Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §8.3.15.pr

Right of Laying Pipes within an Aqueduct Channel

Passage 1424 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Citing the opinion of Quintus Mucius, this text states that a person with a right of conducting water through another's land may place their own pipe in the channel and perform necessary works, provided it does not worsen the watercourse for the landowner.

[IDEM libro trigensimo primo ad Quintum Mucium. ] §8.3.15.prQuintus Mucius scribit, cum iter aquae uel cottidianae uel aestiuae uel quae interualla longiora habeat per alienum fundum erit, licere fistulam suam uel fictilem uel cuiuslibet generis in riuo ponere, quae aquam latius exprimeret, et quod uellet in riuo facere, licere, dum ne domino praedii aquagium deterius faceret.
[THE SAME, On Quintus Mucius, Book 31] Quintus Mucius writes that when a right of conducting water—whether daily water, or summer water, or water that has longer intervals of use—passes through another person's land, it is permitted to place one's own pipe, whether made of clay or of any other kind, in the channel, to convey the water more widely, and to do in the channel whatever one wishes, provided that one does not make the watercourse worse for the owner of the land.

Notes

  1. 8.3.15.praquae uel cottidianae uel aestiuae uel quae interualla longiora habeat — cottidianae and aestiuae are adjectives agreeing with the genitive aquae, referring to the categories of aqua cottidiana (daily water) and aqua aestiua (summer water). The relative pronoun quae also takes aquae as its antecedent, introducing a clause that describes water conducted at longer intervals.
  2. 8.3.15.prquae aquam latius exprimeret — The subjunctive imperfect exprimeret is used in a relative clause of purpose or characteristic (a pipe to convey water / of such a kind as to convey water). The secondary sequence (imperfect tense) is triggered because the main verb scribit acts as a historical present, drawing the dependent clauses of the indirect speech into the past sequence.
  3. 8.3.15.prdum ne domino praedii aquagium deterius faceret — dum ne introduces a conditional clause of proviso with the subjunctive (here, the imperfect faceret), meaning "provided that... not" or "as long as... not." The imperfect tense is used in accordance with the sequence of tenses.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §8.3.15.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:8.3.15.pr

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