After due enquiry, it
appears that _codicillus_ was used by the Latin authors, for what we
now call _the letters patent of a prince_.
appears that _codicillus_ was used by the Latin authors, for what we
now call _the letters patent of a prince_.
Tacitus
Ammianus Marcellinus (a Latin historian of
the fourth century) says, that at Rome the people despised every thing
that did not grow before their eyes within the walls of the city,
except the rich who had no children; and the veneration paid to such
as had no heirs was altogether incredible. _Vile esse quidquid extra
urbis pomærium nascitur, æstimant; nec credi potest qua obsequiorum
diversitate coluntur homines sine liberis Romæ. _ Lib. xiv. s. 5. In
such a city a young man and a stranger could not expect to be
favoured.
[c] All causes of a private nature were heard before the _centumviri_.
Three were chosen out of every tribe, and the tribes amounted to five
and thirty, so that in fact 105 were chosen; but, for the sake of a
round number, they were called CENTUMVIRI. The causes that were heard
before that jurisdiction are enumerated by Cicero, _De Orat. _ lib. i.
s. 38.
[d] The translation says, _the wills and codicils of the rich_; but it
is by no means certain that those words convey the meaning of the
text, which simply says, _nec codicillis datur_.
After due enquiry, it
appears that _codicillus_ was used by the Latin authors, for what we
now call _the letters patent of a prince_. Codicils, in the modern
sense of the word, implying a supplement to a will, were unknown to
the intent Roman law. The Twelve Tables mention testaments only.
Codicils, in aid to wills, were first introduced in the time of
Augustus; but, whatever their operation was, legacies granted by those
additional writings were for some time of no validity. To confirm
this, we are told that the daughter of Lentulus discharged certain
legacies, which, being given by codicil, she was not bound to pay. In
time, however, codicils, as an addition made by the testator to his
will, grew into use, and the legacies thereby granted were confirmed.
This might be the case in the sixth year of Vespasian, when the
Dialogue passed between the parties; but it is, notwithstanding,
highly probable, that the word _codicilli_ means, in the passage
before us, the _letters patent of the prince_. It is used in that
sense by Suetonius, who relates, that Tiberius, after passing a night
and two days in revelling with Pomponius Flaccus and Lucius Piso,
granted to the former the province of Syria, and made the latter
prefect of the city; declaring them, _in the patents_, pleasant
companions, and _the friends of all hours_. _Codicillis quoque
jucundissimos et omnium horarum amicos professus. _ Suet. _in Tib. _ s.
42.
[e] The common people are called, in the original, _tunicatus
populus_; that class of men, who wore the _tunic_, and not the _toga_,
or the _Roman gown_. The _tunica_, or close coat, was the common
garment worn within doors, and abroad, under the _toga_. Kennet says,
the _proletarii_, the _capite censi_, and the rest of the dregs of the
city, could not afford to wear the _toga_, and therefore went in
their _tunics_; whence Horace says (lib.
the fourth century) says, that at Rome the people despised every thing
that did not grow before their eyes within the walls of the city,
except the rich who had no children; and the veneration paid to such
as had no heirs was altogether incredible. _Vile esse quidquid extra
urbis pomærium nascitur, æstimant; nec credi potest qua obsequiorum
diversitate coluntur homines sine liberis Romæ. _ Lib. xiv. s. 5. In
such a city a young man and a stranger could not expect to be
favoured.
[c] All causes of a private nature were heard before the _centumviri_.
Three were chosen out of every tribe, and the tribes amounted to five
and thirty, so that in fact 105 were chosen; but, for the sake of a
round number, they were called CENTUMVIRI. The causes that were heard
before that jurisdiction are enumerated by Cicero, _De Orat. _ lib. i.
s. 38.
[d] The translation says, _the wills and codicils of the rich_; but it
is by no means certain that those words convey the meaning of the
text, which simply says, _nec codicillis datur_.
After due enquiry, it
appears that _codicillus_ was used by the Latin authors, for what we
now call _the letters patent of a prince_. Codicils, in the modern
sense of the word, implying a supplement to a will, were unknown to
the intent Roman law. The Twelve Tables mention testaments only.
Codicils, in aid to wills, were first introduced in the time of
Augustus; but, whatever their operation was, legacies granted by those
additional writings were for some time of no validity. To confirm
this, we are told that the daughter of Lentulus discharged certain
legacies, which, being given by codicil, she was not bound to pay. In
time, however, codicils, as an addition made by the testator to his
will, grew into use, and the legacies thereby granted were confirmed.
This might be the case in the sixth year of Vespasian, when the
Dialogue passed between the parties; but it is, notwithstanding,
highly probable, that the word _codicilli_ means, in the passage
before us, the _letters patent of the prince_. It is used in that
sense by Suetonius, who relates, that Tiberius, after passing a night
and two days in revelling with Pomponius Flaccus and Lucius Piso,
granted to the former the province of Syria, and made the latter
prefect of the city; declaring them, _in the patents_, pleasant
companions, and _the friends of all hours_. _Codicillis quoque
jucundissimos et omnium horarum amicos professus. _ Suet. _in Tib. _ s.
42.
[e] The common people are called, in the original, _tunicatus
populus_; that class of men, who wore the _tunic_, and not the _toga_,
or the _Roman gown_. The _tunica_, or close coat, was the common
garment worn within doors, and abroad, under the _toga_. Kennet says,
the _proletarii_, the _capite censi_, and the rest of the dregs of the
city, could not afford to wear the _toga_, and therefore went in
their _tunics_; whence Horace says (lib.
