Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §7.4.23.pr

Loss and Restoration of Usufruct upon Inundation and Receding of Waters

Passage 1281 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Discusses the loss of usufruct when land is inundated by a river or sea, and the subsequent restoration of both ownership and usufruct if the water recedes with the same force.

[IDEM libro uicensimo sexto ad Quintum Mucium. ] §7.4.23.prSi ager, cuius usus fructus noster sit, flumine uel mari inundatus fuerit, amittitur usus fructus, cum etiam ipsa proprietas eo casu amittatur: ac ne piscando quidem retinere poterimus usum fructum.
[THE SAME in the twenty-sixth book on Quintus Mucius.] If land, the usufruct of which is ours, should be inundated by a river or the sea, the usufruct is lost, since even the ownership itself is lost in that event; and we will not be able to retain the usufruct even by fishing.
sed quemadmodum, si eodem impetu discesserit aqua, quo uenit, restituitur proprietas, ita et usum fructum restituendum dicendum est.
But just as ownership is restored if the water recedes with the same force with which it came, so also it must be said that the usufruct must be restored.

Notes

  1. §7.4.23.prcuius usus fructus noster sit — The subjunctive 'sit' in the relative clause indicates a subjunctive of characteristic within the hypothetical framework established by the conditional clause 'Si ager...', or is attracted by the mood of the surrounding syntax.
  2. §7.4.23.prpiscando — The ablative of the gerund expressing means ('by fishing'). It indicates that even if one fishes on the inundated land which has now become water, this cannot be considered a retention of the usufruct of the land.
  3. §7.4.23.prusum fructum restituendum dicendum est — A construction where the accusative and infinitive clause 'usum fructum restituendum [esse]' (with 'esse' omitted) depends on the impersonal passive periphrastic 'dicendum est' ('it must be said').

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §7.4.23.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:7.4.23.pr

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