[IDEM libro quinto decimo ad Sabinum. ] §8.2.20.prSeruitutes, quae in superficie consistunt, possessione retinentur.
[THE SAME, in the fifteenth book on Sabinus.] Servitudes which consist in a superstructure are retained by possession.
nam si forte ex aedibus meis in aedes tuas tignum immissum habuero, hoc, ut immissum habeam, per causam tigni possideo habendi consuetudinem.
For if, for example, I have a beam inserted from my house into yours, in order that I may keep it inserted, I possess, through the title of the beam, the practice of having it.
idem eueniet et si menianum in tuum immissum habuero aut stillicidium in tuum proiecero, quia in tuo aliquid utor et si quasi facto quodam possideo.
The same will happen if I have a balcony projecting over your property, or if I project a drip of rainwater onto yours, because I am using something in your property, and, as it were, possess by a kind of act.
§8.2.20.1Si domo mea altior area tua esset tuque mihi per aream tuam in domum meam ire agere cessisti nec ex plano aditus ad domum meam per aream tuam esset, uel gradus uel cliuos propius ianuam meam iure facere possum, dum ne quid ultra quam quod necesse esset itineris causa demolliar.
If your vacant plot were higher than my house, and you granted me the right of passage through your plot to my house, and there were no level entrance to my house through your plot, I can lawfully make either stairs or slopes nearer to my door, provided that I do not demolish anything more than what is necessary for the sake of the passage.
§8.2.20.2Si sublatum sit aedificium, ex quo stillicidium cadit, ut eadem specie et qualitate reponatur, utilitas exigit, ut idem intellegatur: nam alioquin si quid strictius interpretetur, aliud est quod sequenti loco ponitur: et ideo sublato aedificio usus fructus interit, quamuis area pars est aedificii.
If a building from which a drip falls is pulled down, utility requires that, in order for it to be rebuilt with the same appearance and quality, it should be understood as the same building; for otherwise, if one interprets more strictly, what is placed in the subsequent position is a different thing; and therefore, when a building is pulled down, the usufruct perishes, although the site is a part of the building.
§8.2.20.3Si seruitus stillicidii imposita sit, non licet domino seruientis areae ibi aedificare, ubi cassitae coepisset stillicidium.
If a servitude of drip is imposed, the owner of the serving plot is not permitted to build where the drip would begin to fall.
§8.2.20.4Si antea ex tegula cassitauerit stillicidium, postea ex tabulato uel ex alia materia cassitare non potest.
If previously the drip fell from tiles, afterwards it cannot fall from boarding or from other material.
§8.2.20.5Stillicidium quoquo modo adquisitum sit, altius tolli potest: leuior enim fit eo facto seruitus, cum quod ex alto, cadet lenius et interdum direptum nec perueniat ad locum seruientem: inferius demitti non potest, quia fit grauior seruitus id est pro stillicidio flumen.
In whatever way the servitude of drip has been acquired, it can be raised higher; for by this act the servitude becomes lighter, since what falls from a height falls more gently, and sometimes, being dispersed, does not even reach the serving property. It cannot be lowered down, because the servitude becomes more burdensome, that is, a torrent instead of a drip.
eadem causa retro duci potest stillicidium, quia in nostro magis incipiet cadere, produci non potest, ne alio loco cadat stillicidium, est meliorem uicini condicionem fieri posse, deteriorem non posse, nisi aliquid nominatim seruitute imponenda immutatum fuerit.
For the same reason, the drip can be moved back, because it will begin to fall more on our own land; it cannot be extended forward, lest the drip fall in another place; for the rule is that the condition of the neighbor can be made better, but cannot be made worse, unless something has been specifically changed when the servitude was imposed.
§8.2.20.6Qui in area, in qua stillicidium cadit, aedificat, usque ad eum locum perducere aedificium potest, unde stillicidium cadit: sed et si in aedificio cadit stillicidium, supra aedificare ei conceditur, dum tamen stillicidium recte recipiatur.
He who builds on a plot where a drip falls can carry his building up to the place from which the drip falls; but even if the drip falls on a building, he is permitted to build above it, provided only that the drip is properly received.