- Source
- Digesta Iustiniani Augusti. Mommsen, Theodor & Krueger, Paul, editors. Berlin: Weidmann, 1870.
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:6.2.7.pr-6.2.7.17
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
Explains the requirements for the Publician action, describing its application to adjudication, litis aestimatio, lucrative causes, purchases from minors, and exchange, while discussing the buyer's good faith and the requirement of delivery, as well as acquisitions through slaves or agents.
[ULPIANUS libro sexto decimo ad edictum.]
[ULPIANUS on the Edict, book 16.]
Sed et si res adiudicata sit, Publiciana actio competit.
But also if the property has been adjudicated, the Publician action is available.
Si lis fuerit aestimata,1 similis est uenditioni: et ait Iulianus libro uicensimo secundo digestorum, si optulit reus aestimationem litis, Publicianam competere.
If the value of the suit has been estimated, it is similar to a sale; and Julian says in the twenty-second book of his Digests that if the defendant has offered the estimated value of the suit, the Publician action is available.
Marcellus libro septimo decimo digestorum scribit eum, qui a furioso ignorans eum furere emit, posse usucapere: ergo et Publicianam habebit.
Marcellus writes in the seventeenth book of his Digests that he who buys from a madman, being ignorant of his madness, can acquire by usucapion; therefore, he will also have the Publician action.
Sed et si quis ex lucratiuis causis2 rem accepit, habet Publicianam, quae etiam aduersus donatorem competit: est enim iustus possessor et petitor, qui liberalitatem accepit.
But also if anyone has received property through lucrative causes, he has the Publician action, which is available even against the donor; for he who has received a liberality is a lawful possessor and claimant.
Si a minore quis emerit ignorans eum minorem esse, habet Publicianam.
If anyone has bought from a minor, being ignorant that he was a minor, he has the Publician action.
Sed et si permutatio facta sit, eadem actio competit.
But also if an exchange has been made, the same action is available.
Publiciana actio ad instar proprietatis, non ad instar possessionis3 respicit.
The Publician action looks to the likeness of ownership, not to the likeness of possession.
Si petenti mihi rem iusiurandum detuleris egoque iurauero rem meam esse, competit Publiciana mihi, sed aduersus te dumtaxat: ei enim soli nocere debet iusiurandum, qui detulit. sed si possessori delatum erit iusiurandum et iurauerit rem petitoris non esse, aduersus eum solum petentem exceptione utetur, non ut et habeat actionem.
If, when I am claiming property, you have tendered me an oath, and I have sworn that the property is mine, the Publician action is available to me, but only against you; for the oath ought to prejudice only him who tendered it. But if the oath is tendered to the possessor, and he has sworn that the property does not belong to the claimant, he will use an exception only against that claimant, not so that he also acquires an action.
In Publiciana actione omnia eadem erunt, quae et in rei uindicatione diximus.
In the Publician action, all things will be the same as we have said in the case of the action for recovery of property (rei uindicatio).
Haec actio et heredi et honorariis successoribus competit.
This action is available both to the heir and to praetorian (honorary) successors.
Si ego non emero, sed seruus meus, habebo Publicianam. idem est et si procurator meus uel tutor uel curator uel quis alius negotium meum gerens emerit.
If I have not bought, but my slave has, I will have the Publician action. The same is true if my procurator, tutor, curator, or anyone else managing my business has bought.
Praetor ait: 'qui bona fide emit.' non igitur omnis emptio proderit, sed ea, quae bonam fidem habet: proinde hoc sufficit me bonae fidei emptorem fuisse, quamuis non a domino emerim, licet ille callido consilio uendiderit: neque enim dolus uenditoris mihi nocebit.
The praetor says: “he who has bought in good faith.” Therefore, not every purchase will be beneficial, but only that which possesses good faith; accordingly, it is sufficient that I was a buyer in good faith, even though I did not buy from the owner, and even if the seller sold with a crafty design; for the fraud of the seller will not harm me.
In hac actione non oberit mihi, si successor sum et dolo feci, cum is, in cuius locum successi, bona fide emisset:4 nec proderit, si dolo careo, cum emptor, cui successi, dolo fecisset.
In this action, it will not harm me, if I am a successor and have acted with fraud, when he in whose place I succeeded had bought in good faith; nor will it benefit me, if I am free from fraud, when the buyer to whom I succeeded had acted with fraud.
Sed enim si seruus meus emit, dolus eius erit spectandus, non meus, uel contra.
But indeed, if my slave buys, his fraud must be looked to, not mine, or vice versa.
Publiciana tempus emptionis continet, et ideo neque quod ante emptionem neque quod postea dolo malo factum est in hac actione deduci Pomponio uidetur.
The Publician action concerns the time of purchase, and therefore it seems to Pomponius that neither what was done with malicious intent before the purchase nor what was done after it is brought into consideration in this action.
Bonam autem fidem solius emptoris continet.
Moreover, it concerns the good faith of the buyer alone.
Ut igitur Publiciana competat, haec debent concurrere, ut et bona fide quis emerit et ei res empta eo nomine sit tradita: ceterum ante traditionem, quamuis bonae fidei quis emptor sit, experiri Publiciana non poterit.
Therefore, for the Publician action to be available, these conditions must concur: both that one has bought in good faith and that the property bought has been delivered to him under that title; otherwise, before delivery, although one may be a buyer in good faith, he will not be able to sue by the Publician action.
Iulianus libro septimo digestorum scripsit traditionem rei emptae oportere bona fide fieri: ideoque si sciens alienam possessionem adprehendit, Publiciana eum experiri non posse, quia usucapere non poterit. nec quisquam putet hoc nos existimare sufficere initio traditionis ignorasse rem alienam,5 uti quis possit Publiciana experiri, sed oportere et tunc bona fide emptorem esse.
Julian wrote in the seventh book of his Digests that the delivery of the purchased property must be made in good faith; and therefore, if one has taken possession knowing that it belongs to another, he cannot sue by the Publician action because he will not be able to acquire it by usucapion. Nor let anyone think that we hold it sufficient that he was ignorant of its being another’s property at the beginning of the delivery, so that he may sue by the Publician action; rather, he must also be a buyer in good faith at that time.
- 6.2.7.1lis fuerit aestimata
Refers to the monetary valuation of the disputed property (litis aestimatio). By paying the estimated value instead of returning the object, the defendant acquires a position similar to a buyer.
- 6.2.7.3ex lucratiuis causis
Refers to lucrative (gratuitous) causes such as gifts or legacies. Even without consideration, the recipient is treated as a lawful possessor (iustus possessor) entitled to the Publician action.
- 6.2.7.6ad instar proprietatis, non ad instar possessionis
Indicates that the Publician action is modeled on the protection of ownership (fictitiously assuming completed usucaption) rather than the protection of mere possession.
- 6.2.7.12non oberit mihi, si successor sum et dolo feci, cum is, in cuius locum successi, bona fide emisset
Explains the rule of succession of good or bad faith (relying on the predecessor's state of mind) in cases where the predecessor acted in good faith but the successor in bad faith, and vice versa.
- 6.2.7.17nec quisquam putet hoc nos existimare sufficere initio traditionis ignorasse rem alienam
An accusative with infinitive construction (hoc nos existimare sufficere...) introduced by nec quisquam putet ("let no one think"), where ignorasse rem alienam ("having been ignorant that it was another's property") is the subject of sufficere. It emphasizes that good faith is required at the time of delivery.