A law of Rhodes

The Rhodians went further. Sextus Empiricus says that there a son could not avoid paying his father’s debts by renouncing the succession. [1] The law of Rhodes was given to a republic founded on commerce : now, I believe the reason of commerce must itself have imposed this stricture, that the debts contracted by the father since the son had begun to exercise the commerce would not affect the property which the son had acquired. A merchant must always know his obligations, and behave at every moment in function of the state of his fortune.