetermissum, negotiorum gestorum vel ex lege condictione. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
But if the petitioner should be defeated, in like manner let satisfaction be made to him by the possessor through the judge’s office, or, if this has been omitted, by the action for management of affairs or by the statutory condictio. <a 531 on the kalends of september at constantinople after the consulate of lampadius and orestes, most distinguished men.>
Sin autem libertates vel a possessore vel a petitore fideicommissariae petantur vel directae ipso iure dicantur competere, annale tantummodo spatium expectetur a morte testatoris numerandum. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
But if, however, freedoms—whether fideicommissary and sought either by the possessor or by the claimant, or direct and said to accrue by the law itself—are demanded, only a one-year period shall be awaited, to be counted from the death of the testator. <a 531 on the Kalends of September at Constantinople, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most illustrious men.>
Sin autem tempus annale emanaverit, tunc libertatis favore et humanitatis intuitu competant quidem directae libertates, ex fideicommissariis autem in libertatem servi eripiantur, ita tamen, si non falsum testamentum approbetur: sub ea scilicet condicione, ut, si actores sint vel alias ratiociniis suppositi, et postquam perveniant in libertatem, necessitas eis imponatur res hereditarias et rationes reddere: iure patronatus videlicet competente ei, qui ex legibus ad id possit vocari. <a 531 d. k. sept. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
But if the annual time shall have elapsed, then, by the favor of liberty and in view of humanity, direct manumissions do indeed obtain; but slaves held under fideicommissa are to be taken into freedom—provided, however, that a forged testament is not approved: under this condition, namely, that, if they are stewards (actores) or otherwise set over bookkeeping (accounts), then, after they come into freedom, an obligation be imposed on them to render the hereditary assets and the accounts; with the right of patronage, that is, belonging to him who according to the laws can be called to that. <a Constantinople, on the Kalends of September, year 531, after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Etiam per alienum servum bona fide possessum ex re eius qui eum possidet vel ex operis servi adquiri dominium vel obligationem placuit. quare tu quoque si bona fide possedisti eundem servum et ex nummis tuis mancipia eo tempore comparavit, potes secundum iuris formam uti defensionibus tuis. * sev.
Even through another’s slave possessed in good faith, it has been resolved that ownership or an obligation can be acquired either from the assets of him who possesses him or from the slave’s works. Wherefore you too, if you possessed that same slave in good faith and at that time he purchased mancipia (slaves) with your money, you can, according to the form of law, employ your defenses. * sev.
Mancipium autem alienum mala fide possidenti nihil potest adquirere, sed qui tenet non tantum ipsum, sed etiam operas eius nec non ancillarum partum et animalium fetus reddere cogitur. <a 210 pp. iii non. mai.
But a slave belonging to another, possessed in bad faith, can acquire nothing; and he who holds him is compelled to restore not only the person himself, but also his services, and likewise the childbirth of maidservants and the offspring of animals. <a 210 posted on the 3rd day before the Nones of May.
Sed et id, quod in solo tuo aedificatum est, quoad in eadem causa manet, iure ad te pertinet. si vero fuerit dissolutum, materia eius ad pristinum dominium redit, sive bona fide sive mala fide aedificium extructum sit, si non donandi animo aedificia alieno solo imposita sint. <a 213 pp. xii k. nov.
But also that which has been built on your soil, so long as it remains in the same condition, by law pertains to you. But if it has been dismantled, its material returns to its pristine dominion, whether the building was erected in good faith or in bad faith, provided that the buildings were not placed on another’s soil with the intention of donating. <a 213 pp. 12 k. nov.
Domum, quam ex matris successione ad te pertinere et ab adversa parte iniuria occupatam esse ostenderis, praeses provinciae cum pensionibus quas percepit aut percipere poterat et omni causa damni dati restitui iubebit. * gord. a. herasiano.
The house which you shall have shown to pertain to you from your mother’s succession and to have been wrongfully occupied by the adverse party, the governor of the province will order to be restored, together with the rents which he received or could have received, and with all damages. * gordian augustus to herasianus.
Eius autem quod impendit rationem haberi non posse merito rescriptum est, cum malae fidei possessores eius quod in rem alienam impendunt, non eorum negotium gerentes quorum res est, nullam habeant repetitionem, nisi necessarios sumptus fecerint: sin autem utiles, licentia eis permittitur sine laesione prioris status rei eos auferre. <a 239 pp. ii id. febr. gordiano a. et aviola conss.>
Moreover, it has been rightly rescripted that an account cannot be had of what he expended, since possessors in bad faith, in what they expend upon another’s property, not managing the business of those whose the thing is, have no repetition, unless they have made necessary expenses: but if they are useful, licence is permitted to them to remove them without injury to the prior status of the thing. <a 239, on the 2nd day before the Ides of February, in the consulship of Gordianus Augustus and Aviola.>
Si ea pecunia quam deposueras is apud quem collocata fuerat sibi possessiones comparavit ipsique traditae sunt, tibi vel omnes tradi vel quasdam compensationis causa ab invito eo in te conferri iniuriosum est. * gord. a. austronio mil.
If, with the money which you had deposited, the person with whom it had been placed procured possessions for himself and they were delivered to him, it is unlawful that either all be delivered to you, or that some be conferred upon you for the sake of compensation, from him against his will. * gordian the augustus to austronius, soldier.
Si, ut proponis, pars diversa pecunia tua quaedam nomine suo comparavit, praeses provinciae utilem vindicationem obtentu militiae tibi eo nomine impertiri desideranti partes aequitatis non negabit. idem mandati quoque seu negotiorum gestorum actionem inferenti tibi iurisdictionem praebebit. * philipp.
If, as you set forth, the opposing party has purchased certain things with your money in his own name, the governor of the province will not deny to you, who desire that a useful vindication be imparted to you by reason of military service on that account, the remedies of equity. The same will also afford jurisdiction to you bringing an action of mandate or of business transacted. * philipp.
Cum super vernis mancipiis nulla instrumenta te habere adseveres, in iudicio, in quo negotium coeptum esse proponitur, id quod in precem contulisti postulare debuisti. iudex enim non ignorat servorum dominia etiam citra instrumentorum exhibitionem aliis probationibus vel ipsorum interrogatione posse ostendi. * diocl.
Since you assert that you have no instruments concerning homeborn slaves, in the court in which it is put forward that the matter has been initiated, you ought to have demanded that which you conveyed into your petition. For the judge does not ignore that the dominion over slaves can be shown even without the exhibition of instruments, by other proofs or by the interrogation of the slaves themselves. * diocl.
Sane eum, qui bona fide possidens haec fecerit, per doli mali exceptionem contra vindicantem dominium servare sumptus iuris auctoritate significatum est. <a 293 d. iiii k. mart. sirmi aa. conss.>
Indeed, it is established by the authority of law that he who, possessing in good faith, has done these things may, by the exception of fraudulent wrong (doli mali), preserve his expenses against the person vindicating ownership. <a 293, on the 4th day before the Kalends of March, at Sirmium, when the Augusti were consuls.>
Incivile atque inusitatum est quod postulas, ut mancipium, quod tradidisti et hoc modo dominium eius transtulisti, invito eo ex nostro rescripto tibi adsignetur. unde intellegis semel ancilla emptoris facta filios etiam postea natos eius dominium sequi, cuius mater eorum eo tempore fuit. sane de pretio, si non te hoc probatum fuerit recepisse, conveni adversarium tuum.
It is uncivil and unusual, what you demand: that the mancipium (slave), which you delivered and thus transferred its ownership (dominium), be assigned to you by our rescript against his will. Whence you understand that, once the slave-girl has been made the buyer’s, even children born thereafter follow the ownership of him whose the mother was at that time. But as to the price, if it has not been proved that you received it, proceed against your adversary.
Cum a matre domum filii te sciente comparasse proponas, adversus eum dominium vindicantem, si matri non successit, nulla te exceptione tueri potes. quod si venditricis obtinet hereditatem, doli mali exceptione, pro qua portione ad eum hereditas pertinet, uti non prohiberis. * diocl.
When you allege that you purchased from the mother a house belonging to the son, with your knowledge, then, against him claiming ownership, if he has not succeeded to the mother, you can protect yourself by no exception. But if he holds the inheritance of the seller, you are not forbidden to use the exception of fraud (dolo malo), to the extent to which the inheritance pertains to him. * Diocletian.
Erit sane in arbitrio tuo pretium quod dedisti cum usuris recipere, ita tamen, ut perceptorum fructuum et sumptuum ratio habeatur: cum et si ex causa donationis utrique dominium rei vindicetis, eum, cui priori possessio soli tradita est, haberi potiorem convenit. <a 293 d. xv k. oct. aa. conss.>
It will indeed be within your discretion to recover the price which you paid, together with interest, yet in such a way that account is taken of the fruits received and the expenses: since also, if on the ground of a donation you both claim ownership of the thing, it is fitting that he be held the stronger to whom possession of the land was first delivered. <a 293 d. 15 k. oct. aa. conss.>
Si fundum vestrum, vobis per denuntiationem admonentibus volentem ad emptionem accedere, quod distrahentis non fuerit, non recte is contra quem preces funditis comparavit vel alio modo mala fide contraxit, tam fundum vestrum constitutum probantibus quam fructus, quos eum mala fide percepisse fuerit probatum, aditus praeses provinciae restitui iubebit. * diocl. et maxim.
If, you giving admonition by denunciation to one willing to proceed to the purchase, he nevertheless bought—or otherwise contracted in bad faith—your farm, which did not belong to the seller, then, upon your proving both that the farm is yours and the fruits which it shall have been proven that he received in bad faith, the provincial governor, when approached, will order them to be restored. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Nullo iusto titulo praecedente possidentes ratio iuris quaerere prohibet dominium. idcirco cum etiam usucapio cesset, intentio dominii non absumitur: unde hoc casu postliminio reverso citra beneficium actionis rescissoriae directa permanet integra vindicatio. * diocl.
With no just title preceding, the rule of law prohibits possessors from seeking ownership. Therefore, since usucapion also ceases, the intention (claim) of dominium is not taken away: whence in this case, with postliminy having returned, without the benefit of the rescissory action, the direct vindicatio remains intact. * diocl.
