 As long as the fetus was conceived before the testator's death (usually, the father) and then born alive, their inheritance rights were equal to those born before the testator's death.Even though under the Roman law the fetus was not a legal subject, it was a potential person whose property rights were protected after birth.Roman jurist Ulpian noted, that "in the Law of the Twelve Tables he who was in the womb is admitted to the legitimate succession, if he has been born".