at if he should survive or
should desire to revoke the gift, or if the donee should die first, the
thing should be restored to him. These gifts in contemplation of death
now stand on exactly the same footing as legacies; for as in some
respects they were more like ordinary gifts, in others more like
legacies, the jurists doubted under which of these two classes
they should be placed, some being for gift, others for legacy: and
consequently we have enacted by constitution that in nearly every
respect they shall be treated like legacies, and shall be governed by
the rules laid down respecting them in our constitution. In a word, a
gift in contemplation of death is where the donor would rather have the
thing himself than that the donee should have it, and that the latter
should rather have it than his own heir. An illustration may be found in
Homer, where Telemachus makes a gift to Piraeus.

2 Gifts which are made without contemplation of death, which we call
gifts between the living, are of another kind, and have nothing in
common with legacies. If the transaction be complete, they cannot be
revoked at pleasure; and it is complete when the donor has manifested
his intention, whether in writing or not. Our constitution has settled
that such a manifestation of intention binds the donor to deliver,
exactly as in the case of sale; so that even before delivery gifts
are completely effectual, and the donor is under a legal obligation to
deliver the object. Enactments of earlier emperors required that
such gifts, if in excess of two hundred solidi, should be officially
registered; but our constitution has raised this maximum to five hundred
solidi, and dispensed with the necessity of registering gifts of this
or of a less amount; indeed it has even specified some gifts which are
completely valid, and require no registration, irrespective of their
amount. We have devised many other regulations in order to facilitate
and secure gifts, all of which may be gathered from the constitutions
which we have issued on this topic. It is to be observed, however,
that even where gifts have been completely executed we have by our
constitution under certain circumstances enabled donors to revoke them,
but only on proof of ingratitude on the part of the recipient of the
bounty; the aim of this reservation being to protect persons, who have
given their property to others, from suffering at the hands of the
latter injury or loss in any of the mode