‘TESTAMENTUM PESTIS TEMPORE CONDITUM’

Marek Sobczyk

doi:10.21697/zp.2022.22.2.09

Published: 2022-08-20

Vol. 22 No. 2 (2022)

‘TESTAMENTUM PESTIS TEMPORE CONDITUM’

Marek Sobczyk

Zeszyty Prawnicze

Section: Artykuły

https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2022.22.2.09

Abstract

This paper is about a special form of last will and testament (testamentum) admitted by Diocletian and Maximian’s constitution of 290 and traditionally referred to as the testamentum pestis tempore conditum, although the terms pestis or pestilentia did not appear in the rescript. It was a modified, less rigorous version for a last will, to be used only during outbreaks of plague, and took into consideration the risk of infection to the witnesses and the problems facing the testator. As the special type of will I examine in this paper is only a less restrictive modifcation of the ordinary form, I precede my comments with an overview of the typical formula for a last will generally used in Roman law.

I look at two basic problems: the circumstances in which testamentum pestis tempore conditum was admissible, and the nature of the modifications. My analysis focuses on the terms casus maior, morbo oppresso, morbo oppressos and iungi atque sociari. Unfortunately, the very concise content of the rescript makes it impossible to give an unequivocal and precise answer to these problems.

In my opinion, the testamentum pestis tempore conditum was used when a person suﬀering from an infectious disease during an epidemic in his locality wanted to draw up his will, but there were conditions on the applicability of this type of will. The epidemic had to have reached a state when it could be recognized as force majeure; furthermore, it could not be used if one of the prospective witnesses had contracted the disease but the testator was still healthy. The relaxation of the formalities meant that the witnesses did not have to put their seals on the document in close contact with the sick testator, but they still had to perform their duty in his presence. I am not convinced by interpretations which claim that there was no contact at all between the witnesses and the testator, and especially that the witnesses were released from the requirement of having to perform their duty in the testator’s presence.

Keywords:

testamentum pestis tempore conditum; the last will and testament; plague; epidemic.

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Sobczyk, M. (2022). ‘TESTAMENTUM PESTIS TEMPORE CONDITUM’. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 22(2), 169–202. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2022.22.2.09

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