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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §44.7.16.pr

Acquisition of Possession and Rights through Estate Slaves

Passage 7301 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the possessory relationship of a debtor who pledged property to an inheritance slave and held it by precarium, explaining the acquisition of rights for the inheritance through the slave.

[IDEM libro tertio decimo digestorum. ] §44.7.16.prQui a seruo hereditario mutuam pecuniam accepit et fundum uel hominem pignoris causa ei tradiderat et precario rogauit, precario possidet: nam seruus hereditarius sicuti per traditionem accipiendo proprietatem hereditati adquirit, ita precario dando efficit, ne res usucapi possit.
[THE SAME, from the thirteenth book of Digests.] A person who has received a money loan from a slave belonging to an inheritance, and had delivered land or a slave to him as a pledge, and has requested it by precarium, possesses by precarium. For just as a slave belonging to an inheritance acquires ownership for the inheritance by receiving through delivery, so by giving by precarium he brings it about that the thing cannot be acquired by usucaption.
nam et si commodauerit uel deposuerit rem peculiarem, commodati et depositi actionem hereditati adquiret.
For even if he has lent or deposited a thing belonging to his peculium, he will acquire the action of loan and deposit for the inheritance.
haec ita, si peculiare negotium contractum est: nam ex hac causa etiam possessio adquisita intellegi debet.
This is so, if a transaction concerning the peculium has been contracted; for from this cause possession also must be understood to have been acquired.

Notes

  1. §44.7.16.prprecario rogauit — `precario` is an adverb (or ablative used adverbially) meaning "by precarium" (tenancy at will), and `rogauit` (requested) refers to the debtor requesting the creditor (here, the slave) to let him hold the pledge, thereby establishing a precarious possession.
  2. §44.7.16.prhereditati — Dative of benefit meaning "for the inheritance". It indicates that the "inheritance" (hereditas) itself, before the heir enters upon it, can be the subject of acquisition of rights through the acts of the slave.
  3. §44.7.16.prhaec ita — An idiomatic expression with the omission of the verb (such as `sunt` or `se habent`), meaning "these things are so (apply) only if...".

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §44.7.16.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:44.7.16.pr

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