Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §7.4.22.pr

Preservation of Use of a House through a Spouse's Residence

Passage 1280 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Pomponius discusses the right of use (usus) of a house, explaining that if a wife has the right and goes abroad but her husband continues to use it, or vice versa, the right is not lost through non-use.

[POMPONIUS libro sexto ad Quintum Mucium. ] §7.4.22.prSi mulieri usus domus legatus sit et illa trans mare profecta sit et constituto tempore ad amittendum usum afuerit, maritus vero domo usus fuerit, retinetur nihilo minus usus, quemadmodum si familiam suam in domu reliquisset eaque peregrinaretur.
[POMPONIUS in the sixth book on Quintus Mucius.] If the use of a house is bequeathed to a woman, and she has departed across the sea and was absent for the period established for losing the use, but her husband has used the house, the use is nevertheless retained, just as if she had left her household of slaves in the house and she herself were traveling abroad.
et hoc magis dicendum est, si uxorem in domu reliquerit maritus, cum ipsi marito usus domus legatus sit.
And this must be said all the more if the husband has left his wife in the house, when the use of the house was bequeathed to the husband himself.

Notes

  1. §7.4.22.prconstituto tempore ad amittendum usum — The prepositional phrase with the gerundive 'ad amittendum usum' (for losing the use) modifies the preceding noun phrase 'constituto tempore' (established period). This refers to the statutory period for the loss of a usus through non-use (two years for land/houses in classical Roman law).
  2. §7.4.22.prfamiliam — The word 'familia' here refers not to the family in the modern sense, but to the household of slaves (slave staff) subject to the head of the household. Leaving them in the house is regarded as maintaining the factual use or occupation on behalf of the owner, even in her physical absence.
  3. §7.4.22.pret hoc magis dicendum est — The phrase 'hoc magis' (all the more this [must be said]) is an emphatic expression using a comparative. It indicates that the retention of the use is even more strongly justified when the husband is the right holder and leaves his wife in the house, than when the wife is the right holder and the husband uses it, given the husband's status as the head of the household and the conjugal cohabitation in a marriage.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §7.4.22.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:7.4.22.pr

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