Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §33.2.8.pr

Centennial Limit on Usufruct Bequeathed to a Municipality

Passage 4960 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

It is established that when a usufruct is bequeathed to a municipality, to prevent bare ownership from becoming useless through perpetual separation, its duration should be limited to one hundred years, which is considered the longest span of human life.

[GAIUS libro tertio de legatis ad edictum praetoris. ] §33.2.8.prSi usus fructus municipibus legatus erit, quaeritur, quousque in eo usu fructu tuendi sint: nam si quis eos perpetuo tuetur, nulla utilitas erit nudae proprietatis semper abscedente usu fructu.
[GAIUS, On Legacies under the Praetorian Edict, book III.] If a usufruct is bequeathed to the members of a municipality, it is asked how long they ought to be protected in that usufruct: for if anyone protects them perpetually, there will be no utility in bare ownership, with the usufruct being always separated.
unde centum annos obseruandos esse constat, qui finis uitae longissimus esset.
Hence it is established that one hundred years must be observed, which would be the longest limit of a life.

Notes

  1. §33.2.8.prtuendi sint — A passive periphrastic form consisting of the gerundive tuendus and sint (third-person plural present subjunctive of esse). It is in the subjunctive because it is in the indirect question clause introduced by quousque following quaeritur, expressing obligation or necessity ('they ought to be protected').
  2. §33.2.8.prsemper abscedente usu fructu — An ablative absolute consisting of the noun usu fructu (ablative singular) and the participle abscedente (present participle ablative singular of abscedere). It functions here to express cause ('because the usufruct is always separated'), explaining why 'bare ownership' (nuda proprietas) would become useless if the separation were perpetual (perpetuo).
  3. §33.2.8.prqui finis uitae longissimus esset — The relative pronoun qui is attracted in gender and number to the predicate noun finis (masculine singular) within the relative clause, rather than agreeing with its antecedent centum annos (masculine plural). The imperfect subjunctive esset is used here to present the reason as an established characteristic definition of the longest span of human life.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §33.2.8.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:33.2.8.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.