- 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-lat1:7.5.2.pr-7.5.2.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-13
This passage explains that security must be provided to the heirs in the bequest of the usufruct of money, and that the senatusconsult did not create a proper usufruct contrary to natural reason, but allowed it as a quasi-usufruct through a legal remedy.
[GAIUS libro septimo ad edictum prouinciale.]
[GAIUS in the seventh book on the provincial edict.]
Sed de pecunia recte caueri oportet his, a quibus1 eius pecuniae usus fructus legatus erit.
But concerning money, security ought to be properly given to those from whom the usufruct of that money shall have been bequeathed.
Quo senatus consulto non id effectum est, ut pecuniae usus fructus proprie esset (nec enim naturalis ratio2 auctoritate senatus commutari potuit), sed remedio introducto coepit quasi usus fructus haberi.
By this senatusconsult, it was not brought about that there should be a usufruct of money in the proper sense (for natural reason could not be altered by the authority of the Senate), but, a remedy having been introduced, it began to be regarded as a quasi-usufruct.
- 7.5.2.prhis, a quibus
The dative his refers to the persons to whom security is to be given (the heirs) and serves as the antecedent of the relative clause a quibus... legatus erit. The preposition a/ab indicates the agent of the passive legatus erit (the heirs from whose share the bequest is made). In a quasi-usufruct, the legatee who consumes the money is obliged to provide security (cautio) for its return to the heirs.
- 7.5.2.1naturalis ratio
Since the definition of usufruct is 'the right to use and enjoy the fruits of things without destroying their substance,' consumable money cannot legacy-wise be its object in the strict sense. This physical and logical limitation is termed naturalis ratio (natural reason), which cannot be altered even by positive law (the authority of the Senate); hence, it is treated as a 'quasi-usufruct' through legal fiction.