Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §6.1.78.pr

Uncollected Fruits and Criteria for Their Gathering

Passage 1149 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Labeo discusses the obligation when a possessor of another's land did not gather its fruits, to which Paulus adds a clarification on the exact criteria for when the gathering of fruit is considered to have taken place (when they cease to hold themselves in the earth).

[LABEO libro quarto pithanon a Paulo epitomatorum. ] §6.1.78.prSi eius fundi, quem alienum possideres, fructum non coegisti, nihil eius fundi fructuum nomine te dare oportet.

If you did not gather the fruits of that land which you possessed as belonging to another, you do not need to give anything under the name of the fruits of that land.

PAULUS. Immo quaeritur: huius fructus idcirco factus est, quod is eum suo nomine perceperit? perceptionem fructus accipere debemus non si perfecti collecti, sed etiam coepti ita percipi, ut terra continere se fructus desierint: ueluti si oliuae uuae lectae, nondum autem uinum oleum ab aliquo factum sit: statim enim ipse accepisse fructum existimandus est.

PAULUS. Rather, the question is: did the fruit become this person's property for the reason that he gathered it in his own name? We ought to understand the gathering of fruit not only if they have been completely collected, but also if they have begun to be gathered in such a way that the fruits have ceased to hold themselves in the earth: as for example if olives and grapes have been picked, but wine and oil have not yet been made by anyone; for he himself must immediately be deemed to have received the fruit.

Notes

6.1.78.prquem alienum possideres — The antecedent of the relative pronoun quem is fundi. alienum is the accusative singular masculine of the adjective alienus ('belonging to another'), functioning as a predicative appositive to quem ('as belonging to another'). possideres is the subjunctive imperfect, expressing a hypothetical condition or indefinite description.
6.1.78.prhuius — The genitive singular masculine of the pronoun hic, used here as a genitive of possession ('became this person's [the possessor's] property') with factus est. It is easily misread as referring to the preceding fundus ('of this land'), but in context, it refers to the person, questioning whether the fruit became the property of the possessor.
6.1.78.prcoepti ita percipi, ut terra continere se fructus desierint — The structure of the clause following perceptionem, which is the object of the main verb debemus. coepti is a participle agreeing with fructus (plural) with sunt omitted, meaning 'they have begun to be gathered.' Within the ut-clause, fructus is the nominative plural subject of desierint, terra is an ablative of place ('in the earth'), and se is the object of continere ('to hold themselves').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §6.1.78.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:6.1.78.pr

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

Translation, notes and summary are AI-generated drafts, revised through reader feedback.