Definition
In Roman law, *posteriores* refers to lineal descendants beyond the sixth degree of kinship. The term designated those individuals who fell outside the closer grades of descent recognized by Roman succession law — specifically, direct-line relatives too remote to be counted among the nearer classes of heirs under the standard degrees of civil relationship.
Why It Matters in Research
This is a narrow Roman law term with limited direct relevance to modern common law research, but it appears in historical texts dealing with Roman succession, inheritance, and the law of persons. Researchers working in civil law jurisdictions, canon law sources, or comparative legal history may encounter it in discussions of the gradus system — the Roman method of computing degrees of kinship. Because Roman law calculated degrees differently than common law (which uses the canon law method), a researcher accustomed to common law degree-counting should be alert to the difference: what constitutes the "sixth degree" under Roman civil computation is not the same as the sixth degree under the canon or common law methods. Sources that discuss *posteriores* without clarifying which computational system they are applying can be misleading. The term is also a reminder that Roman succession law drew sharp categorical lines at specific degree thresholds; descendants beyond those thresholds occupied a legally distinct and generally disfavored position in intestate succession hierarchies.
Historical Dictionary Support
Both Black's Law Dictionary (1st and 2nd editions) provide identical, minimal entries: the term denotes descendants in the direct line beyond the sixth degree, in Roman usage. Neither edition elaborates on the procedural or substantive consequences that attached to being classified as a *posterior* under Roman law, nor do they situate the term within the broader framework of Roman succession classes (sui heredes, agnates, gentiles). The definitions are consistent with each other and accurate as far as they go, but they are essentially glossary-level entries. Researchers needing fuller treatment of the concept should consult primary civil law sources or historical treatises on Roman private law for context on how the degree threshold functioned within the broader ius civile inheritance scheme.