Published: 2023-07-10

Inheritance contracts in Justinian’s Edict 'De Armeniorum Successione' of AD 535

Aleksander Grebieniow
Zeszyty Prawnicze
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2023.23.2.04

Abstract

There is ample evidence of the use of contracts to regulate inheritance issues in Roman law. One of the examples of this practice is Justinian’s little-known edict De Armeniorum Successione of AD 535. It was issued to integrate Armenia’s political and judicial order with the rest of the Roman Empire – a task which was very important at the time in view of the continual Sassanid threat. Alongside its main provisions, the edict mentions settlements made to resolve legal disputes in matters concerning succession. In the Roman Empire such settlements had been in regular use since the Classical period to modify the standard order of succession applicable in inheritance law. Justinian’s edict also mentions enigmatic “pacts.” Hints as to what pacts Justinian could have had in mind may be found in other imperial provisions. His edict of 535 seems to endorse the local legal practice which operated alongside and independently of the parallel Roman arrangements and shows the similarities between them.

Keywords:

contracts; , succession law;, Justinian;, Armenia; , Roman law.

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Citation rules

Grebieniow, A. (2023). Inheritance contracts in Justinian’s Edict ’De Armeniorum Successione’ of AD 535. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 23(2), 59–86. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2023.23.2.04

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