A fiction of the law, the effect of which is to put the representative in the place, degree, or right of the person represented. 2. The heir represents his ancestor. Bac. Abr. Heir and Ancestor, A. The devisee, his testator; the executor, his testator; the administrator, his intestate; the successor in corporations, his predecessor. And generally speaking they are entitled to the rights of the persons whom they represent, and bound to fulfill the duties and obligations, which were binding upon them in those characters. 3. Representation was unknown to the Romans, and was invented by the commentators and doctors of the civil law.