- 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-lat1:7.1.44.pr
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-12
It is stated that a usufructuary is not permitted to apply new plaster to unfinished walls even if it improves the owner's property, distinguishing the maintenance of received property from the creation of something new.
[NERATIUS libro tertio membranarum.]
[NERATIUS, in the third book of his Parchments.]
Usufructuarius nouum tectorium parietibus, qui rudes fuissent,1 imponere non potest, quia tametsi meliorem excolendo aedificium domini causam facturus esset,2 non tamen id iure suo facere potest, aliudque est tueri quod accepisset an nouum faceret.3
A usufructuary cannot apply new plaster to walls which had been left unfinished, because, although he would make the position of the owner better by decorating the building, he still cannot do this as of right, and it is one thing to maintain what he had received, and another to make something new.
- 7.1.44.prqui rudes fuissent
The verb in the relative clause modifying the antecedent 'parietibus' is in the pluperfect subjunctive (fuissent). This characterizes the state of the walls ('which had been left rough or unfinished') as a past, subjective condition or defining quality at the time of the transfer.
- 7.1.44.prmeliorem excolendo aedificium domini causam facturus esset
Introduced by the concessive conjunction 'tametsi', the active periphrastic subjunctive (facturus esset) expresses a hypothetical concession ('although he would make...'). The phrase 'domini causam meliorem facere' is an idiomatic expression meaning 'to improve the owner's position/benefit', and the ablative gerund 'excolendo' with its object 'aedificium' specifies the means ('by decorating/improving the building').
- 7.1.44.praliudque est tueri quod accepisset an nouum faceret
A variation of the formulaic contrast 'aliud est A, aliud B' ('it is one thing to do A, another to do B'). Here, an asymmetrical construction is used where the first term is a present infinitive (tueri) and the second is an imperfect subjunctive (faceret) introduced by the disjunctive particle 'an'. This implies that 'whether one is maintaining what was received or creating something new is a distinct matter'.