Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.2.15.pr

Loss and Retention of Possession in Theft and Runaway Slaves

Passage 6713 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the legal principles governing the loss and retention of possession regarding stolen property, theft by dependents, and runaway slaves.

[GAIUS libro uicensimo sexto ad edictum prouinciale. ] §41.2.15.prRem, quae nobis subrepta est, perinde intellegimur desinere possidere atque eam, quae ui nobis erepta est.
[GAIUS, in the twenty-sixth book on the Provincial Edict.] We are understood to cease to possess a thing which has been stolen from us, just as much as one which has been taken from us by force.
sed si is, qui in potestate nostra est, subripuerit, quamdiu apud ipsum sit res, tamdiu non amittimus possessionem, quia per huiusmodi personas adquiritur nobis possessio.
But if a person who is in our power steals it, as long as the thing is with him, so long we do not lose possession, because possession is acquired for us through persons of this kind.
et haec ratio est, quare uideamur fugitiuum possidere, quod is, quemadmodum aliarum rerum possessionem interuertere non potest, ita ne suam quidem potest.
And this is the reason why we are deemed to possess a runaway slave, because, just as he cannot embezzle the possession of other things, so he cannot embezzle even his own.

Notes

  1. §41.2.15.printellegimur desinere possidere — The main verb "intellegimur" is a personal passive construction ("we are understood to..."), standing for the impersonal "intellegitur nos desinere..." ("it is understood that we cease...").
  2. §41.2.15.prsuam — Modifies the omitted noun "possessionem". "His own possession" (suam possessionem) here refers to the master's possession over the slave's physical body. The reasoning is that, just as a slave cannot alter or intercept the possession of other people's property, he cannot terminate his master's possession over his own body by running away.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.2.15.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.2.15.pr

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