In Late Antiquity the noun legatarius , which in juridical texts indicates a person who receives an inheritance, began to be used as a synonym of legatus , in particular by authors from the Gallo-Roman area (Anthimus, Epistulae Austrasicae , Venantius Fortunatus). An overall analysis of the quotations allows us to reconsider the reconstruction of the origins of the word proposed by the modern scholars.
Gianmario Cattaneo (Fri,) studied this question.