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Justinian I · The Digest of Justinian §8.3.37.pr

Non-Transmission of a Personal Water Right to Heirs

Passage 1446 of 9271 · Latin

Summary

In response to the question of whether the right to use water granted by Lucius Titius to his brother is transmitted to the brother's heirs, Paulus answers that a personal right to use water, like that of a usuary, should not be transmitted.

[IDEM libro tertio responsorum. ] §8.3.37.prΛούκιος Τίτιος Γαΐῳ Σεΐῳ τῷ ἀλελφῷ πλεῖστα χαίρειν.
[THE SAME, Opinions, Book 3] Lucius Titius to Gaius Seius his brother, heartiest greetings.
ΫΔατος τοῦ ῥέοντος εἰς Τήν κρήνην τήν κατασκευασθεῖσαν ἐν ἰσθμῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρός Μου Δίδωμι καὶ χαρίζομαί σοι Δάκτυλον εἰς τὴν οἰκίαν σου τήν ἐν τῷ ἰσθμῷ, ἢ ὅπου Δ᾽ ἂν Βούλῃ.
Of the water flowing into the fountain constructed on the isthmus by my father, I give and grant to you one finger for your house on the isthmus, or wherever else you wish.
quaero, an ex hac scriptura usus aquae etiam ad heredes Gaii Seii pertineat.
I ask whether under this writing the use of the water also belongs to the heirs of Gaius Seius.
Paulus respondit usum aquae personalem ad heredem Seii quasi usuarii transmitti non oportere.
Paulus answered that a personal right to use water ought not to be transmitted to the heir of Seius, as if of a usuary.

Notes

  1. 8.3.37.prΫΔατος — The genitive ὕδατος serves as a partitive genitive with the subsequent δάκτυλον, indicating the drawing of a portion: "one finger of the water flowing into the fountain."
  2. 8.3.37.prΔάκτυλον — δάκτυλος (finger, dactyl) is a customary unit used to measure the diameter of a water pipe or the volume of water flow in antiquity, designating here the object of the right to draw a specific quantity of water.
  3. 8.3.37.prquasi usuarii — The genitive usuarii is in apposition with Seii. It treats Seius "as if he were a usuary (usuarius)" and, by applying the legal principle that a right of use (usus) is strictly personal and terminates upon the death of the holder, denies its transmission to the heir.

Cite this passage

Justinian I, The Digest of Justinian §8.3.37.pr. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi2806.phi002.humanitext-lat1:8.3.37.pr

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