[PAULUS libro uicensimo primo ad edictum. ] §6.1.23.prIn rem actio competit ei, qui aut iure gentium aut iure ciuili dominium adquisiit.
[PAULUS, in the twenty-first book on the Edict.] An action in rem is available to one who has acquired ownership either by the law of nations or by civil law.
§6.1.23.1Loca sacra, item religiosa quasi nostra in rem actione peti non possunt.
Sacred places, and likewise religious places, cannot be claimed by an action in rem as if they were ours.
§6.1.23.2Si quis rei suae alienam rem ita adiecerit, ut pars eius fieret, ueluti si quis statuae suae bracchium aut pedem alienum adiecerit, aut scypho ansam uel fundum, uel candelabro sigillum, aut mensae pedem, dominum eius totius rei effici uereque statuam suam dicturum et scyphum plerique recte dicunt.
If anyone has joined someone else's property to his own in such a way that it becomes a part of it, for example, if anyone has added another's arm or foot to his own statue, or a handle or bottom to a cup, or a figurine to a candelabrum, or a leg to a table, most jurists rightly say that he becomes the owner of the whole thing and will truly call the statue and the cup his own.
§6.1.23.3Sed et id, quod in charta mea scribitur aut in tabula pingitur, statim meum fit: licet de pictura quidam contra senserint propter pretium picturae: sed necesse est ei rei cedi, quod sine illa esse non potest.
But also, whatever is written on my paper or painted on my tablet immediately becomes mine; although regarding a painting some have held the contrary opinion on account of the value of the painting; but it is necessary that what cannot exist without it should yield to that thing.
§6.1.23.4In omnibus igitur istis, in quibus mea res per praeualentiam alienam rem trahit meamque efficit, si eam rem uindicem, per exceptionem doli mali cogar pretium eius quod accesserit dare.
In all these cases, therefore, in which my property by its superiority draws to itself another's property and makes it mine, if I should claim that thing, I shall be compelled through the defense of fraud to pay the price of what was added.
§6.1.23.5Item quaecumque aliis iuncta siue adiecta accessionis loco cedunt, ea quamdiu cohaerent dominus uindicare non potest, sed ad exhibendum agere potest, ut separentur et tunc uindicentur: scilicet excepto eo, quod Cassius de ferruminatione scribit.
Likewise, whatever is joined or added to other things and yields to them as an accession cannot be claimed by its owner as long as they remain attached, but he can bring an action for production so that they may be separated and then claimed; except, of course, for what Cassius writes concerning welding.
dicit enim, si statuae suae ferruminatione iunctum bracchium sit, unitate maioris partis consumi et quod semel alienum factum sit, etiamsi inde abruptum sit, redire ad priorem dominum non posse.
For he says that if an arm is joined to his own statue by welding, it is absorbed into the unity of the larger part, and what has once become another's property cannot return to its former owner, even if it is broken off from there.
non idem in eo quod adplumbatum sit, quia ferruminatio per eandem materiam facit confusionem, plumbatura non idem efficit.
The same does not apply to what is soldered with lead, because welding causes a blending by means of the same material, whereas soldering with lead does not do the same.
ideoque in omnibus his casibus, in quibus neque ad exhibendum neque in rem locum habet, in factum actio necessaria est.
Therefore, in all those cases where neither an action for production nor an action in rem lies, an action on the case is necessary.
at in his corporibus, quae ex distantibus corporibus essent, constat singulas partes retinere suam propriam speciem, ut singuli homines, singulae oues: ideoque posse me gregem uindicare, quamuis aries tuus sit immixtus: sed et te arietem uindicare posse.
But in the case of those bodies which consist of separate bodies, it is well established that the individual parts retain their own distinct identity, such as individual human beings or individual sheep; and therefore, I can claim a flock, even though your ram is mixed in it, and you also can claim your ram.
quod non idem in cohaerentibus corporibus eueniret: nam si statuae meae bracchium alienae statuae addideris, non posse dici bracchium tuum esse, quia tota statua uno spiritu continetur.
This would not happen in the case of coherent bodies; for if you have added the arm of another's statue to my statue, it cannot be said that the arm is yours, because the whole statue is held together by a single spirit.
§6.1.23.6Tignum alienum aedibus iunctum nec uindicari potest propter legem duodecim tabularum, nec eo nomine ad exhibendum agi nisi aduersus eum, qui sciens alienum iunxit aedibus: sed est actio antiqua de tigno iuncto, quae in duplum ex lege duodecim tabularum descendit.
Another's timber joined to a building cannot be claimed because of the Law of the Twelve Tables, nor can an action for production be brought on that account except against one who knowingly joined another's timber to the building; but there is an ancient action concerning joined timber which, under the Law of the Twelve Tables, results in double value.
§6.1.23.7Item si quis ex alienis cementis in solo suo aedificauerit, domum quidem uindicare poterit, cementa autem resoluta prior dominus uindicabit, etiam si post tempus usucapionis dissolutum sit aedificium postquam a bonae fidei emptore possessum sit: nec enim singular cementa usucapiuntur, si domus per temporis spatium nostra fiat.
Likewise, if anyone has built on his own land with another's stones, he can indeed claim the house, but the former owner will claim the stones once they are separated, even if the building is demolished after the period of usucapion has passed, after having been possessed by a bona fide purchaser; for the individual stones are not acquired by usucapion, even if the house becomes ours through the passage of time.