Si usus fructus omnium bonorum testamento uxoris marito relictus est, quamvis cautionem a te prohibuerat exigi, tamen non aliter a debitoribus solutam pecuniam accipere poteris quam oblata secundum formam senatus consulti cautione. * sev. et ant.
If the usufruct of all the goods has been left to the husband by the wife’s testament, although she had forbidden that security be exacted from you, nevertheless you will not be able to receive from the debtors the money paid otherwise than upon security being tendered in accordance with the form of the senatorial decree. * Severus and Antoninus.
Usu fructu constituto consequens est, ut satisdatio boni viri arbitrio praebeatur ab eo, apud quem id commodum pervenit, quod nullam laesionem ex usu proprietati adferat. nec interest, sive ex testamento sive ex voluntario contractu usus fructus constitutus est. * alex.
With the usufruct constituted, it follows that security be provided, at the arbitrament of a good man, by the one to whom that benefit has come, that he bring no injury to the ownership from the use. Nor does it matter whether the usufruct has been constituted by testament or by voluntary contract. * alex.
Si pater usum fructum praediorum in tempus vestrae pubertatis matri vestrae reliquit, finito usu fructu postquam vos adolevistis, posterioris temporis fructus perceptos ab ea repetere potestis, quos nulla ratione sciens de alieno percepit. * alex. a. .. evocato et aliis.* <a 226 pp. k. april.
If your father left the usufruct of the estates to your mother for the time of your puberty, once the usufruct has ended after you have grown up, you can reclaim from her the fruits of the later period that she collected, which she knowingly took, with no justification, from another’s property. * alexander augustus .. to the Evocatus and others.* <a 226, on the day before the Kalends of April.
Interest, usum fructum solum maritus tuus in dotem acceperit, an proprietas quidem doti data sit, verum pactum intercessit, ut moriente eo tibi eadem possessio redderetur. nam usufructuarius quidem proprietatem pignorare non potuit: qui autem proprietatem aestimatam in dotem accepit, non ideo minus obligare eam potuit, quoniam soluto matrimonio restituenda tibi aestimatio eius fuit. * alex.
It makes a difference whether your husband received only the usufruct as a dowry, or whether indeed ownership was given into the dowry, but an agreement intervened that upon his death the same possession would be returned to you. For a usufructuary could not pledge the ownership; but he who received the ownership, appraised, into dowry was nonetheless able to bind it, since upon the dissolution of the marriage the appraisal of it had to be restored to you. * alex.
Usu fructu matri tuae praediorum et mancipiorum relicto tam alienatio quam manumissio interdicta est. sane mancipia, quorum testamento ministerium matri relictum est, cum in his dominium non habet, nec tradendo cuiquam nec manumittendo ad testatoris heredem pertinentia quicquam facit. * diocl.
With the usufruct of the praedial estates and slaves left to your mother, both alienation and manumission are interdicted. Indeed, as to the slaves whose service has been left to the mother by the testament, since she has no ownership (dominium) in them, neither by delivering them to anyone nor by manumitting does she do anything to the slaves pertaining to the testator’s heir. * diocl.
Ambiguitatem antiqui iuris decidentes sancimus, sive quis uxori suae sive alii cuicumque usum fructum reliquerit sub certo tempore, in quo vel filius eius vel quisquam alius pervenerit, stare usum fructum in annos, in quos testator statuit , sive persona, de cuius aetate compositum est, ad eam pervenerit sive non: neque enim ad vitam hominis respexit, sed ad certa curricula: nisi ipse cui usus fructus legatus sit ab hac luce fuerit subtractus: tunc etenim ad posteritatem usum fructum transmitti non est possibile, cum morte usum fructum penitus extingui iuris indubitati sit. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. k. aug.
Cutting off the ambiguity of the ancient law, we sanction that, whether someone has left a usufruct to his wife or to anyone else under a fixed time, upon the attainment of which either his son or anyone else has arrived, the usufruct is to stand for the years for which the testator has appointed , whether the person with reference to whose age it was arranged has arrived at it or not: for he did not look to the life of a man, but to certain curricula (fixed terms): unless the very person to whom the usufruct has been bequeathed has been withdrawn from this light: then indeed it is not possible for the usufruct to be transmitted to posterity, since it is of undoubted law that a usufruct is utterly extinguished by death. * Justinian Augustus to Julian, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 530 on the Kalends of August.>
Sin autem talis fuerit incerta condicio, 'donec in furore filius vel alius quisquam remanserit', vel in aliis similibus casibus, quorum eventus in incerto sit, si quidem resipuerit filius vel alius, pro quo hoc dictum est, vel condicio extiterit, usum fructum finiri: sin autem adhuc in furore is constitutus decesserit, tunc quasi in usufructuarii vitam eo relicto manere usum fructum apud eum. cum enim possibile erat usque ad omne vitae tempus usufructuarii non ad suam mentem venire furentem vel condicionem impleri, humanissimum est ad vitam eorum usum fructum extendi. quemadmodum etenim, si decesserit usufructuarius ante completam condicionem vel furorem finitum, extinguitur usus fructus, ita humanum est extendi eum in usufructuarii vitam, etsi antea decesserit furiosus vel alia co ndicio defecerit.
But if the condition has been of such an uncertain sort—“until the son or some other person remains in frenzy”—or in other like cases whose outcome is uncertain, then, if indeed the son or the other person for whom this was said comes back to his senses, or the condition occurs, the usufruct is to end; but if he dies while still established in frenzy, then the usufruct is to remain with him, as though it had been left for the lifetime of the usufructuary. For since it was possible that, for the whole span of the usufructuary’s life, the frenzied person might not return to his own mind or the condition be fulfilled, it is most humane to extend the usufruct to their lifetime. For just as, if the usufructuary dies before the condition is completed or the frenzy is ended, the usufruct is extinguished, so too it is humane that it be extended into the lifetime of the usufructuary, even if the madman has died earlier or another condition has failed.
Cum antiquitas dubitabat usu fructu habitationis legato, et primo quidem cui similis est, utrumne usui vel usui fructui an neutri eorum, sed ius proprium et specialem naturam sortita est habitatio, postea autem si possit is cui habitatio legata est eandem locare vel dominium sibi vindicare, auctorum iurgium decidentes compendioso responso omnem huiusmodi dubitationem resecamus. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. xviii k. oct.
Since antiquity was in doubt about a legacy of a usufruct of habitation, and at first indeed, to which it is similar—whether to use or to usufruct, or to neither of them—yet habitation obtained its own right and a special nature; but afterwards, as to whether the one to whom habitation has been bequeathed can lease the same or vindicate dominion for himself, settling the quarrel of the authorities with a compendious response, we cut away every doubt of this kind. * justinian augustus to julian, praetorian prefect. * <a 530 on the 18th day before the kalends of october.
Et si quidem habitationem reliquerit, ad humaniorem declinare sententiam nobis visum est et dare legatario etiam locationis licentiam. quid enim distat, sive ipse legatarius maneat sive alii cedat, ut mercedem accipiat? <a 530 d. xviii k. oct.
And if indeed he has left the habitation, it has seemed good to us to incline to the more humane opinion and to give to the legatee even the license of leasing. For what difference is there, whether the legatee himself remain or cede it to another, so that he may receive the rent? <a 530 d. 18 k. oct.
In tantum etenim valere habitationem volumus, ut non antecellat usum fructum nec dominium habitationis speret legatarius, nisi specialiter evidentissimis probationibus ipse legatarius possit ostendere et dominium ei domus esse relictum: tunc enim voluntati testatoris per omnia oboediendum est. <a 530 d. xviii k. oct. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
For we wish the habitation to be valid only to such an extent that it does not take precedence over the usufruct, nor should the legatee expect ownership by reason of the habitation, unless the legatee himself can specifically show by the most evident proofs that ownership of the house also has been left to him: for then the will of the testator must in all things be obeyed. <a 530 d. xviii k. oct. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Antiquitas dubitabat, si quis fundum vel aliam rem cuidam testamento reliquerit, quatenus usus fructus apud heredem maneat, si huiusmodi constat legatum. * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. xv k. oct.
Antiquity was in doubt, if someone left by testament a farm (estate) or another thing to someone, to what extent the use-and-fruits (usufruct) should remain with the heir, if a legacy of this kind is established. * Justinian Augustus to Julian, praetorian prefect. * <a 530, day 15 before the Kalends of October.
Et cum quidam inutile legatum esse existimabant, quia usus fructus numquam ad suam redit proprietatem, sed semper apud heredem remanet, et forsitan hoc existimabant, quia et secundus heres et deinceps successores unus esse videntur et non potest huiusmodi usus fructus secundum veterem distinctionem solitis modis extingui, alii autem huiusmodi legatum non esse respuendum existimaverunt: tales altercationes decidentes censemus et huiusmodi legatum firmum esse et talem usum fructum una cum herede finiri et illo moriente vel aliis legitimis modis eum amittente expirare. quare enim iste usus fructus sibi tale vindicat privilegium, ut generali interemptione usus fructus ipse solus excipiatur? quod ex nulla induci rationabili sententia manifestissimum est.
And while certain persons were considering the legacy to be useless, because the usufruct never returns to its own proprietorship, but always remains with the heir, and perhaps they thought this because the second heir and thereafter the successors seem to be one and the same person, and such a usufruct cannot, according to the old distinction, be extinguished by the customary modes, others, however, judged that a legacy of this kind ought not to be rejected: cutting off such altercations, we decree that a legacy of this sort is firm, and that such a usufruct is finished together with the heir and, he dying or losing it by other lawful modes, expires. For why does this usufruct claim for itself such a privilege, that in the general extinction of usufructs this one alone should be excepted? Which is most manifest from the fact that no rational opinion can be adduced.
Et propter hoc et usum fructum finiri et ad proprietatem suam redire et utile esse legatum sancientes huiusmodi paucissimis verbis totam eorum ambiguitatem delevimus. <a 530 d. xv k. oct. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
And for this reason, by sanctioning both that the usufruct be terminated and return to its own property, and that the legacy be valid, we have, with very few words of this sort, erased all their ambiguity. <a 530 on the 15th day before the Kalends of October, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Inter antiquam prudentiam dissensio incidit, si per servum usus fructus domino fuerit adquisitus et ex quibusdam casibus ( multi enim rebus incidunt mortalibus)pars huiusmodi servi in alium pervenerit, utrum omnis usus fructus, qui antea per servum ad aliquem pervenerit, apud eum remaneat an totus tollatur vel ex parte deminuatur, ex parte autem apud eum resideat? * iust. a. iuliano pp. * <a 530 d. x k. oct.
