“The lex Furia… provided that no one except [close] relatives … should take by will or gift in view of death more than 1000 asses [copper coins]. It did not rescind the disposition, but enacted a penalty of four times the amount, recoverable by a stringent procedure from anyone who took such a legacy or gift, contrary to the law. But this law left it open to a testator to leave nothing to the heir, supposing he made a sufficient number of legatees up to the statutable limit.” 1 Henry John Roby, Roman Private Law 344–45 (1902).
lex furia testamentaria
lex Furia testamentaria (leks fyoor-ee-[schwa] tes-t[schwa]-men-tair-ee-[ schwa]). [Latin] Roman law. A law prohibiting a testator from bequeathing more than 1,000 asses (i.e., 722 pounds) of copper or the equivalent. • This law, dating from the middle of the republic, was one of the first to restrict legacies. It was passed between 204 and 169 B.C.
