Humanitext Reader

Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §8.3.18.pr

Preservation of a Way Over Multiple Estates by Partial Use

Passage 1427 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

Ulpian discusses whether a single right of way established over multiple estates is retained or lost as a whole when only some of the estates are used, concluding that if even one is used, the servitude is preserved as a whole.

[ULPIANUS libro quarto decimo ad Sabinum. ] §8.3.18.prUna est uia et si per plures fundos imponatur, cum una seruitus sit.
[ULPIAN, On Sabinus, Book 14] A road is single, even if it is imposed through several estates, since the servitude is single.
denique quaeritur, an, si per unum fundum iero, per alium non per tantum tempus, quanto seruitus amittitur, an retineam seruitutem? et magis est, ut aut tota amittatur aut tota retineatur: ideoque si nullo usus sum, tota amittitur, si uel uno, tota seruatur.
Finally, the question is asked whether, if I have gone through one estate, but not through another for so long a time as that in which a servitude is lost, I retain the servitude. And the better opinion is that it is either lost as a whole or retained as a whole: and therefore, if I have used none, it is lost as a whole, but if even one, it is preserved as a whole.

Notes

  1. 8.3.18.pran, si per unum fundum iero, per alium non per tantum tempus, quanto seruitus amittitur, an retineam seruitutem? — The conjunction `an` introducing the indirect question is repeated before the verb `retineam` after the insertion of the conditional clause (`si per unum...`). This repetition serves as a stylistic pleonasm to keep the syntactic connection clear after a long parenthesis, rather than establishing a double alternative question.
  2. 8.3.18.prtantum tempus, quanto seruitus amittitur — The ablative `quanto` of the correlative adjective `quantus` refers back to `tantum tempus` as its antecedent, expressing 'for so long a time as that within which a servitude is lost', indicating the period required for the loss of a servitude by non-use.
  3. 8.3.18.pret magis est, ut — An impersonal construction `magis est` followed by an `ut`-clause with the subjunctive, meaning 'the better opinion is that...' or 'it is more widely accepted that...'.
  4. 8.3.18.prnullo usus sum — The masculine singular ablative form `nullo` functions as the object of the verb `utor` (`usus sum`), which governs the ablative. It refers back to `fundus` (estate), meaning 'if I have used none [of the estates]', which stands in contrast to the following `si uel uno` (if even one).

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §8.3.18.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:8.3.18.pr

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