Among the ancient jurists a dissension arose: if a usufruct had been acquired for the master through a slave, and by certain contingencies (for many things befall mortals) a share of such a slave had passed to another, whether the whole usufruct, which previously had come to someone through the slave, remains with him, or is wholly taken away, or is diminished in part, and in part remains with him? * justinian augustus to julian, praetorian prefect. * <a 530 d. 10 k. oct.
Et super huiusmodi dubitatione tres sententiae vertebantur, una, quae dicebat ex particulari alienatione servi totum usum fructum deminui, alia in tantum usum fructum deminui, in quantum et servus alienatur, tertia, quae definiebat partem quidem servi posse alienari, usum fructum autem totum apud eum remanere, qui ante servum in solidum habebat. et in novissimam sententiam et summum auctorem iuris scientiae salvium iulianum esse invenimus. <a 530 d. x k. oct.
And concerning a doubt of this kind three opinions were turning: one, which said that from a particular alienation of the slave the whole usufruct is diminished; another, that the usufruct is diminished to the extent that the slave too is alienated; a third, which defined that indeed a part of the slave can be alienated, but that the entire usufruct remains with him who previously had the slave in solidum. And for the latest opinion we have found even the supreme author of the science of law, Salvius Julianus, to be. <a 530 d. x k. oct.
Nobis autem haec decidentibus placuit salvii iuliani admitti sententiam et aliorum qui in eadem fuerunt opinione, quibus humanius visum est non interemptionem usus fructus studiosam esse, sed magis retentionem, quatenus, etsi pars servi alienatur, tamen nec pars usus fructus depereat, sed maneat secundum suam naturam integer atque incorruptus et, quemadmodum et ab initio fixus est, ita conservetur ex huiusmodi casu nullo deterioratus modo. <a 530 d. x k. oct. lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But to us, as we decide these matters, it has seemed good to admit the opinion of Salvius Julianus and of others who were of the same view, to whom it seemed more humane not to be eager for the extinction of the usufruct, but rather for its retention; inasmuch as, even if a part of the slave is alienated, nevertheless no part of the usufruct should perish, but it should remain, according to its nature, entire and incorrupt, and, just as it was fixed from the beginning, so it should be preserved, in no way made worse by a case of this kind. <in the year 530, on the 10th day before the Kalends of October, under Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Corruptionem usus fructus multiplicem esse veteribus placuit, vel morte usufructuarii vel capitis deminutione vel non utendo vel aliis quibusdam non ignotis modis. sed de usu fructu quidem hoc indubitatum fuerat: de personali autem actione, quae super usu fructu nascitur, sive in stipulationem usus fructus deductus sive ex testamento relictus est, dubitabatur, morte quidem usufructuarii et capitis deminutione et eam tolli omnibus concedentibus, non utendo autem, si per annum vel per biennium forsitan eundem usum fructum non petierit usufructuarius, si personalis actio tollitur, altercantibus. * iust.
It pleased the ancients that the corruption (extinction) of a usufruct is manifold: either by the death of the usufructuary, or by diminution of status (capitis deminutio), or by non-use, or by certain other modes not unknown. But as to the usufruct itself, this had been undoubted: however, concerning the personal action which arises upon a usufruct, whether the usufruct has been brought into a stipulation or left by testament, it was doubted—everyone conceding that by the death of the usufructuary and by diminution of status it too is removed—yet as to non-use, if for a year or perhaps for two years the usufructuary has not demanded the same usufruct, they disputed whether the personal action is extinguished. * iust.
Sed nos haec decidentes sancimus non solum actionem quae pro usu fructu nascitur , sed nec ipsum usum fructum non utendo cadere, nisi tantummodo morte usufructuarii et ipsius rei interitu, sed usum fructum, quem sibi aliquis adquisivit, hunc habeat, dum vivit, intactum, cum multae et innumerabiles causae rebus incidunt mortalibus, per quas homines iugiter detinere quod habent non possunt, et est satis durum per huiusmodi difficultates amittere quod semel possessum est, nisi talis exceptio usufructuario opponetur, quae, etiam si dominium vindicabat, poterat eum praesentem vel absentem excludere. <a 530 d. k. oct. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
But we, deciding these matters, sanction that not only the action which arises for a usufruct, but not even the usufruct itself, shall fall by non‑use, save only by the death of the usufructuary and the destruction of the thing itself; rather, let the usufruct which someone has acquired for himself be held, while he lives, intact, since many and innumerable causes befall mortal affairs, through which men cannot continually detain what they have, and it is quite harsh to lose through such difficulties what has once been possessed, unless such an exception be opposed to the usufructuary as could exclude him, whether present or absent, even if ownership were being vindicated. <a 530 on the Kalends of October, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Sed nec per omnem capitis deminutionem huiusmodi detrimentum imminere nostris patimur subiectis. quare enim, si filius familias fuerit is qui usum fructum habet, forte ex castrensi peculio, ubi nec usus fructus adquiritur ei, possessum, per emancipationem eum amittat? sed secundum quod definitum est tunc eum tantummodo desinere, cum usufructuarius vel res pereat, et tantummodo eum cum anima vel rei substantia expirare, nisi praedictae exceptionis vigor reclamaverit.
But neither do we allow such a detriment to threaten our subjects upon every diminution of status (capitis deminutio). For why, if the one who has the usufruct is a son in the family (filius familias), perhaps held from a castrense peculium, where no usufruct is acquired for another, should he lose it through emancipation? But in accordance with what has been determined, then only does it cease, when either the usufructuary or the thing perishes, and it is to expire only with the soul or with the substance of the thing, unless the vigor of the aforesaid exception has protested.
Ex libris sabinianis quaestio nobis relata est, per quam dubitabatur, si usus fructus per servum adquisitus vel per filium familias capitis deminutione filii magna vel media vel morte vel emancipatione vel servi quacumque alienatione vel morte vel manumissione potest adhuc remanere. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 531 d. xv k. nov.
From the Sabinian books a question has been reported to us, by which it was doubted whether a usufruct acquired through a slave or through a son under paternal power can still remain, if the son undergoes a capitis deminutio maxima or media, or death or emancipation, or if the slave is in any way alienated, or dies, or is manumitted. * Justinian Augustus to John the Praetorian Prefect. * <a 531 d. 15 k. nov.
Et ideo sancimus in huiusmodi casibus neque, si servus vel filius familias in praefatos casus inciderit, interrumpi patri vel domino usum fructum qui per eos adquisitus est, sed manere intactum, neque, si pater capitis deminutionem magnam vel mediam passus fuerit vel morte ab hac luce fuerit exemptus, usum fructum perire, sed apud filium remanere, etiamsi heres a patre non relinquatur. <a 531 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
And therefore we sanction that in cases of this kind neither, if a slave or a son in the household should fall into the aforesaid cases, is the usufruct which has been acquired for the father or master through them to be interrupted, but to remain intact; nor, if the father has suffered a great or a middle capitis deminution or has been taken from this light by death, should the usufruct perish, but remain with the son, even if he is not left as heir by the father. <a 531 d. 15 Kal. Nov. at Constantinople after the consulship of Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men.>
Usum fructum enim per eum adquisitum apud eum remanere et post patris calamitatem oportet, cum plerumque verisimile est testatorem contemplatione filii quam patris usum fructum ei reliquisse. <a 531 d. xv k. nov. constantinopoli post consulatum lampadii et orestae vv. cc.>
For the usufruct acquired through him ought to remain with him even after the father’s calamity, since for the most part it is likely that the testator, in contemplation of the son rather than of the father, left the usufruct to him. <a 531 day 15 before the kalends of november, at constantinople, after the consulship of lampadius and orestes, most distinguished men.>
Si quas actiones adversus eum, qui aedificium contra veterem formam extruxit, ut luminibus tuis officeret, competere tibi existimas, more solito exercere non prohiberis. is, qui iudex erit, longi temporis consuetudinem vicem servitutis obtinere sciet, modo si is qui pulsatur nec vi nec clam nec precario possidet. * ant.
If you think that some actions lie for you against the one who has erected a building contrary to the former plan, so as to obstruct your lights, you are not forbidden to exercise them in the customary manner. The one who will be judge will know that the consuetude of long time holds the place of a servitude, provided that the one who is proceeded against possesses neither by force, nor secretly, nor by permission. * ant.
Si aquam per possessionem martialis eo sciente duxisti, servitutem exemplo rerum mobilium tempore quaesiisti. quod si ante id spatium eius usus tibi interdictus est, frustra sumptus in ea re factos praestari tibi postulas, cum in aliena possessione operis facti dominium, quoad in eadem causa manet, ad eum pertinet, cuius est possessio. * ant.
If you led water through the possession of Martialis with him aware of it, you have acquired a servitude by lapse of time, on the model of movable things. But if before that span your use of it was interdicted to you, you vainly demand that the expenses incurred in that matter be reimbursed to you, since on another’s possession the ownership of the work done, so long as it remains in the same condition, pertains to him whose is the possession. * ant.
Et in provinciali praedio constitui servitus aquaeductus vel aliae servitutes possunt, si ea praecesserint, quae servitutem constituunt: tueri enim placita inter contrahentes debent. quare non ignorabis, si priores possessores aquam duci per praedia prohibere iure non potuerunt, cum eodem onere perferendae servitutis transire ad emptores eadem praedia posse. * ant.
And on a provincial estate a servitude of aqueduct or other servitudes can be constituted, if those things have preceded which constitute a servitude: for the pacts between contracting parties ought to be upheld. Wherefore you will not be unaware that, if the prior possessors could not by right forbid water to be led through the estates, the same estates can pass to the buyers with the same burden of bearing the servitude. * ant.
Praeses provinciae usu aqua, quam ex fonte iuris tui profluere adlegas, contra statutam consuetudinis formam carere te non permittet, cum sit durum et crudelitati proximum ex tuis praediis aquae agmen ortum sitientibus agris tuis ad aliorum usum vicinorum iniuria propagari. * claud. a. prisco.
