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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §41.5.3.pr

Usucaption of Property Mistakenly Believed Hereditary

Passage 6819 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius states the common opinion that an heir who mistakenly believes a non-hereditary item belongs to the inheritance can acquire it by usucaption.

[POMPONIUS libro uicensimo tertio ad Quintum Mucium. ] §41.5.3.prPlerique putauerunt, si heres sim et putem rem aliquam ex hereditate esse quae non sit, posse me usucapere.
[POMPONIUS, from his twenty-third book on Quintus Mucius.] Most writers have thought that, if I am an heir and believe that some thing belongs to the inheritance which does not, I can acquire it by usucaption.

Notes

  1. 41.5.3.prposse me usucapere — This is an accusative with infinitive clause governed by the main verb `putauerunt`, forming the apodosis of the conditional sentence. The accusative `me` is the subject of the infinitive `posse`, which in turn takes the infinitive `usucapere` as its complement.
  2. 41.5.3.prquae non sit — This is a relative clause modifying the antecedent `rem aliquam`. The subjunctive `sit` is used either due to the attraction of the indirect speech within the subjective belief (dependent on `putem`), or to convey the counterfactual nature of the premise ("which in fact is not").

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §41.5.3.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:41.5.3.pr

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