A dictionary of classical antiquities : mythology, religion, literature & art / from the German of Dr. Oskar Seyffert ; revised and edited with additions, by Henry Nettleship, J.E. Sandys ; with more than 450 illustrations.

Oskar Seyffert

Date:: 1901

Credit: A dictionary of classical antiquities : mythology, religion, literature & art / from the German of Dr. Oskar Seyffert ; revised and edited with additions, by Henry Nettleship, J.E. Sandys ; with more than 450 illustrations. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$tin official post, and had not yet rendered an account of their administration, were con¬ sidered incapable of making a will. The will, when drawn up, was sealed in the presence of witnesses and deposited with a responsible person in order that it might be opened, also in presence of witnesses, immediately on the death of the testator, in ease he might have given any special direc¬ tions for his funeral. (2) Amongst the Romans the most ancient form of will is the testamentum comitils ^caldtis, called thus, because it was drawn up in the patrician comitia calata (q.v.) at which the pontifex was present. Besides this form, of which only patricians could avail themselves, one which plebeians could use was introduced in the time of the kings, the testamentum in procinctu. This con¬ sisted in a verbal declaration made by a soldier, who was a citizen, in the presence of three or four of his comrades, while the general was taking the auspices before joining battle. Both these forms were superseded by the testamentum per ces et libram or per familice mancipationem, called mancipatio (q.v.), on account of the proceedings observed on the occasion. By means of a feigned sale the testator handed over his fortune (familia) to a feigned purchaser (familice emptor fiducidrius) in the presence of six witnesses, on condition that he divided it among those nominated as the testator’s heirs on his death. This process was simplified in later times, al¬ though, for the sake of form, the familice emptor was retained; but a single person was appointed heir, and charged with the duty of paying the individual legacies. If the testamentary disposition was delivered in writing, as was regularly the case, the witnesses sealed the will, and each one signed his name near the seal. The deed was deposited wdth a friend or in a temple, or with the Vestal Virgins, and, after it had been opened in due course, a copy was made and the original placed in the public archives. The form of the prcetorian will was still simpler. It was sealed before the praetor in the presence of seven witnesses. In the time of the emperors, soldiers enjoyed the privilege of making wills in any form they pleased, which were perfectly valid if the soldier died in the service or within the first year of leaving it. The testamentum per ces et libram was abolished in 439 a.d. by Theodosius II, and the form of the praetorian will was changed to the simple one of the Justinian law, by which a man could, legally register his will. The right of making a will (ius testamenti factidnis) was only possessed by independent Roman citizens and Vestal Virgins, and only those women besides who, by the death of the person in authority over them, had come into the possession of legal rights (sui iuris), though only with the approval of their guardians. (See Tutor.) Sons who were under parental control were granted the privilege under Augustus as a reward for their services in the field (peculium cas- trense). Under Constantine it was granted as a reward to persons holding a civil office. Slaves and those who were not Romans (peregrlni) had not the right of making a will, yet the former might be testamentary heirs, if they received their freedom at the same time, and the latter might receive a bequest in trust. In order to prevent the accumulation of property in the hands of women, the Lex Voconia (169 B.c,) forbade women being appointed heirs [in cases where the testator’s property exceeded £1,000], but permitted them to receive a legacy that did not exceed half the amount of the inheritance. In the interest of blood relations the Lex Falcidia (40 B.C.) established that only three- quarters of the heritage should be distributed in legacies, and that at least one-quarter should fall to the share of the natural heir. Augustus ordained that unmarried (ccelibes) and childless (orbi) persons should only inherit from relations within six degrees. The former in particular were to be deprived of the whole of their bequests, unless they married within a hundred days ; the latter were only to receive half: he also laid a tax of five per cent, on testamentary property. Not to be mentioned in the will was tan¬ tamount to being excluded from the in¬ heritance ; it was however the custom to mention disinherited children especially by name, and to add the reason for their being disinherited. All those were considered the principal heirs (heredes), who received shares that could be expressed in terms of a recognised fraction of the as, which was divided into twelve uncice. The sole heir was called heres ex asse; the co-heirs, on the other hand, were designated according to the share of their inheritance; for in¬ stance, heres ex triente, heir to a third part. (See also Inheritance.) Winds were regarded by Greeks and Romans alike as divine beings. In Homer, who only mentions the four chief winds, Boreas (North), Zephyrus (West), Eurus$