The governor of the province will not allow you to be deprived of the use of water, which you allege flows from a spring of your own right, contrary to the established form of custom, since it is harsh and bordering on cruelty that, with your fields thirsting, a stream of water arising from your estates should be extended to the use of others by the wrongful act of neighbors. * Claudius Augustus to Priscus.
Si manifeste doceri possit ius aquae ex vetere more atque observatione per certa loca profluentis utilitatem certis fundis inrigandi causa exhibere, procurator noster, ne quid contra veterem formam atque sollemnem morem innovetur, providebit. * diocl. et maxim.
If it can be manifestly demonstrated that the right of water, from old custom and observance, of flowing through certain places exhibits utility for the purpose of irrigating certain estates, our procurator will provide that nothing be innovated against the old form and the customary usage. * diocl. and maxim.
Si in aedibus vicini tibi debita servitute parietem altius aedificavit heraclius , novum opus suis sumptibus per praesidem provinciae tollere compellitur. sed si te servitutem habuisse non probetur, tollendi altius aedificium vicino non est interdictum. * diocl.
If, in the house of the neighbor, with a servitude owed to you, Heraclius has built the wall higher, he is compelled to remove the new work at his own expense through the provincial governor. but if it is not proved that you had the servitude, the neighbor is not interdicted from raising the building higher. * Diocl.
Si tibi servitutem aquae deberi praeses animadverterit nec hactenus non utentem spatio temporis amisisse perspexerit, uti te iure proprio providebit. nam si hoc minime probetur, loco proprio facto opere dominus fundi continere aquam et facere, quominus ager tuus rigari possit, non prohibetur. * diocl.
If the governor shall have observed that a servitude of water is owed to you, and shall not have perceived that, up to this point, by not using it over a span of time you have lost it, he will provide that you use it by your own right. For if this is by no means proved, the owner of the estate is not prohibited, by a work made in its proper place, to contain the water and to bring it about that your field cannot be irrigated. * diocl.
Sicut usum fructum, qui non utendo per biennium in soli rebus, per annale autem tempus in mobilibus vel se moventibus deminuebatur, non passi sumus huiusmodi sustinere compendiosum interitum, sed et ei decennii vel viginti annorum dedimus spatium, ita et in ceteris servitutibus obtinendum esse censuimus, ut omnes servitutes non utendo amittantur non biennio, quia tantummodo soli rebus adnexae sunt, sed decennio contra praesentes vel viginti annorum spatio contra absentes, ut sit in omnibus huiusmodi rebus causa similis differentiis explosis. * iust. a. iohanni pp. * <a 531 d. xv k. nov.
Just as, in the matter of usufruct—which, by non‑use, was diminished over a two‑year period (biennium) in things of the soil, but over an annual term in movables or self‑moving things—we did not allow such a compendious extinction to be sustained, but granted to it a span of ten years (decennium) or of twenty years, so too we have judged that the same is to obtain in the other servitudes: namely, that all servitudes be lost by non‑use not in a biennium (since they are attached only to things of the soil), but in a decennium against those present, or in a period of twenty years against those absent, so that in all such matters the case may be similar, the differences being abolished. * Justinian Augustus to John, Praetorian Prefect. * <in the year 531, on the 15th day before the Kalends of November.
Cum talis quaestio in libris sabinianis vertebatur: quidam etenim pactus est cum suo vicino, ut liceat ei vel per se vel per suos homines per agrum vicini transitum facere iterque habere uno tantummodo per quinquennium die, quatenus ei licentia sit in suam silvam inde transire et arbores excidere vel facere, quidquid ei fuerit visum, et quaerebatur, quando huiusmodi servitus non utendo amittitur , et quidam putaverunt, si in primo vel secundo quinquennio per eam viam non itum est, eandem servitutem penitus tolli quasi per biennium ea non utendo deperdita, singulo die quinquennii pro anno numerando, aliis aliam sententiam eligentibus, nobis placuit ita causam dirimere, ut, quia iam per legem latam a nobis prospectum est, ne servitutes per biennium non utendo depereant, sed per decem v el viginti annorum curricula, et in proposita specie , si per quattuor quinquennia nec uno die vel ipse vel homines eius eadem servitute usi sunt, tunc eam penitus amittat viginti annorum desidia. qui enim in tam longo prolixoque spatio suum ius minime consecutus est, sera paenitentia ad pristinam servitutem reverti desiderat. * iust.
Since such a question was being discussed in the Sabinian books: for a certain man had made a pact with his neighbor, that it be permitted to him, either by himself or by his men, to make a transit through the neighbor’s field and to have a right of way on only one day per quinquennium, to the extent that he have license to pass thence into his own wood and to cut trees or to do whatever should have seemed good to him, and it was being asked when a servitude of this kind is lost by non-use , and some thought that, if in the first or second quinquennium that road was not gone along, the same servitude is utterly removed as though lost by non-use for a biennium, each day of the quinquennium being counted for a year, while others chose another opinion, it has pleased us to resolve the case thus: since already by a law enacted by us provision has been made that servitudes do not perish by non-use for a biennium, but over courses of 10 or 20 years, and in the proposed case , if for four quinquennia neither on a single day did he himself or his men use the same servitude, then he utterly loses it by the idleness of 20 years. For he who in so long and extended a span has by no means attained his right, with late repentance desires to return to the former servitude. * Justin.
Cum autem apertissimi iuris est fructus aridos conculcatione quae in area fit suam naturam et utilitatem ostendere, aliquis vicinum suum vetabat ita aedificium extollere iuxta suam aream, ut ventus excluderetur et paleae ex huiusmodi obstaculo secerni a frugibus non possent, quasi vento suam vim per omnem locum inferre ex huiusmodi aedificatione vetito, cum secundum regionis situm et auxilium venti aream accedit. sancimus itaque nemini licere sic aedificare vel alio modo versari, ut idoneum ventum et sufficientem ad praefatum opus infringat et inutilem domino aream et fructuum inutilitatem faciat. <a 531 d. xi k. nov.
Since, moreover, it is most manifest in law that dry fruits, by the trampling which is done on the threshing-floor, display their own nature and utility, someone was forbidding his neighbor to raise a building next to his threshing-floor in such a way that the wind would be shut out and the chaff could not be separated from the grain by reason of such an obstacle, as though, with such a building forbidden, the wind would bring its own force into every place, whereas, according to the site of the region and the assistance of the wind, it gains access to the threshing-floor. We therefore sanction that it be permitted to no one so to build or to conduct himself in any other manner as to infringe the wind suitable and sufficient for the aforesaid work and to make the threshing-floor useless to its owner and to bring about the uselessness of the fruits. <a 531 d. 11 k. nov.
Legis aquiliae actione expertus adversus eum, quem domum tuam deposuisse vel incendio concremasse damnoque te adflixisse proponis, ut id damnum sarciatur, competentis iudicis auctoritate consequeris. quin etiam, si aqua per iniuriam alio derivata est, ut in priorem statum restituatur, eiusdem iudicis cura impetrabis. * gord.
By employing the action of the Aquilian law against the person whom you allege to have demolished your house or to have consumed it by fire and to have afflicted you with damage, you will obtain, by the authority of the competent judge, that that damage be repaired. Indeed further, if water has been diverted elsewhere wrongfully, you will, through the care of the same judge, obtain that it be restored to its prior state. * gord.
Uxor tua si mortuo patre tuo, cui dotem numeraverat, cum heres ei extiteris, adhuc in matrimonio tuo fuit, familiae erciscundae actionem ad exsequendam dotem secundum iuris pridem placitum adversus coheredes tuos nactus es eamque retines, etiam si postea, dum tibi nupta est, decessit. * ant. a. avitiano.
if your wife, after your father—whom she had paid the dowry—died, and when you became his heir she was still in your marriage, you have acquired, and you retain, the action for partition of the inheritance (familiae erciscundae actio) to execute the dowry according to the long-ago settled rule of law against your coheirs, even if afterwards, while she was married to you, she deceased. * antoninus to avitianus.
Adversus coheredes dividendae hereditatis iudicio secundum iuris formam experire. iudex datus, si quid a coherede etiam tuae portionis ex hereditate sublatum fuerit probatum, adiudicationibus factis secundum iuris formam eum tibi condemnabit. expilatae enim hereditatis crimen frustra coheredi intenditur, cum iudicio familiae erciscundae indemnitati prospiciatur.
Proceed against coheirs by the action for dividing the inheritance according to the form of the law. the appointed judge, if it is proved that anything has been removed from the estate by a coheir—even of your portion—, once the adjudications have been made according to the form of the law, will condemn him in your favor. for the charge of a plundered inheritance is vainly directed against a coheir, since in the action for partition of the family (familiae erciscundae) provision is made for indemnity.
Si filius familias fuisti et res mobiles vel se moventes, quae castrensis peculii esse possunt, donatae tibi a patre sunt, eas quoque in cetero peculio castrensi non communes cum fratribus tuis habes. praedia autem, licet eunti tibi in castra filio pater donaverit, peculii castrensis non sunt. diverso iure ea praedia habentur, quae ex occasione militiae filiis familias obveniunt: haec enim castrensi peculio cedunt.
If you were a filius familias and movable things or self-moving things, which can belong to the military peculium, were donated to you by your father, you likewise hold these, in your remaining military peculium, not in common with your brothers. But estates, although your father may have donated them to you, his son going into the camp, are not of the military peculium. By a different law are held those estates which, on the occasion of military service, accrue to sons under paternal power: for these cede to the military peculium.
In ipsius mariti tui fuit potestate mutare, quod iratus in servos suos testamento caverat, ut unus quidem in perpetuis vinculis moraretur, alter vero exportandus venumdaretur. proinde si offensam istam clementia flexit ( quod, licet scriptura non probetur, vel aliis tamen rationibus doceri nihil impedit, praesertim cum posteriora eorum talia merita deprehenduntur, ut ira domini potuerit mitigari), novissimam eius voluntatem arbiter familiae erciscundae sequetur. * alex.
it was in your husband’s own power to change what, in anger against his slaves, he had provided in his testament, namely that one should remain in perpetual chains, but the other be sold for export. therefore, if clemency has softened that offense ( which, although it is not proved by the writing, nevertheless nothing prevents from being shown by other reasons, especially since their later merits are found to be such that the master’s wrath could have been mitigated), the arbiter of the action for partition of the inheritance will follow his most recent will. * alex.
