constitutions to be perfectly valid by civil law.

TITLE XI. OF SOLDIERS' WILLS

Soldiers, in consideration of their extreme ignorance of law, have
been exempted by imperial constitutions from the strict rules for the
execution of a testament which have been described. Neither the legal
number of witnesses, nor the observance of the other rules which have
been stated, is necessary to give force to their wills, provided, that
is to say, that they are made by them while on actual service; this
last qualification being a new though wise one introduced by our
constitution. Thus, in whatever mode a soldier's last wishes are
declared, whether in writing or orally, this is a binding will, by force
of his mere intention. At times, however, when they are not employed
on actual service, but are living at home or elsewhere, they are not
allowed to claim this privilege: they may make a will, even though they
be sons in power, in virtue of their service, but they must observe the
ordinary rules, and are bound by the forms which we described above as
requisite in the execution of wills of civilians.

1 Respecting the testaments of soldiers the Emperor Trajan sent a
rescript to Statilius Severus in the following terms: 'The privilege
allowed to soldiers of having their wills upheld, in whatever manner
they are made, must be understood to be limited by the necessity of
first proving that a will has been made at all; for a will can be made
without writing even by civilians. Accordingly, with reference to the
inheritance which is the subject of the action before you, if it can be
shown that the soldier who left it, did in the presence of witnesses,
collected expressly for this purpose, declare orally who he wished to be
his heir, and on what slaves he wished to confer liberty, it may well
be maintained that in this way he made an unwritten testament, and his
wishes therein declared ought to be carried out. But if, as is so common
in ordinary conversation, he said to some one, I make you my heir, or, I
leave you all my property, such expressions cannot be held to amount to
a testament, and the interest of the very soldiers, who are privileged
in the way described, is the principal ground for rejecting such a
precedent. For if it were admitted, it would be easy, after a soldier's
death, to procure witnesses to affirm that they had heard him say he
left his property to any one they pleased to name, and in this way it
would be impo