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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §6.2.9.pr-6.2.9.6

The Publician Action for Buyers Receiving Delivery

Passage 1160 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian explains the requirements for the Publician action for buyers and their heirs, its application to cases of delivery preceding sale, multiple buyers, and exclusions of non-usucapable things, as well as acquisition of possession through slaves of inheritances or municipalities.

[ULPIANUS libro sexto decimo ad edictum. ] §6.2.9.prSiue autem emptori res tradita est siue heredi emptoris, Publiciana competit actio.
[ULPIANUS on the Edict, book 16] Moreover, whether the thing has been delivered to the buyer or to the heir of the buyer, the Publician action is available.
§6.2.9.1Si quis rem apud se depositam uel sibi commodatam emerit uel pignori sibi datam, pro tradita erit accipienda, si post emptionem apud eum remansit.
If anyone should buy a thing deposited with him, or lent to him for use, or given to him in pledge, it must be accepted as delivered, if it remained with him after the purchase.
§6.2.9.2Sed et si praecessit traditio emptionem, idem erit dicendum.
But even if the delivery preceded the purchase, the same must be said.
§6.2.9.3Item si hereditatem emero et traditam mihi rem hereditariam petere uelim, Neratius scribit esse Publicianam.
Likewise, if I should buy an inheritance and wish to claim a thing belonging to the inheritance which has been delivered to me, Neratius writes that the Publician action is available.
§6.2.9.4Si duobus quis separatim uendiderit bona fide ementibus, uideamus, quis magis Publiciana uti possit, utrum is cui priori res tradita est an is qui tantum emit.
If anyone should sell separately to two persons buying in good faith, let us see which of them can rather use the Publician action, whether the one to whom the thing was first delivered, or the one who has only bought it.
et Iulianus libro septimo digestorum scripsit, ut, si quidem ab eodem non domino emerint, potior sit cui priori res tradita est, quod si a diuersis non dominis, melior causa sit possidentis quam petentis.
And Julian writes in the seventh book of his Digests that, if indeed they bought from the same non-owner, the one to whom the thing was first delivered is preferred; but if from different non-owners, the position of the one in possession is better than that of the one claiming.
quae sententia uera est.
This opinion is true.
§6.2.9.5Haec actio in his quae usucapi non possunt, puta furtiuis uel in seruo fugitiuo, locum non habet.
This action has no place in the case of those things which cannot be acquired by usucapion, such as stolen things or a runaway slave.
§6.2.9.6Si seruus hereditarius ante aditam hereditatem aliquam rem emerit et traditam sibi possessionem amiserit, recte heres Publiciana utitur, quasi ipse possedisset.
If a slave belonging to an inheritance should buy some thing before the inheritance is accepted, and should lose the possession delivered to him, the heir rightly uses the Publician action, just as if he himself had possessed it.
municipes quoque, quorum seruo res tradita est, in eadem erunt condicione,
Municipalities also, to whose slave a thing has been delivered, will be in the same condition,

Notes

  1. 6.2.9.1pro tradita erit accipienda — The perfect passive participle tradita is in the feminine singular ablative, used with the preposition pro ('as', 'in place of'). Together with the nominative gerundive accipienda and the auxiliary erit, it expresses passive obligation or necessity: 'it must be accepted as delivered'. Its gender and number agree with rem, the object of the conditional clause.
  2. 6.2.9.4ut, si quidem ab eodem non domino emerint, potior sit cui priori res tradita est, quod si a diuersis non dominis, melior causa sit possidentis quam petentis — The conjunction ut introduces a noun clause serving as the object of scripsit ('wrote'), which contains two contrasting conditional sentences. The first is si quidem ... potior sit ('if indeed ... the one ... is preferred'), and the second is quod si ... melior causa sit ('but if ... the position ... is better'). Despite the main verb being in the perfect tense (scripsit), the present subjunctive (sit) is retained to present the rule vividly. The genitives possidentis and petentis are substantiated present participles modifying causa ('position', 'case') compared by melior.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §6.2.9.pr-6.2.9.6. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:6.2.9.pr-6.2.9.6

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