Si qua fideicommissorum petitio inter coheredes consistat, praetor vel praeses provinciae eius rei disceptator constitutus vel iudex familiae erciscundae iudicio aditus, ut voluntas testatricis servetur, suas partes debet accommodare. * gord. a.Aeliano.
If any petition of fideicommissa is at issue among coheirs, the praetor or the praeses of the province appointed as arbitrator of that matter, or the judge in the action familiae erciscundae when approached, ought to do his part, so that the will of the testatrix may be observed. * gord. to Aelianus.
Quotiens inter omnes heredes testator successionem dividit ac singulos certis possessionibus cum mancipiis, quae in isdem sunt constituta, iubet esse contentos , voluntati eius salva legis falcidiae auctoritate obtemperandum esse manifestum est: nec mutat, quod in sequentibus verbis mancipia sua universa nulla facta eorum discretione commendanda putavit heredibus, cum utique his ea videatur insinuasse, quibus etiam testamento relinquenda esse decrevit. * gord. a. philoterae.
Whenever a testator divides the succession among all the heirs and orders each to be content with certain estates together with the slaves which are established on the same, it is manifest that his will must be obeyed, the authority of the Lex Falcidia being saved: nor is it altered by the fact that in the subsequent words he thought that all his slaves, no distinction of them having been made, ought to be commended to the heirs, since he surely seems to have intimated them to those to whom he also decreed by the testament that they were to be left. * gordian the augustus to philoterae.
Certum est liberorum peculia post mortem patris in hereditate dividenda ad communionem esse revocanda. frater autem et coheres tuus ob contractus, quibus vivente patre etiam ignorante ipso obligatus fuit, convenire te et alterum fratrem tuum coheredem vestrum ultra non potest, quam ut de peculio suo recipiat tantam quantitatem, in quantam condemnatus est his, cum quibus ipse contraxit. * diocl.
It is certain that the peculia of the children, after the death of the father, must be recalled into the common estate when the inheritance is to be divided. But your brother and coheir, on account of the contracts by which, while the father was living—even he himself being ignorant—he was obligated, cannot sue you and your other brother, your coheir, any further than this: that, out of his own peculium, he may receive such an amount as the sum in which he has been condemned to those with whom he contracted. * diocl.
Si familiae erciscundae iudicio, quo bona paterna inter te ac fratrem tuum aequo iure divisa sunt, nihil super evictione rerum singulis adiudicatarum specialiter inter vos convenit, id est ut unusquisque eventum rei suscipiat, recte possessionis evictae detrimentum fratrem tuum et coheredem pro parte agnoscere praeses provinciae per actionem praescriptis verbis compellet. * diocl. et maxim.
If, in the iudicium familiae erciscundae by which the paternal goods were divided between you and your brother with equal right, nothing was specially agreed between you concerning the eviction of the things adjudicated to each—namely, that each should assume the outcome of the thing—the provincial praeses will rightly compel your brother and coheir, by an actio praescriptis verbis, to acknowledge for his share the detriment from the evicted possession. * diocl. and maxim.
Si divisionem conventione factam etiam possessio consensu secuta dominium pro solido rerum, quas pertinere ad patrem tuum placuit, ei firmavit, earum vindicationem habere potes, si patri tuo successisti. si vero placitum divisionis usque ad pactum stetit, arbiter familiae erciscundae iudicio vobis datus communionem inter vos finiri providebit. * diocl.
If a division made by convention, and also possession following by consent, has confirmed to him ownership for the whole (pro solido) of the things which it has been decided pertain to your father, you can have their vindication, if you have succeeded to your father. if, however, the agreement of division stood only at the level of a pact, an arbiter for partitioning the family estate (familiae erciscundae), assigned to you by judgment, will provide that the co-ownership between you be ended. * diocl.
Filii patris testamentum rescindendi, si hoc inofficiosum probare non possunt, nullam habent facultatem. sed si tam circa testamentum quam etiam codicillos iudicium eius deficiat, verum quibuscumque verbis voluntas eius declarata sit, licet intestato ei fuerit successum, ex senatus consulto retentionis modo servato familiae erciscundae iudicio aditum iudicem sequi voluntatem oportere iuris auctoritate significatur. * diocl.
Sons have no capacity for rescinding their father’s testament, if they cannot prove it to be inofficious. But if his judgment is lacking with respect to both the testament and also the codicils, nevertheless in whatever words his will has been declared, although succession has taken place to him as intestate, by senatorial decree, with the mode of retention observed, it is signified by the authority of the law that, upon access by the action for dividing the family estate, the judge ought to follow the intention. * Diocletian.
Coheredibus divisionem inter se facientibus iuri absentis et ignorantis minime derogari ac pro indiviso portionem eum, quae initio ipsius fuit, in omnibus communibus rebus retinere certissimum est. unde portionem tuam cum reditibus arbitrio familiae erciscundae percipere potes, ex facta inter coheredes divisione nullum praeiudicium timens. * diocl.
When coheirs are making a division among themselves, the right of one who is absent and unaware is in no way derogated, and it is most certain that he retains pro indiviso the portion which from the beginning was his, in all things held in common. Whence you can receive your portion with the revenues by the arbitrium of the action familiae erciscundae, fearing no prejudice from the division made among the coheirs. * diocl.
Filiae, cuius pater nomine res comparavit, si non post contrarium eius iudicium probetur, per arbitrium dividendae hereditatis praecipuas adiudicari saepe rescriptum est. his itaque, si patri successisti, quem nomine tuo quaedam comparasse dicis, adversus sororem tuam apud praesidem provinciae, si res integra est, uti potes. * diocl.
To a daughter, in whose name her father acquired property, unless afterwards a contrary judgment of his is proven, it has often been rescripted that the chief items be adjudged to her by the arbitration for dividing the inheritance. Accordingly, on these grounds, if you have succeeded to your father, whom you say purchased certain things in your name, you can avail yourself of this against your sister before the governor of the province, if the matter is still intact. * diocl.
Incerti iuris non est in familiae erciscundae iudicio earum etiam rerum, quas ex coheredibus quidam de communibus absumpserunt vel deteriores fecerunt, rationem habendam eiusque rei ceteris praestandam indemnitatem. * diocl. et maxim.
It is not doubtful in law that, in the action for partition of the family inheritance, account must be taken even of those things which some of the coheirs have consumed from the common property or have made worse, and indemnity for this matter must be provided to the others. * Diocletian and Maximian.
In familiae erciscundae iudicio ab uno pro solido rei veluti communis venumdatae pretium non venit, sed mandati, si praecessit, coheres venditoris agere potest, vel negotiorum gestorum, si ratam fecerit venditionem. nam si velut propriam unus distraxit ac pretium possideat, hereditas ab eo petenda est. * diocl.
In the action for dividing an inheritance (familiae erciscundae), the price of a thing sold as if common is not recoverable from one coheir for the whole; rather, the coheir of the seller can bring an action of mandate, if one has preceded, or an action for the management of affairs (negotiorum gestorum), if he has ratified the sale. For if one has sold it as though his own and possesses the price, the inheritance must be demanded from him. * diocl.
Si cogitatione futurae successionis officium arbitri dividendae hereditatis praeveniendo pater communis iudicio suo qualicumque indicio suam declaravit voluntatem, inter eos qui successerunt, exemplo falcidiae retentionis habita ratione, familiae dividendae causa datus arbiter ( virili praeterea portione eorum, quae nulli specialiter vel generaliter adsignavit, facta divisione) in adiudicando patris sequetur voluntatem. * diocl. et maxim.
If, by a consideration of the future succession, the common father, by anticipating the office of an arbiter for dividing the inheritance, has declared his will by his own judgment by whatever indication, then among those who have succeeded—account being taken of Falcidian retention by way of example—the arbiter given for the sake of dividing the family estate (familia) ( after a division has moreover been made into an equal, virile portion of those things which he assigned to no one either specifically or generally ) will follow the father’s will in adjudicating. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Servum communem non consentientibus coheredibus, sed per errorem ad eum qui possidet pertinere credentibus tenens, cum omnis verus titulus deficiat, suum non facit, sed in eo portiones hereditarias adsignatas penes singulos successores remanere manifestum est. * diocl. et maxim.
One who holds a common slave, with the coheirs not consenting but, through error, believing that he pertains to the one who possesses him, since every true title is lacking, does not make him his own; but it is manifest that, in his case, the hereditary portions assigned remain with the several successors. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Licet pacto divisionis adversus singulos actio pro hereditariis portionibus creditori parata mutari non possit, tamen ad exhibendam fidem his quae convenerant, stipulationis et iuris adhibito remedio, qui placitum excedit, urgueri potest, cum et hoc omisso, si non contrarium convenisse probaretur, praescriptis verbis conveniri potuisset. * diocl. et maxim.
Although by a pact of division the action prepared for the creditor against each individual for the hereditary portions cannot be changed, nevertheless, to exhibit good faith to the things that had been agreed, with the remedy of stipulation and of law applied, he who exceeds the agreement can be pressed; since even if this were omitted, if it were not proved that the contrary had been agreed, he could have been proceeded against by the action praescriptis verbis. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Filium, quam habentem fundum portionem hereditatis fratribus et quibusdam aliis sub condicione verbis precariis restituere sanxit testator, post eius eventum, hereditaria parte praedii in quartae ratione retenta, compensato praeterea quod a coheredibus vice mutua percepit et, si quid deest, in supplementum deducto, quod a ceteris in eo fundo solvitur supra quartam habens, reddere compelletur. * diocl. et maxim.
