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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §1.3.41.pr

Law Consisting in Acquiring, Preserving, and Diminishing

Passage 60 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains that the whole of law consists in acquiring, preserving, or diminishing, and details how these actions apply to property and rights.

[ULPIANUS libro II institutionum. ] §1.3.41.prTotum autem ius constitit aut in adquirendo aut in conseruando aut in minuendo: aut enim hoc agitur quemadmodum quid cuiusque fiat, aut quemadmodum quis rem uel ius suum conseruet, aut quomodo alienet aut amittat.
[ULPIANUS, Institutes, book 2] But the whole of law consists either in acquiring, or in preserving, or in diminishing: for either this is dealt with, namely, how something becomes the property of someone, or how someone preserves their property or right, or how they alienate or lose it.

Notes

  1. §1.3.41.prconstitit — The perfect form constitit (from consisto) functions here similarly to the present consistit, expressing a permanent fact or state ('consists in').
  2. §1.3.41.prquid cuiusque fiat — quid (something) is an indefinite pronoun acting as the subject, while cuiusque (of everyone) is the genitive of quisque acting as a genitive of possession. Together with fiat (present subjunctive of fio, 'to become'), they form an indirect question meaning 'how something becomes someone's property.'

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §1.3.41.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:1.3.41.pr

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