by the statute,
while no legacies at all are charged on Seius, or at any rate legacies
which exhaust it only to the extent of one half or less, the question
arose whether, as Seius has at least a quarter of the whole inheritance,
Titius was or was not entitled to retain anything out of the legacies
which had been charged upon him: and it was settled that he could keep
an entire fourth of his share of the inheritance; for the calculation
of the lex Falcidia is to be applied separately to the share of each of
several heirs in the inheritance.

2 The amount of the property upon which the calculation is brought to
bear is its amount at the moment of the testator's decease. Thus, to
illustrate by an example, a testator who is worth a hundred aurei at his
decease gives the whole hundred away in legacies: here, if before the
heir accepts, the inheritance is so much augmented through slaves who
belong to it, or by births of children from such of them as are females,
or by the young of cattle that, even after paying away a hundred aurei
in legacies, the heir will still have a clear fourth of the inheritance,
the legatee's position is in no way improved, but a quarter of the
sum given in legacies may still be deducted for himself by the heir.
Conversely, if only seventyfive aurei are given in legacies, and before
acceptance the inheritance is so much diminished in value, say by
fire, shipwreck, or death of slaves, that no more or even less than
seventyfive aurei are left, the legatees can claim payment of their
legacies in full. In this latter case, however, the heir is not
prejudiced, for he is quite free to refused the inheritance:
consequently, the legatees must come to terms with him, and content
themselves with a portion of their legacies, lest they lose all through
no one's taking under the will.

3 When the calculation of the lex Falcidia is made, the testator's debts
and funeral expenses are first deducted, and the value of slaves whom he
has manumitted in the will or directed to be manumitted is not reckoned
as part of the inheritance; the residue is then divided so as to leave
the heirs a clear fourth, the other three quarters being distributed
among the legatees in proportion to the amount of the legacies given
them respectively in the will. Thus, if we suppose four hundred aurei
to have been given in legacies, and the value of the inheritance, out
of which they are to be paid, to be exactly that sum, each legatee mus