Religious Intolerance in the Later Roman Empire - Bad request ...

CTh. 16.7.2 of 20 May 383 was addressed to Postumianus, a Christian. 279 This
law is longer and more complicated than the previous, but essentially repeated the
provisions of that previous, with some concessions. It stated that “Christians and
those confirmed in the faith [who] have turned to pagan rites and cults” were to be
denied “all power to make a testament in favour of any person whatsoever, so that
they shall be outside the Roman law.” 280 If, however “Christians and catechumens”
who were “neglect[ing] the venerable religion and go[ing] over to altars and temples”
then they were forbidden to bequeath property to anyone except their statuary heirs,
i.e. their children and brothers. 281
The law went on to deal with inheritances, and this section is less clear. It
ordered that “the same general rule shall be observed with respect to their persons in
taking property under a will” so that they may not inherit “except for their own
successions and statutory ones.” Finally the law ended with a clause that such people
“must unquestionably be excluded from all power not only to make testaments but
also to enjoy them under any right of acquiring an inheritance.” 282
In its first section, this law prevented apostatised baptised Christians from
making a will at all and then went on to restrict the bequeathing rights of Christians
who were catechumens, but unbaptised, from bequeathing to anyone except members
of their immediate family. The second section may have been intended to apply these
same rules to such apostates apropos inheriting, but that is not altogether clear in this
279 Honoré’s (1998) E4 whom he believes was Maternus Cynegius.
280 christian is ac fidelibus, qui ad paganos ritus cultusque m igrarunt, om nem in quam cum que personam
testam enti condendi interdicim us potestatem , ut sint absque iure rom ano
281 His v ero, qui christiani et catechum eni tantum v enerabili religione neglecta ad aras et tem pla transierint, si
filios v el fratres germ anos habebunt, hoc est aut suam aut legitim am successionem , testandi arbitratu proprio
in quaslibet alias personas ius adim atur
282 Pari et circa eorum person as in capiendo custodienda form a, ut praeter suas et legitim as, quae isdem ex
parentum v el germ anorum fratrum bonis perv enire potuerint, successiones, iudicio etiam , si ita res ferent,
conditae v oluntatis nulla om nino in capiendis hereditatibus testam enti iura sibi v indicent et indubitate ab
om ni testam entorum debeant non solum condendorum , sed etiam sub adipiscendae pontificio hereditatis
usurpandorum potestate excludi
260