# The Institutes of Gaius 2.1.127-131

Roman Law and Society, The Institutes of Gaius, 2.1.127 to 2.1.131. Latin.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/latin/roman-law-and-society/the-institutes-of-gaius/2.1.127

(105) Anyone who is under the control of, or belongs to the family of the purchaser or to that of the testator himself, should not be one of the witnesses; because, in imitation of the ancient law, the entire transaction which takes place for the purpose of establishing the will is considered to be carried on between the purchaser of the estate and the testator; and in former times, as we stated above, anyone who pur- chased the estate of the testator occupied the position of an heir, and therefore the testimony of persons belonging to the family taken in a proceeding of this kind was rejected. (106) Wherefore, if the purchaser of the estate is under the control of his father, neither his father, nor anyone in the power of the latter, for instance his brother, can be a witness. If, however, a son under parental control, after his discharge from the army, should make a will disposing of his castrense peculium , neither his father, nor anyone who is subject to the authority of the latter, can be a witness. (107) We understand that the same rules which have been established with reference to witnesses, also apply to the balance-holder, for he is included in the number of witnesses. (108) Not only can he who is under the control of the heir or legatee, or who is also under the control of the same person as the heir or the legatee be a witness and a balance-holder, but the heir, or the legatee himself, has a right to act in this capacity. Still, so far as the heir is concerned, as well as with reference to him who is in his power, and the party under whose control he himself is, we should not, by any means, make use of this right.

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Roman Law and Society, The Institutes of Gaius. Text: The Latin Library (thelatinlibrary.com), used with permission. Changes: HTML markup removed and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: Used with permission (https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/about.html). Source: http://thelatinlibrary.com/law/gaius.html.