Death as a Reason for Quasi Contract in the Sources of Roman Law

Abstract

The article examines whether, and under what conditions, a person’s death in Roman law could trigger an obligation arising from a quasi‑contract, in particular in connection with the duty to arrange a funeral (actio funeraria) and the related expenses. Based on an exegesis of the primary sources and their classical interpretation in Roman law scholarship we show that Roman law conceived the funeral duty as an onus hereditatis that precedes any disposition of the estate and is enforceable by a restitutionary action. Special attention is given to the legal characterisation of the claim, its moderation by principles of reasonableness and proportionality, and to the actor’s subjective motive (pietatis gratia). The Roman concept is then compared with modern private‑law regimes (e.g. § 1968 BGB; § 470 Slovak Civil Code; § 1717 Czech Civil Code), in which the duty to reimburse reasonable funeral costs persists as a means of protecting post‑mortem human dignity, even without a direct praetorian action. We conclude that death, as a legal event, did not merely terminate legal personality but could give rise to a quasi‑contractual obligation to reimburse expenses reasonably incurred for a dignified funeral.