The testator ordained that his son, who was holding a farm as a portion of the inheritance, should restore it to his brothers and to certain others under a condition expressed in precatory words; after its occurrence, he shall be compelled to render it back, the hereditary share of the estate being retained in the proportion of a fourth, with, moreover, a set-off for what he has received from the coheirs in reciprocal turn; and, if anything is lacking, there being deducted by way of supplement what is paid by the others on that farm to the one holding above a fourth. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Inter omnes dumtaxat heredes suos, qui ex quolibet venientes gradu tamen pares videantur esse, vel emancipatos, quos praetor ad successionem vocat, sive coeptum neque impletum testamentum vel codicillus seu epistula parentis esse memoratur sive quocumque alio modo scripturae quibuscumque verbis vel iudiciis inveniantur relictae, iudicio familiae erciscundae, licet intestato ad successionem liberi vocentur, servato senatus consulti auxilio defuncti dispositio custodiatur, etsi sollemnitate legum huiusmodi dispositio fuerit destituta. * const. a. ad bassum.
Among all, namely his own heirs, who, coming from whatever degree, nevertheless appear to be equals, or the emancipated, whom the praetor calls to the succession, whether a will begun and not completed or a codicil or a letter of the parent is reported to exist, or in whatever other way writings are found to have been left with whatever words or judgments, by the action for partitioning the inheritance (familiae erciscundae), although in intestacy the children are called to the succession, with the aid of the senatus consultum preserved, the disposition of the deceased is to be maintained, even if such a disposition has been deprived of the solemnity of the laws. * Constantine Augustus to Bassus.
Si vero in huiusmodi voluntate designatis liberis alia sit mixta persona, certum est eam voluntatem quantum ad illam dumtaxat permixtam personam pro nullo haberi. <a 321 d. romae k.... crispo ii et constantino ii cc. conss.>
If, however, in a will of this sort, with the children designated, another person is intermixed, it is certain that that will, only as regards that intermingled person, is to be held as null. <in the year 321, at Rome, on the Kalends of …, Crispus and Constantine, Caesars, consuls for the 2nd time.>
Frater tuus si solam portionem praedii ad se pertinentem distraxit, venditionem revocari non oportet, sed adversus eum, cum quo tibi idem praedium commune esse coepit, communi dividundo iudicio consiste: ea actione aut universum praedium, si licitatione viceris, exsoluta socio parte pretii obtinebis aut pretii portionem, si alius meliorem condicionem attulerit, consequeris. * ant. a. luciano.
If your brother has alienated only the portion of the estate pertaining to himself, the sale ought not to be revoked; but proceed by the action for dividing common property (communi dividundo) against him with whom the same estate began to be common to you: by that action you will either obtain the whole estate, if you prevail at licitation (auction), with your associate’s share of the price paid out, or you will obtain a portion of the price, if another has brought a better offer. * Antoninus Augustus to Lucianus.
Quod si divisio praedii sine cuiusquam iniuria commode fieri poterit, portionem suis finibus tibi adiudicatam possidebis: hoc videlicet custodiendo, ut post litis contestationem nemo nec partem suam ceteris eiusdem rei dominis non consentientibus alienare possit. <a 213 pp. k. mart. romae antonino a. iiii et balbino conss.>
But if the division of the estate can be conveniently effected without anyone’s injury, you will possess the portion adjudged to you with its own boundaries: with this being observed, namely, that after the contestation of the suit no one can alienate even his own share, the other owners of the same thing not consenting. <a in the year 213, the day before the Kalends of March, at Rome, Antoninus for the 4th time and Balbinus, consuls.>
Si probatum fuerit praesidi provinciae fratrem tuum vineas communes pignori dedisse, cum partem tuam, quam in vineis habes, creditori obligare non potuerit, praeses provinciae restitui tibi eam iubebit cum fructibus, quos creditor de parte tua percepit. * alex. a. avito mil.
If it shall have been proven to the praeses of the province that your brother pledged the common vineyards, although he could not obligate your share, which you have in the vineyards, to the creditor, the praeses of the province will order it to be restored to you together with the fruits which the creditor has received from your share. * alex. aug. to avitus, soldier.
Idem praeses provinciae de divisione vinearum inter te et creditorem fratris tui cognoscet et iubebit eum accepta pecunia, quanti statuerit partem fratris tui valere, eam partem quam de fratre tuo accepit tibi restituere aut aestimata tua parte ad creditorem fratris tui data pecunia quanti aestimaverit eam transferre. <a 222 pp. ii id. sept. alexandro a. cons.>
The same governor of the province will adjudicate concerning the division of the vineyards between you and your brother’s creditor, and he will order him, upon receiving money equal to whatever he has determined your brother’s share to be worth, to restore to you that share which he received from your brother; or, with your share appraised, upon money being paid to your brother’s creditor in the amount he has assessed it, to transfer it. <a 222 on the 2 days before the Ides of September, in the consulship of Alexander Augustus.>
Ad officium arbitri, qui inter te et fratrem tuum dividendis bonis datus fuerit, ea sola pertinent, quae manent communia tibi et illi. nam ea, quorum partem is vendidit, cum emptoribus tibi communia sunt et adversus singulos arbitrum petere debes, si ab illorum quoque societate discedi placeat. * alex.
To the office of the arbiter, who shall have been appointed between you and your brother for dividing the goods, there appertain only those things which remain common to you and to him. For those of which he has sold a share are common to you with the purchasers, and you ought to demand an arbiter against each individual, if it is decided that one should also withdraw from their partnership. * Alexander.
Cum autem regionibus dividi aliquis ager inter socios non potest, vel ex pluribus singuli aestimatione iusta facta unicuique sociorum adiudicantur, compensatione invicem pretii facta eoque, cui maiores res pretii obvenit, ceteris condemnato, ad licitationem nonnumquam etiam extraneo emptore admisso, maxime si se non sufficere ad iusta pretia alter ex sociis sua pecunia vincere vilius licentem profiteatur. <a 224 pp. v non. mai.
When, however, some field cannot be divided by boundaries among the partners, or when from several properties individual lots are adjudged to each of the partners after a just estimation has been made, with mutual compensation of the price being made, and with the one to whom things of greater price have fallen being condemned in favor of the others, there is recourse to licitation (auction), sometimes even with an outside buyer admitted—especially if one of the partners professes that he is not sufficient, with his own money, to outbid one bidding more cheaply so as to reach the just prices. <a 224 pp. v non. mai.
Quod si minor fuit nec tempus in integrum restitutioni praefinitum adhuc excessit, an in integrum propter divisionem restitui debeat, causa cognita provinciae praeses aestimabit. <a 294 d. viii id. febr. cc. conss.>
But if he was a minor and the time fixed for restitution in integrum has not yet elapsed, whether he ought to be restored in integrum on account of the division, the provincial governor will assess after the case has been examined. <in the year 294, on the 8th day before the Ides of February (February 6), the consuls in office>
Idem eorum etiam, quae vobis permanent communia, fieri divisionem providebit, tam sumptuum, si quis de vobis in res communes fecit, quam fructuum, item doli et culpae, cum in communi dividundo iudicio haec omnia venire non ambigitur, rationem, ut in omnibus aequalitas servetur, habiturus. <a 294 d. viii id. febr. cc. conss.>
The same will also provide that a division be made of those things which remain common to you, both of expenses, if any of you has spent on common matters, and of fruits, likewise of fraud and fault, since it is not doubted that all these come up in the communi dividundo action, having regard that equality be maintained in all things. <a 294 d. 8 id. febr. cc. conss.>
Etiamsi is divisioni arbitrum dedit, cui ius dandi non fuit, tamen si socii quondam divisioni consensum dederint, quod quisque eorum secundum placita possedit, pro parte socii dominium nactus est. * alex. a. euphratae.
Even if someone appointed for the partition an arbiter who did not have the right to render an award, nevertheless, if the partners once gave consent to the division, what each of them possessed according to the agreements he acquired dominion over, for the partner’s share. * Alexander Augustus to Euphrates.
Si patruus tuus ex communibus bonis res comparavit sibi negotium gerens, non omnium bonorum socius constitutus, pro competentium portionum modo indemnitati tuae consuli oportet: et ideo rem emptam eum communicare contra formam iuris postulas. * diocl. et maxim.
If your paternal uncle, acting as an agent, acquired a thing for himself from the common goods, not having been constituted a partner of all the goods, provision ought to be made for your indemnity in proportion to the portions that are competent: and therefore you demand that he share the purchased thing—contrary to the form of the law. * diocl. et maxim.
Si cum patruo vestro hac condicione divisionem fecistis, ut se nullum dolum malum adhibuisse iuraret, nec fidem placitis exhibuit, quominus res indivisas requiratis, eorum placitum quae in divisionem venerunt nihil vobis nocere potest. * diocl. et maxim.
If you made a division with your paternal uncle on this condition, that he should swear he had employed no evil fraud, and he did not keep faith with the agreements, there is no hindrance to your demanding the undivided things; the settlement concerning the things that came into the division can in no way harm you. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si fratres vestri pro indiviso commune praedium citra vestram voluntatem obligaverunt et hoc ad vos secundum pactum divisionis nulla pignoris facta mentione pervenit, evictis partibus, quae ante divisionem sociorum fuerunt, in quibus obligatio tantum constitit, ex stipulatu, si intercessit, alioquin quanti interest praescriptis verbis contra fratres agere potestis. nam si fundi scientes obligationem dominium suscepistis, tantum evictionis promissionem sollemnitate verborum vel pacto promissam probantes eos conveniendi facultatem habetis. * diocl.
If your brothers, for the undivided common estate, have obligated it without your consent, and this came to you according to the pact of division with no mention made of a pledge, then, the shares—those which were before the division of the partners, in which alone the obligation had been constituted—having been evicted, you can proceed against the brothers ex stipulatu, if that intervened; otherwise, by the action for how much your interest amounts, with the praescriptis verbis formula. For if, knowing of the encumbrance of the land, you accepted dominion, you have only the faculty of proceeding against them upon the promise of eviction, upon proving that it was promised by the solemnity of words or by a pact. * diocl.
Possessionum divisiones sic fieri oportet, ut integra apud successorem unumquemque servorum vel colonorum adscripticiae condicionis seu inquilinorum proxima agnatio vel adfinitas permaneret. quis enim ferat liberos a parentibus, a fratribus sorores, a viris coniuges segregari? igitur si qui dissociata in ius diversum mancipia vel colonos traxerint, in unum eadem redigere cogantur.
