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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §43.8.7.pr

Demolition of Buildings Erected in Public Places

Passage 7060 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

This section discusses how a building erected in a public place without prior prohibition is not to be demolished for the sake of preserving the city's aesthetics, whereas one built in violation of a praetorian edict must be removed to maintain the praetor's authority.

[IDEM libro quadragensimo octauo digestorum. ] §43.8.7.prSicut is, qui nullo prohibente in loco publico aedificauerat, cogendus non est demolire, ne ruinis urbs deformetur, ita qui aduersus edictum praetoris aedificauerit, tollere aedificium debet: alioqui inane et lusorium praetoris imperium erit.
[THE SAME from the forty-eighth book of the Digests] Just as he who has built in a public place with no one prohibiting him is not to be compelled to demolish it, lest the city be disfigured by ruins, so he who has built contrary to the praetor's edict must remove the building; otherwise, the praetor's authority will be empty and illusory.

Notes

  1. §43.8.7.prnullo prohibente — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the pronoun nullo and the present participle prohibente, expressing an attendant circumstance or concession: 'with no one prohibiting' or 'although no one forbade it.'
  2. §43.8.7.prdemolire — An active infinitive form of demoliri, which is typically a deponent verb in classical Latin. It functions as the complementary infinitive with the gerundive cogendus (est): 'he ought not to be compelled to demolish (it).'
  3. §43.8.7.prlusorium — The neuter singular nominative of the adjective lusorius ('pertaining to play or sport', 'illusory'). Paired with inane ('empty', 'useless'), it emphasizes that the praetor's authority (imperium) would lose all practical efficacy and become a mere mockery or plaything.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §43.8.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:43.8.7.pr

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