Our good will is so great that We do not disdain, by means of Our laws, to dispose of certain cases which appear to Us to be beyond the comprehension of magistrates. The reason which induces Us to act in this way is, the fear that delay in deciding cases may ruin litigants. Alexander, a man of distinguished rank, some time since submitted to Us the following case. Hierius, his father, of glorious memory, made a will as follows, namely: "I appoint as my heirs the illustrious Constantine, who shall have the residence allotted to him, with all its appurtenances, as has already been stated, together with the suburban estate called Coparia, and all the rights attaching thereto, as well as the house situated at Antioch which was purchased from Ammianus. I also appoint the most excellent Anthemius my heir to the suburban estate called Blacherna, which was purchased from Eugenius and Julianus, of glorious memory, and the suburban estate situated on the promontory of Sosthenia, which formerly belonged to Ardiburius, of glorious memory. I also appoint that most illustrious personage, Callipius, heir to the suburban estate called Bytharium, or Philothea; and I appoint the most illustrious Alexander heir to my suburban estate situated in Venetia. "I forbid my heirs to transfer to strangers by sale, donation, exchange, or in any other way whatsoever, or to alienate from my name or that of my family the residence and the five estates which I have just mentioned, and if any offspring should be born to them (which God grant) and at the time of their death they leave any legitimate or even natural children, I desire each one to bequeath to them the suburban estate and the buildings belonging thereto, which are situated in this Royal City and in Antioch. I am satisfied that my heirs will not fail to carry out my present wishes with reference to their natural children or grandchildren. If, however, all, or some of them, or even only one, should die without issue (which is something that I detest), I wish, and I direct that he who dies childless shall transfer to his surviving brother or brothers the houses situated in this city, or in Antioch, as well as the five suburban estates hereinbefore mentioned, together with all the rights attaching thereto, all their appurtenances, and all the persons belonging to them, without any exception whatsoever. I forbid my heirs to furnish any security to insure the delivery of any trusts or legacies. No one shall make a demand to have this done, and any of my heirs who, in violation of my intention and paternal love, dares to require it of their brothers, for the preservation of property whose alienation I prohibit, shall forfeit the entire benefit of the trust." After having inserted these provisions in his will, Hierius executed a codicil, in which he made use of almost the same language. "I declare most positively that I have recently drawn up a will which embodies my complete wishes, and I desire, and I order that its provisions shall remain in full force, subject, however, to the changes which I shall make by this codicil, and to the diminution of the legacies which I have bequeathed to each one of my heirs. Therefore, I wish, and I order that my suburban estate called Coparia, which was left by my preceding will to my most magnificent son Constantine, be given in full possession and ownership to my most illustrious and most glorious grandson Hierius, born to my most magnificent son Constantine; and I desire that the said estate shall belong to him absolutely, together with all the squares and stairways forming part of the same, and everything appertaining thereto which is leased, both within and without the city, that is the houses, the shops, the baths, the gardens situated within and without the walls, the hippodrome with the garden belonging to it, the cistern, and, in short, all the rights of every description to which I am entitled with reference to said estate. "I desire the present legacy to be transferred to my said most illustrious grandson after my death, as soon as he is released from paternal control, and becomes his own master by emancipation; and my most generous grandson, and whoever either by my own will or by his may succeed to the same rights, shall not be permitted to disobey my wishes, or to divide, exchange, give, or alienate in any manner whatsoever the said suburban estate, or any part thereof; it being my wish that said estate, as well as the houses situated near the gate of the wall of Ficulneum on the road leading to the sacred place of martyrdom of St. Thecla, should remain absolutely and permanently in my family, and never be separated from my name. Moreover, I wish, and I order that if my most glorious grandson Hierius should die before or after he arrives at puberty, without leaving any lawful issue, the possession and ownership of the said suburban estate and houses bequeathed shall belong to his most magnificent father, Constantine, under the same condition, namely, that the said immovable property shall never be alienated from my family and from my name." The testator died after having executed this codicil, but Hierius, of glorious memory, afterwards sold to strangers the house at Antioch which had come to him from the estate of his father, and he transferred to his son Constans, of glorious memory, the residence situated in this city, as well as the suburban estate which he received by virtue of the codicil, and which he was also forbidden to alienate. Gonstans afterwards died, leaving his wife pregnant, and provided by his will that if the child was not born, or if it should be born, and died before reaching the age of puberty, its most glorious mother, Mary, and his illustrious wife, who was also named Mary, should be called to the succession. Mary subsequently gave birth to a daughter, who died at a tender age, and then the estate of Constans, that is to say, the residence situated in this city, and the suburban estate which, under the codicil, had been expressly left to Hierius, of glorious memory, passed to the illustrious mother and wife of Constans. It is certain that the latter had the right, by virtue of the will as well as the codicil, to claim the house and the estate given to him, since he was the only one of the children of Hierius, of glorious memory, who was living, and that he held the first rank in the family. Those who represented the most glorious mother and wife of Constans maintained that as Constans did not die childless, it was not necessary to rely upon the provisions of the will of Hierius, in order to afford a ground for the restitution of the houses; that the most glorious Alexander could not, in accordance with law, raise any question with reference to the suburban estate, since he himself had already disposed of the one which had been left him, and of which their common father had forbidden the alienation, as was the case with all the other landed property, and as the other brothers had also sold the property devised to them. The result of these different allegations is, that all the heirs had failed to comply with the wishes of the deceased, and had violated Our laws on this subject; that they were reciprocally released from the obligation of making restitution; and that they had mutually freed themselves from all demands to do so in order not to expose themselves to a number of judgments in the same case; and, in consequence of this, they brought to Our attention the laws enacted with reference to this matter. The most glorious Alexander, however, alleged that, for his part, he had properly brought suit to recover the houses, because in his codicil Hierius had clearly shown that he desired that they should not be alienated from his family; and he asserted that his right was much better founded, so far as the suburban estate was concerned. In conclusion, he maintained that no legal objection should be advanced to the alienation which he himself had made, since he was authorized to make it by an Imperial order. The parties on both sides made use of a great number of arguments in an attempt to interpret the will of the testator, and cited such of Our laws as they thought to be favorable to their claims.