Divisions of possessions ought to be made in such a way that, with the successor, the nearest agnation or affinity of each of the slaves or coloni of adscriptitious condition, or of the inquilines, remains intact. For who would endure that children be segregated from parents, sisters from brothers, wives from husbands? Therefore, if anyone has drawn apart slaves or coloni, dissociating them under a different legal title, they shall be compelled to bring the same back together into one.
Illud aequitatis vovere rationibus bene nobis apparuit. si quis etenim pro filio suo ante nuptias donationem conscripserit vel dederit vel pro filia sua dotem, et hoc quod dedit iterum in eundem revertatur vel stipulatione vel lege hoc faciente, vel et si alio dotem vel ante nuptias donationem dante stipulationis paternae tenor vel forte legis hoc induxerit, ille autem testamento condito vel filios suos vel extraneos scripserit heredes et nihil de huiusmodi rebus, quae ad eum reversae sunt vel pervenerunt, disposuerit, inveniantur autem alii liberi eius res a paterna substantia lucrati vel per ante nuptias donationes vel dotes vel militiae causa, quas utpote testamento existente non coguntur conferre, tunc filius vel filia easdem res, quae ad patrem reversae sunt vel pervenerunt, habeant praecipuas, ad simile tamen lucrum computandas, ut in praesenti casu tantum habeat ipsa vel ipse, quantum eius fratres ex patre sunt consecuti secundum eos modos quos supra diximus et quos conferre propter testamentum non coartantur. * iust.
It has appeared good to us, on considerations of equity, to establish the following. For if anyone, for his son, has drawn up or given an ante-nuptial donation, or for his daughter a dowry, and that which he gave returns again to him either by a stipulation or by a law bringing this about, or even if, another giving the dowry or ante-nuptial donation, the tenor of the paternal stipulation, or perchance of a law, has produced this result; and he, having made a will, has written either his children or outsiders as heirs and has made no disposition concerning such things as have reverted or come to him; but other children of his are found to have gained assets from the paternal substance either through ante-nuptial donations or dowries or on account of military service, which, inasmuch as a will exists, they are not compelled to collate; then the son or daughter shall take by preemption the same things which reverted to or came to the father, to be reckoned, however, toward a like profit, so that in the present case she or he shall have only as much as his or her brothers have obtained from the father, according to the modes we have set out above and which they are not constrained to collate on account of the testament. * JUST.
Sin autem nihil tale penitus in fratres eorum a patre collatum est, neque ipsos sibi praecipue hanc partem vindicare, sed, quasi paternae facta substantiae sit, inter omnes secundum institutionis tenorem dividi. et haec quidem, si inter fratres patris elogium compositum sit. <a 530 d. xi k. aug.
But if, however, nothing of the sort has at all been conferred upon their brothers by the father, nor do they themselves claim this portion especially for themselves, but, as if it had been made part of the paternal substance, let it be divided among all according to the tenor of the institution. And this indeed, if the father’s will has been composed among the brothers. <a 530 d. 11 k. aug.
Sin autem extranei sint scripti heredes et nihil in testamento suo neque in hac parte testator dixerit, tunc omnimodo praecipuum habeat filius vel filia, quod ad patrem revertitur vel pervenit. si tamen minus in fratres collatum est, amplius autem ex huiusmodi casu ad patrem pervenit, illo quod ad similem quantitatem concurrit excepto cetera quasi paternae substantiae facta secundum modum institutionum dividantur: illo procul dubio observando, quod, si minus sit quod pater ex huiusmodi causa habuit ea quantitate quae in fratres collata est, tota huiusmodi portio ad eas personas perveniat, quarum occasione res ad patrem revertitur. <a 530 d. xi k. aug.
But if outsiders have been written as heirs and the testator has said nothing in his testament nor in this part, then in every way let the son or daughter have the pre-portion, that which reverts or has come to the father. If, however, less has been contributed to the brothers, but more has come to the father from such a case, with that amount which comes up to an equal quantity excepted, let the rest be divided, as if made part of the paternal substance, according to the manner of the appointments. This, without doubt, being observed: that, if what the father had from such a cause is less than the amount which has been contributed to the brothers, the whole such portion shall come to those persons on whose account the thing reverts to the father. <in the year 530, on the 11th day before the Kalends of August.
Ea igitur, quae in paterna persona diximus, obtinere volumus etiam in avum et proavum paternum vel maternum et in matrem et in aviam vel proaviam paternam vel maternam. <a 530 d. xi k. aug. constantinopoli lampadio et oreste vv. cc. conss.>
Therefore, the things which we have said concerning the paternal person we wish to obtain also for the grandfather and great-grandfather, paternal or maternal, and for the mother and for the grandmother or great-grandmother, paternal or maternal. <a 530, on the 11th day before the Kalends of August, at Constantinople, Lampadius and Orestes, most distinguished men, consuls.>
Regionem certam fundi propriis finibus eius mutatis dominus eius distrahere ac residuum retinere non prohibetur. nec amplius emptor, quam quod ratione secundum venditionis fidem ad se pervenit, vindicare potest praetextu terminorum temporis antecedentis venditionem. * diocl.
The owner is not prohibited from alienating a definite region of a farm, its own boundaries having been altered, and retaining the residue. Nor can the purchaser vindicate more than what, in accordance with the faith of the sale, has come to him, under the pretext of termini from a time antecedent to the sale. * Diocletian.
Si quis super iuris sui locis prior de finibus detulerit querimoniam, quae proprietatis controversiae cohaeret, prius super possessione quaestio finiatur et tunc agrimensor ire praecipiatur ad loca, ut patefacta veritate huiusmodi litigium terminetur. * const. a. ad tertullianum.
If anyone has previously brought a complaint about the boundaries concerning the places of his own right, which coheres with a controversy of proprietorship, first the question regarding possession shall be concluded, and then the land-surveyor shall be ordered to go to the places, so that, the truth having been laid open, litigation of this kind may be terminated. * constitution of the emperor to Tertullianus.
Quod si altera pars, ne huiusmodi quaestio terminetur, se subtraxerit, nihilo minus agrimensor in ipsis locis iussione rectoris provinciae una cum observante parte hoc ipsum faciens perveniet. <a 330 d. viii k. mart. bessi gallicano et symmacho conss.>
But if the other party, in order that a question of this sort not be terminated, withdraws itself, nonetheless the land‑surveyor shall proceed to the very places by the order of the provincial rector, together with the party that appears, doing this very thing. <in the year 330, on the 8th day before the Kalends of March, under the consuls Gallicanus and Symmachus.>
Si constiterit eum qui finalem detulerit quaestionem, priusquam aliquid sententia determinetur, rem sibi alienam usurpare voluisse, non solum id quod male petebat amittat, sed quod magis unusquisque contentus suo rem non expetat iuris alieni, qui inreptor agrorum fuerit in lite superatus, tantum agri modum, quantum adimere temptavit, amittat. * const. a. ad bassum pp. * <a 330 lecta apud acta xi k. iul.
If it shall have been established that he who has brought the final action, before anything is determined by sentence, wished to usurp for himself a thing belonging to another, let him not only lose that which he was wrongly seeking, but—what is more, that each person, content with his own, may not seek a thing of another’s right—he who shall have been an encroacher upon fields, if overcome in the suit, shall lose so great a measure of land as he attempted to take away. * const. a. ad bassum pp. *
Explosis atque reiectis praescriptionibus, quas litigatores sub obtentu consortium studio protrahendae disceptationis excogitare consueverunt, sive unius fori omnes sint sive in diversis provinciis versentur, nec adiuncta praesentia consortis vel consortium agendi vel respondendi iurgantibus licentia pro parte pandatur. * iul. a. secundo pp. * <a 362 d. iii non sept.
With the preliminary objections exploded and rejected, which litigants are accustomed to devise under the pretext of a consortium, out of zeal to prolong the controversy—whether all are of a single forum or are engaged in different provinces—the added presence of a partner shall not open to the disputants any license for a partial consortium, either for prosecuting or for answering. * Julian the Augustus to Secundus, praetorian prefect. * <a 362, on the 3rd day before the Nones of September.
Commune negotium post litem legitime ordinatam et quibusdam absentibus in solidum agi sine mandato potest, si praesentes rem ratam dominum habiturum cavere parati sunt, vel, si quod ab his petitur, iudicatum solvi satisdatione firmaverint. * valentin. et valens aa. sallustio pp. * <a 364 pp. vi id. dec.
A common affair, after the suit has been duly arranged and with certain parties absent, can be proceeded with for the whole without a mandate, if those present are prepared to give security that the principal will hold the matter ratified, or, if what is demanded from them, they have secured by surety that the judgment will be paid. * Valentinian and Valens, Augusti, to Sallustius, Praetorian Prefect. * <a 364 pp. 6 Ides of December.
Si extat corpus nummorum, quos ablatos ex patris tui hereditate ab eo, quem liberum esse constitit, adlegas, vindicare eos vel ad exhibendum agere non prohiberis. nam quamvis alias noxa caput sequatur et manumissus furti actione teneatur, quae in heredem non competit, cum tamen servus a domino aliquid auferat, quamvis furtum committat, furti tamen actio non est nata neque adversus ipsum, si postea manumissus est, locum habet, nisi furtivas res et post manumissionem contractat. * alex.
If the corpus of the coins, which you allege were taken from your father’s inheritance by him who has been established to be free, is extant, you are not prohibited from vindicating them or from bringing an action ad exhibendum (for production). For although otherwise the noxa follows the head (person), and one manumitted is held by the action for theft—which does not lie against the heir—yet when a slave takes something from his master, although he commits theft, nevertheless the action for theft is not born, nor does it have place against him if he has afterwards been manumitted, unless he also handles the stolen goods after manumission. * Alexander.
Si servi vestri inscientibus vobis vel etiam prohibentibus furtim arbores ceciderunt, quibus etiam propria poena iuxta legem saltui datam fuerat praestituta, frustra veremini, ne ex persona eorum ultra noxae deditionem sitis obstricti, cum ex delictis servorum domini ignorantes vel prohibentes, si noxali actione conveniantur, ita condemnari debeant, ut aut noxae dedere aut condemnationem sufferre habeant in sua potestate. * gord. a. quintiliano et aliis.
