At
the era of Gaius, which is that of the Antonine Caesars, the great
blemishes of the Mancipatory Will had been removed. Originally, as we
have seen, the essential character of the formalities had required
that the Heir himself should be the Purchaser of the Family, and the
consequence was that he not only instantly acquired a vested interest
in the Testator's Property, but was formally made aware of his rights.
But the age of Gaius permitted some unconcerned person to officiate as
Purchaser of the Family. The heir, therefore, was not necessarily
informed of the succession to which he was destined; and Wills
thenceforward acquired the property of _secrecy_. The substitution of
a stranger for the actual Heir in the functions of "Familiae Emptor"
had other ulterior consequences. As soon as it was legalised, a Roman
Testament came to consist of two parts or stages--a conveyance, which
was a pure form, and a Nuncupatio, or Publication. In this latter
passage of the proceeding, the Testator either orally declared to the
assistants the wishes which were to be executed after his death, or
produced a written document in which his wishes were embodied. It was
not probably till attention had been quite drawn off from the
imaginary Conveyance, and concentrated on the Nuncupation as the
essential part of the transaction, that Wills were allowed to become
_revocable_.

I have thus carried the pedigree of Wills some way down in legal
history. The root of it is the old Testament "with the copper and the
scales," founded on a Mancipation or Conveyance. This ancient Will
has, however, manifold defects, which are remedied, though only
indirectly, by the Praetorian law. Meantime the ingenuity of the
Jurisconsults effects, in the Common-Law Will or Mancipatory
Testament, the very improvements which the Praetor may have
concurrently carried out in Equity. These last ameliorations depend,
however, on mere legal dexterity, and we see accordingly that the
Testamentary Law of the day of Gaius or Ulpian is only transitional.
What changes next ensued we know not; but at length, just before the
reconstruction of the jurisprudence by Justinian, we find the subjects
of the Eastern Roman Empire employing a form of Will of which the
pedigree is traceable to the Praetorian Testament on one side, and to
the Testament "with the copper and the scales" on the other. Like the
Testament of the Praetor, it required no Mancipation, and was invalid
unless s