Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.3.30.pr-41.3.30.2

Three Classes of Bodies and Usucapion upon Mixing

Passage 6782 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the relationship between the mixture of things and usucapion by introducing the threefold classification of bodies (single, coherent, separate) and explaining their respective rules of usucapion.

[IDEM libro trigensimo ad Sabinum. ] §41.3.30.prRerum mixtura facta an usucapionem cuiusque praecedentem interrumpit, quaeritur.
[THE SAME, On Sabinus, book 30] It is asked whether a mixture of things, when made, interrupts the preceding usucapion of each.
tria autem genera sunt corporum, unum, quod continetur uno spiritu et Graece ἡνωμένον uocatur, ut homo tignum lapis et similia: alterum, quod ex contingentibus, hoc est pluribus inter se cohaerentibus constat, quod συνημμένον uocatur, ut aedificium nauis armarium: tertium, quod ex distantibus constat, ut corpora plura non soluta, sed uni nomini subiecta, ueluti populus legio grex.
There are, moreover, three classes of bodies: one which is held together by a single spirit and in Greek is called 'henomenon', such as a human, a beam, a stone, and the like; another which consists of contiguous things, that is, of several things cohering together, which is called 'synemmenon', such as a building, a ship, a chest; a third which consists of separate things, such as several bodies not joined together but subject to a single name, for instance, a people, a legion, a flock.
primum genus usucapione quaestionem non habet, secundum et tertium habet.
The first class presents no question regarding usucapion; the second and third do.
§41.3.30.1Labeo libris epistularum ait, si is, cui ad tegularum uel columnarum usucapionem decem dies superessent, in aedificium eas coniecisset, nihilo minus eum usucapturum, si aedificium possedisset.
Labeo says in his books of letters that if a person, who had ten days remaining for the usucapion of tiles or columns, had built them into a building, he would nevertheless usucapt them, provided he had possessed the building.
quid ergo in his, quae non quidem implicantur rebus soli, sed mobilia permanent, ut in anulo gemma? in quo uerum est et aurum et gemmam possideri et usucapi, cum utrumque maneat integrum.
What, then, of those things which are indeed not involved in things of the soil, but remain movable, such as a gem in a ring? In which case it is true that both the gold and the gem are possessed and usucapted, since each remains whole.
§41.3.30.2De tertio genere corporum uidendum est.
We must consider the third class of bodies.
non autem grex uniuersus sic capitur usu quomodo singulae res, nec sic quomodo cohaerentes.
A whole flock, however, is not acquired by usucapion in the same way as individual things, nor in the same way as coherent things.
quid ergo est? etsi ea natura eius est, ut adiectionibus corporum maneat, non item tamen uniuersi gregis ulla est usucapio, sed singulorum animalium sicuti possessio, ita et usucapio.
What is the case then? Even if its nature is such that it remains the same by the additions of bodies, nevertheless there is not likewise any usucapion of the flock as a whole, but just as there is possession of individual animals, so also is there usucapion.
nec si quid emptum immixtum fuerit gregi augendi eius gratia, idcirco possessionis causa mutabitur, ut, si reliquus grex dominii mei sit, haec quoque ouis, sed singulae suam causam habebunt, ita ut, si quae furtiuae erunt, sint quidem ex grege, non tamen usucapiantur.
Nor, if something purchased is mixed into the flock for the sake of increasing it, will the cause of possession be changed on that account, so that, if the rest of the flock is of my ownership, this sheep also becomes mine; but individual sheep will have their own cause, so that, if any are stolen, they will indeed be part of the flock, but yet not be usucapted.

Notes

  1. 41.3.30.prRerum mixtura facta — facta is a perfect participle modifying the subject mixtura (mixture). The phrase functioning as the subject of interrumpit means 'the mixture of things having been made.'
  2. 41.3.30.1nihilo minus eum usucapturum, si aedificium possedisset — An accusative with infinitive construction (indirect speech) introduced by ait, quoting Labeo. usucapturum stands for usucapturum esse, with eum as its subject. The clause si... possedisset (subjunctive pluperfect) is not a contrary-to-fact condition, but represents a future perfect in indirect speech shifted due to sequence of tenses after a past-tense verb of saying.
  3. 41.3.30.2ut, si reliquus grex dominii mei sit, haec quoque ouis — In the ut clause, dominii mei sit (or fiat) is omitted after haec quoque ouis. This phrase illustrates a concrete consequence of the preceding negation nec... idcirco possessionis causa mutabitur ('nor on that account will the cause of possession be changed, as if to say, if the rest of the flock is mine, this sheep also becomes mine').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.3.30.pr-41.3.30.2. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.3.30.pr-41.3.30.2

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