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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.181.pr

The Extremely Broad Scope of the Term to Belong

Passage 8995 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius explains that the legal term 'belong' (pertinere) has a very broad scope, applying not only to objects owned or legally possessed but also to those with the potential to become so.

[IDEM libro trigesimo quinto ad Sabinum. ] §50.16.181.prUerbum illud 'pertinere' latissime patet: nam et eis rebus petendis aptum est, quae dominii nostri sint, et eis, quas iure aliquo possideamus, quamuis non sint nostri dominii: pertinere ad nos etiam ea dicimus, quae in nulla eorum causa sint, sed esse possint.
[THE SAME, in the thirty-fifth book on Sabinus.] That word 'belong' has the widest application: for it is suitable for claiming those things which are of our ownership, as well as those which we possess by some right, even though they are not of our ownership; and we also say that those things 'belong' to us which are in neither of these conditions, but have the possibility of being so.

Notes

  1. §50.16.181.prrebus petendis — Dative of purpose or reference complementing the adjective 'aptum'. The gerundive 'petendis' agrees with 'rebus', meaning 'things to be claimed' or 'subject to legal claim'.
  2. §50.16.181.prdominii nostri — Genitive of possession (or description) used predicatively, meaning 'of our ownership' or 'belonging to our domain of property'.
  3. §50.16.181.preorum — Genitive plural neuter referring to the two previously mentioned categories or situations (ownership and possession by some right).
  4. §50.16.181.prpertinere ad nos etiam ea dicimus — An accusative with infinitive (A.C.I.) construction governed by 'dicimus'. 'ea' is the subject accusative of the infinitive 'pertinere', and is modified by the relative clause 'quae...'.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.181.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.181.pr

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