/1/ Yet a legatarius was not a universal
successor, and for most purposes stood in marked contrast with
such successors. /2/
Thus the strict law of inheritance had made the notion familiar
that one man might have the advantage of a position filled by
another, although it was not filled, or was only partially
filled, by himself; and the second fiction, by which the
privileges of a legal heir in this respect as well as others had
been extended to other persons, broke down the walls which might
otherwise have confined those privileges to a single case. A new
conception was introduced into the law, and there was nothing to
hinder its further application. As has been shown, it was applied
in terms to a sale of the universitas for business purposes, and
to at least one case where the succession was confined to a
single specific thing. Why, then, might not every gift or sale be
regarded as a succession, so far as to insure the same
advantages?
[363] The joinder of times to make out a title was soon allowed
between buyer and seller, and I have no doubt, from the language
always used by the Roman lawyers, that it was arrived at in the
way I have suggested. A passage from Scaevola (B. C. 30) will
furnish sufficient proof.
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