  Therefore, as We have in view both the interpretation of the laws and the construction of the will, We are going to dispose of these matters not by a mere decision, but by a law; in order, at the same time, to put an end to the present controversy, and provide for others which may hereafter arise. Confining Ourself strictly to the words of the will, We perceive that alienation is forbidden to the children who might acquire the estate when they died without issue, but that this right is not refused to their successors; that the testator only forbade the children to alienate the property, and paid the greatest attention to the persons to whom it might pass if the former should die without offspring and to the manner in which this should be done; without, however, extending the prohibition to alienate said property beyond the lives of the children. For the codicil subsequently executed with reference to the suburban estate forbade alienation to even those who, by virtue of the will of Hierius (We refer to the younger one of that name), of glorious memory, might obtain the property by succession; hence it results that the grandfather Hierius intended that the property should always remain in his family. These are the points involved in the controversy.

  But when We consider the case with the attention which it deserves, We perceive that no question should be raised with reference to the other property of which Constantine, the son of the elder Hierius, of glorious memory, has certainly become the owner, in accordance with the provisions of his father's will; and that not only the most glorious Alexander should lose his suit to recover the said property, but also all his family should do so, since the will only prohibits the children from alienation, and the children of Hierius, of glorious memory, through whom the grandchildren forming part of the family claim the rights of Hierius, have, themselves, alienated many things which were bequeathed to them, just as if all had mutually agreed to release themselves from the obligation to transfer the property. But so far as the suburban estate of which it appears, according to the terms of the codicil, that Hierius, of glorious memory, is the owner, is concerned, it seems to Us to be very hard, after four generations, to raise the question whether it can be alienated; especially when the most glorious mother and wife of Constans, whom Our laws consider as forming part of the family, and judge to be worthy of bearing its name, are living. Hence, the most illustrious Alexander has, neither regularly nor legally, brought the action to which We refer; and We cannot permit a case as old as this is to be tried, above all after four generations have passed, and when the daughter of Constans died while still a minor. For if Constans had not made a will, the suburban estate would also have gone to his mother, not through his minor daughter but by the provisions of the law itself, even though none of the successors of Hierius, of glorious memory, had failed to comply with his wishes. For even though Constans, when he drew up his will, made certain substitutions, and his daughter died before reaching puberty, this will be productive of nothing advantageous; for the reason that the law itself grants the estate of the minor daughter to her mother, just as if the said minor had died without her father having executed any will.

  Therefore We order that neither the most glorious Alexander, nor his children, nor the other children of the elder Hierius, of glorious memory, nor the remaining members of his family, shall bring suit against the most glorious mother and wife of Constans, to recover the property in their hands, of which Hierius had forbidden the alienation. We prohibit them from suing the other persons in whose possession the said property is at present, or who may hereafter acquire it; and We also forbid them in the future to avail themselves of the prohibition to alienate said property, as stated by Hierius, and, in this way, to acquire any right to the same; for since some of the children of Hierius, of glorious memory, have alienated what belonged to them, they have, by doing so, to a certain extent, consented to the alienations made by the others; and for this reason, as well as for those which We have already given, and which are sufficient for Us to determine the case and amend the legislation, We think that they, as well as their successors, should be forbidden to bring such suits as may lie in their favor. This decision shall not only apply to the case under discussion, but also to all others in which a similar prohibition may be found, where as many generations have passed; and the last of the heirs, even though called to the succession by the intervention of a child under the age of puberty, shall be entitled to the estate. For then, by the operation of the present law, property may be transmitted even to persons who do not belong to the family of him who forbade it to be alienated. This law shall therefore apply to the present case and to all others where similar prohibitions made hereafter by testators are involved. By its means We dispose of the present controversy, and it is probable that We shall make provision for all others in the future.

  Therefore Your Glory will be careful to publish in this capital city, and cause to be observed and carried into effect the regulations which We have been pleased to promulgate by means of this Imperial law.