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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.1.38.pr

Ownership of Riparian Land Bordering a Road After River Shifts

Passage 6668 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Alfenus' response concerning the changes in land ownership caused by the erosion and recession of a river. He discusses how the ownership of new land formed by the river's retreat is determined in relation to the public road.

[ALFENUS UARUS libro quarto digestorum a PAULO epitomatorum. ] §41.1.38.prAttius fundum habebat secundum uiam publicam: ultra uiam flumen erat et ager Lucii Titii: fluit flumen paulatim primum omnium agrum, qui inter uiam et flumen esset, ambedit et uiam sustulit, postea rursus minutatim recessit et alluuione in antiquum locum rediit.
[ALFENUS VARUS, Digest, book 4, epitomized by PAULUS] Attius had a tract of land along the public road; beyond the road was a river and the land of Lucius Titius. The river flowed and gradually, first of all, eroded the land which was between the road and the river, and carried away the road; afterwards, it receded again by degrees and returned to its ancient channel by alluvion.
respondit, cum flumen agrum et uiam publicam sustulisset, eum agrum eius factum esse, qui trans flumen fundum habuisset: postea cum paulatim retro redisset, ademisse ei, cuius factus esset, et addidisse ei, cuius trans uiam esset, quoniam eius fundus proximus flumini esset, id autem, quod publicum fuisset, nemini accessisset.
He answered that when the river had carried away the land and the public road, that land became the property of him who had owned the land beyond the river; afterwards, when it had gradually receded, it took it away from him whose property it had become, and added it to him whose property was beyond the road, since his land was nearest to the river; but that which had been public accrued to no one.
nec tamen impedimento uiam esse ait, quo minus ager, qui trans uiam alluuione relictus est, Attii fieret: nam ipsa quoque uia fundi esset.
Nevertheless, he said that the road was not an impediment to prevent the land, which was left by alluvion beyond the road, from becoming the property of Attius; for the road itself also belonged to the land.

Notes

  1. §41.1.38.prademisse — The subject of the accusative-with-infinitives `ademisse` and `addidisse` is the neuter noun `flumen` (river) carried over from the previous clause. This is part of the indirect speech depending on `respondit`.
  2. §41.1.38.primpedimento uiam esse — A double dative construction with `uiam` as the subject accusative and `impedimento` as the dative of purpose (expressed as `uiam esse` within the indirect speech). It is followed by a `quo minus` clause with the subjunctive, typical after expressions of prevention, meaning 'the road is not an impediment to prevent [the land from becoming Attius's]'.
  3. §41.1.38.prfundi — Genitive of possession. It indicates that the road (`uia`) is a part of or belongs to the tract of land (`fundus`). This implies that the land is not completely severed by the road, but treated as a unit, leading to the conclusion that the alluvial land accrues to Attius.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.1.38.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.1.38.pr

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