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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.3.1.pr

Public Interest and Origin of Usucaption

Passage 6752 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius explains that usucaption was introduced for the public good to prevent ownership of property from remaining uncertain indefinitely, as the prescribed time limits are sufficient for owners to search for their assets.

[GAIUS libro uicensimo primo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §41.3.1.prBono publico usucapio introducta est, ne scilicet quarundam rerum diu et fere semper incerta dominia essent, cum sufficeret dominis ad inquirendas res suas statuti temporis spatium.
[GAIUS, on the Provincial Edict, book 21] Usucaption was introduced for the public good, namely, so that the ownership of certain things should not remain uncertain for a long time and almost forever, since the span of the established time was sufficient for owners to search for their property.

Notes

  1. 41.3.1.prBono publico — Dative of advantage (dativus commodi), meaning 'for the public good.' Its placement at the very beginning of the sentence emphasizes that the primary purpose of the institution of usucapion is the maintenance of public order rather than private encroachment.
  2. 41.3.1.prne ... essent — A negative purpose clause introducing the subjunctive imperfect 'essent'. In accordance with the sequence of tenses (consecutio temporum), the imperfect is used because the main verb is in the perfect tense (introducta est). The insertion of 'scilicet' (of course, namely) reinforces the self-evident nature of this purpose.
  3. 41.3.1.prcum sufficeret — A causal 'cum' clause with the subjunctive imperfect 'sufficeret', explaining the reason ('since... was sufficient'). It justifies the institution of usucapion by showing that it is not excessively harsh on owners, as the subject 'statuti temporis spatium' (the span of the established time) was adequate.
  4. 41.3.1.prad inquirendas res suas — The preposition 'ad' combined with the feminine plural accusative noun 'res suas' and the agreeing gerundive 'inquirendas', expressing purpose ('to search for their property'). Grammatically, it is equivalent to the gerund construction 'ad inquirendum res suas'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.3.1.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.3.1.pr

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