If your slaves, you being unaware or even forbidding, secretly felled trees, for which a specific penalty also had been prescribed according to the law given for the woodland, you fear in vain that from their person you are bound beyond noxal surrender, since from the delicts of slaves the masters who are ignorant or forbidding, if they are convened by a noxal action, ought to be condemned in such a way that they have in their power either to surrender them for noxa or to suffer the condemnation. * gordian augustus to quintilianus and others.
Sive servum plagii paras accusare sollemniter, praesidem provinciae adire non prohiberis, sive dominum eius sollicitati servi noxali iudicio vel furti malueris convenire, suam tibi notionem praeses provinciae commodabit non ignorans, quod, si dominum elegeris et eo non consentiente quod intendis commissum probaveris, vel noxae dedendae vel damni sarciendi ac poenae praestandae habeat facultatem. * diocl. et maxim.
Whether you are preparing to accuse a slave of kidnapping (plagium) in due and solemn form, you are not forbidden to approach the provincial governor; or, if you would rather proceed against his master by a noxal action on account of the solicited slave, or for theft, the provincial governor will lend you his own cognizance, not being unaware that, if you choose the master and, he not consenting, you prove that what you allege was committed, he shall have the faculty either of surrendering him noxally, or of making good the loss and rendering the penalty. * Diocl. and Maxim.
Si servus ignorante domino vel sciente et prohibere nequeunte res tuas vi rapuit , dominum eius apud praesidem provinciae, si necdum utilis annus excessit, quadrupli, quod si hoc effluxit tempus, simpli noxali iudicio convenire potes: qui si noxae maluerit servum dedere, nihilo minus cum ipso quantum ad eum pervenit experiri non prohiberis: nam si eo conscio et prohibere valente, detracta noxae deditione conventus ad summam condemnationis solvendam omnimodo compellendus est. * diocl. et maxim.
If a slave, with his master unaware, or with him aware and unable to prevent it, seized your goods by force , you can bring an action against his master before the governor of the province, if the useful year has not yet elapsed, for quadruple; but if this time has run out, you can proceed by a noxal action for simple damages: and if he should prefer to surrender the slave for the wrong, nonetheless you are not forbidden to proceed against him for as much as came to him: for if, with him aware and able to prevent it, the noxal surrender being subtracted, when convened he must in every way be compelled to pay the full sum of the condemnation. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si tibi per furtum nec manifestum ancillam servus ope consilioque domini cum aliis rebus subtraxit, cum inter servum et liberum civile iudicium consistere non possit, eum ob hoc delictum dupli poenali actione et de rebus propriis vindicatione vel condictione convenire potes. * diocl. et maxim.
If by non-manifest theft a slave, with the aid and counsel of his master, has abstracted from you a maidservant together with other things, since a civil action cannot lie between a slave and a free person, you can proceed against him for this delict by the penal action for double damages, and, as to your own property, by vindication or condiction. * Diocletian and Maximian.
Si dominium ancillae, de qua agis, ad matrem tuam pertinuit nec iure a patre tuo venumdata est eiusque proprietatem tibi vindicare paratus es, praeses provinciae exhiberi eam iubebit, ut apud iudicem de rei veritate quaeratur. * alex. a. crescenti mil.
If the dominion of the maidservant about whom you are litigating pertained to your mother and she was not lawfully sold by your father, and you are prepared to vindicate for yourself her proprietorship, the governor of the province will order her to be produced, so that before a judge inquiry may be made into the truth of the matter. * alexander augustus to crescentius, soldier.
Neque ad exhibendum actio neque proprietatis vindicatio, si nunc competit, propterea perempta est, quod aliquando adversus te ad exhibendum actione aliter pronuntiatum est, quia commutatione litis alia res esse incipit. * alex. a. felicissimae.
Neither the action ad exhibendum nor a vindication of ownership, if it now lies, has for that reason been extinguished, because at some time in an action ad exhibendum a different pronouncement was rendered against you, since by a change of the suit the matter begins to be another thing. * Alexander Augustus to Felicissima.
Instrumenta ad ius tuum pertinentia partem diversam invasisse adseverans, si quidem crimen intendis, sollemnibus accusationibus impletis fidem adseverationi tuae fac, sin vero ad exhibendum intendis, iudiciorum more experire. * philipp. a. polemonidi.
Asserting that the opposing party has seized instruments (documents) pertaining to your right, if indeed you intend a crime-charge, after the solemn accusations have been completed, make your assertion credible; but if you aim at an action for production (ad exhibendum), try it according to the practice of the courts. * Philip the Augustus to Polemonides.
Exhibitionis necessitatis tenetur, qui facultatem habens culpam vel dolum in explendo praecepto committit, ita ut, qui rem deteriorem exhibuit, aequitas exhibitionis proficiat, ut, quamvis ad exhibendum agi non potest, in factum tamen actio contra eum detur. * diocl. et maxim.
He is bound by the necessity of exhibition, who, having the capacity, commits fault or fraud in fulfilling the precept, such that, for the one who has exhibited the thing in a worse condition, the equity of exhibition may avail; so that, although one cannot sue for exhibition, nevertheless an action in factum is granted against him. * diocl. and maxim.
Quod si pactus sit, ut tibi restituantur, si quidem ei qui deposuit successisti, iure hereditario depositi actione uti non prohiberis: si vero nec civili nec honorario iure ad te hereditas eius pertinet, intellegis nullam te ex eius pacto contra quem supplicas actionem stricto iure habere: utilis autem tibi propter aequitatis rationem dabitur depositi actio. <a 293 s. v k. mai. heracliae aa. conss.>
But if he has made a pact that they be restored to you, then, if indeed you have succeeded to the one who deposited them, you are not forbidden, by hereditary right, to employ the action of deposit; but if his inheritance pertains to you neither by civil law nor by honorary (praetorian) law, you understand that from his pact you have no action by strict law against the person against whom you petition; however, by reason of equity a useful action of deposit will be granted to you. <a 293 on the 5th day before the Kalends of May, at Heraclea, the emperors as consuls.>
Si ex quocumque contractu apud praesidem provinciae iure debitum cui oportuerat te reddidisse probaveris, chirographa tua, ex quibus iam nihil peti potest, et instrumenta ad eum contractum pertinentia tibi naturaliter liberationem consecuto exhiberi ac reddi iubebit. * diocl. et maxim.
If you prove before the provincial governor that, from whatever contract, you have lawfully paid the debt to the person to whom it was proper, he will order your chirographs, from which nothing can now be claimed, and the instruments pertaining to that contract to be exhibited and returned to you, you having as a matter of course obtained release. * diocl. et maxim.
Alearum lusus antiqua res est et extra operas pugnantibus concessa, verum pro tempore prodiit in lacrimas, milia extranearum nominationum suscipiens. quidam enim ludentes nec ludum scientes, sed nominationem tantum, proprias substantias perdiderunt, die noctuque ludendo in argento apparatu lapidum et auro. consequenter autem ex hac inordinatione blasphemare conantur et instrumenta conficiunt.
The play of dice is an ancient thing and was granted to combatants outside their labors; but in the course of time it has ended in tears, taking on thousands of foreign nominations. For certain men, playing and knowing not the game but only the nomination, have lost their own substances, playing day and night with silver, a jeweled apparatus, and gold. Consequently, moreover, from this disorder they strive to blaspheme and they fabricate instruments.
Commodis igitur subiectorum providere cupientes hac generali lege decernimus, ut nulli liceat in privatis seu publicis locis ludere neque in specie neque in genere: et si contra factum fuerit, nulla sequatur condemnatio, sed solutum reddatur et competentibus actionibus repetatur ab his qui dederunt vel eorum heredibus aut his neglegentibus a patribus seu defensoribus locorum: <a 529 d. x k. oct. constantinopoli decio cons.>
Therefore, desiring to provide for the interests of our subjects, by this general law we decree that it be permitted to no one to gamble in private or public places, in no particular or general manner: and if anything shall have been done contrary to this, let no condemnation follow, but what has been paid shall be returned, and by the competent actions let it be recovered by those who gave it or their heirs, or, if they are negligent, by the fathers or defenders of the places: <a 529, on the 10th day before the Kalends of October, at Constantinople, in the consulship of Decius.>
Deinde vero ordinent quinque ludos, ton monobolon ton condomonobolon ke kondacca ke repon ke perichyten. sed nemini permittimus etiam in his ludere ultra unum solidum, etsi multum dives sit, ut, si quem vinci contigerit, casum gravem non sustineat. non solum enim bella bene ordinamus et res sacras, sed et ista: interminantes poenam transgressoribus, potestatem dando episcopis hoc inquirendi et auxilio praesidum sedandi.
Then indeed let them arrange five games, the monobolon, the condomonobolon, and the kondacca, and the repon, and the perichyten. But we permit no one even in these to play for more than one solidus, even if he be very rich, so that, if it should befall someone to be defeated, he may not sustain a grave loss. For we not only regulate wars well and sacred matters, but also these things: threatening punishment to transgressors, granting to the bishops the power of inquiring into this and of quelling it with the aid of the governors.
Invito vel ignorante te ab alio illatum corpus in puram possessionem tuam vel lapidem locum religiosum facere non potest. si autem voluntate tua mortuum aliquis in locum tuum intulerit, religiosus iste efficitur: quo facto monumentum neque venire neque obligari a quoquam prohibente iuris religione posse in dubium non venit. * ant.
While you are unwilling or unaware, a corpse brought by another into your pure possession, or a stone, cannot make the place religious. But if someone has brought a dead person into your place with your will, that place becomes religious; with this done, it is not in doubt that the monument can neither be sold nor be encumbered, the religion of the law prohibiting it for anyone. * ant.
Militis voluntatem, quam circa monumentum sibi daciendum testamento expressit, et mater et pater heredes eius neglegere non debent. nam etsi delatio hoc nomine praeteritis constitutionibus amota est, invidiam tamen et conscientiam circa omissum supremum huiusmodi officium et contemptum iudicium defuncti evitare non possunt. * alex.
The will of a soldier, which he expressed in his testament concerning a monument to be made for himself, neither his mother nor his father, as his heirs, ought to neglect. For although delation under this title has been removed by prior constitutions, nevertheless they cannot avoid odium and the reproach of conscience for the omission of such a final duty and for the contempt of the judgment of the deceased. * Alexander.