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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §7.5.7.pr

Transfer of Ownership and Security in Usufruct of Consumables

Passage 1296 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Gaius explains that when a usufruct of consumables like wine or wheat is bequeathed, ownership transfers to the legatee, who must provide security for restoring equivalent items or their appraised value, a rule applicable to all other consumables.

[GAIUS libro septimo ad edictum prouinciale. ] §7.5.7.prSi uini olei frumenti usus fructus legatus erit, proprietas ad legatarium transferri debet et ab eo cautio desideranda est, ut, quandoque is mortuus aut capite deminutus sit, eiusdem qualitatis res restituatur, aut aestimatis rebus certae pecuniae nomine cauendum est, quod et commodius est.
[GAIUS in the seventh book on the Provincial Edict.] If the usufruct of wine, oil, or wheat is bequeathed, the ownership must be transferred to the legatee, and security must be demanded from him so that, whenever he dies or suffers a change of status, property of the same quality shall be restored, or, after the property has been appraised, security must be given under the name of a fixed sum of money, which is also more convenient.
idem scilicet de ceteris quoque rebus, quae usu continentur, intellegemus.
We shall, of course, understand the same to apply to all other things which are consumed by use.

Notes

  1. §7.5.7.prquandoque — A conjunction meaning "whenever," which here takes the subjunctive (`mortuus [sit] aut capite deminutus sit`) and forms a conditional clause embedded within the `ut` clause (`ut... res restituatur`).
  2. §7.5.7.praestimatis rebus — An ablative absolute construction consisting of the noun `res` and the past participle `aestimatis`. It expresses the condition or premise "after the things (to be consumed) have been appraised," modifying the following impersonal gerundive `cauendum est`.
  3. §7.5.7.prquae usu continentur — Literally "things which are contained by use," but in Roman law, it refers to things whose substance is consumed by their use (consumables, *res quae usu consumuntur*).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §7.5.7.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:7.5.7.pr

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