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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §50.16.49.pr

Etymology of Goods and Scope of Included Rights

Passage 8863 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains the natural etymology and definition of the term 'goods', showing that not only things under ownership, but also good-faith possessions, superficiary rights, and various rights of action are included in one's goods.

[ULPIANUS libro quinquagensimo nono ad edictum. ] §50.16.49.pr'Bonorum' appellatio aut naturalis aut ciuilis est.
[ULPIAN, on the Edict, book 59.] The term 'goods' is either natural or civil.
naturaliter bona ex eo dicuntur, quod beant, hoc est beatos faciunt: beare est prodesse.
Naturally, 'goods' are so called from the fact that they 'bless', that is, make people happy; 'to bless' is 'to benefit'.
in bonis autem nostris computari sciendum est non solum, quae dominii nostri sunt, sed et si bona fide a nobis possideantur uel superficiaria sint.
However, it must be known that not only those things which are of our ownership are computed among our goods, but also if they are possessed by us in good faith or are superficiary.
aeque bonis adnumerabitur etiam, si quid est in actionibus petitionibus persecutionibus: nam haec omnia in bonis esse uidentur.
Equally, there will also be added to goods whatever consists in actions, petitions, or prosecutions; for all these appear to be among one's goods.

Notes

  1. §50.16.49.prnaturaliter bona ex eo dicuntur, quod beant — The construction ex eo, quod... means "from the fact that..." or "because...". Here it introduces the ancient etymological derivation of the word bona (goods) from beare (to bless, make happy).
  2. §50.16.49.prdominii nostri — The word dominii is the genitive singular of dominium (ownership). Combined with nostri, it serves as the predicate of sunt, functioning as a genitive of possession or characteristic meaning "of our ownership".
  3. §50.16.49.prsciendum est non solum, quae dominii nostri sunt, sed et si bona fide a nobis possideantur uel superficiaria sint — An asymmetrical parallel construction where non solum is followed by a relative clause (quae...) and sed et (but also) by a conditional clause (si...). Semantically, an antecedent like ea quae (those things which) is understood after sed et ("but also [those things] if they are possessed...").
  4. §50.16.49.practionibus petitionibus persecutionibus — A systematic classification of procedural remedies in Roman civil law: actiones (typically personal actions), petitiones (typically real actions or claims for estates), and persecutiones (extraordinary claims or pursuits under cognitio extra ordinem).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §50.16.49.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:50.16.49.pr

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