Acquisitive prescription in Roman law and its reflection in modern private law codes Abstract Acquisitive prescription is a legal institute, which function is to reconcile state of fact with state of law. This institute served especially to acquire ownership for possessor of the thing by lapse of prescribed time, but it should also serve to acquire other laws, such as servitudes. This thesis focuses mainly on Roman law form of acquisitive prescription. In order to properly understand the concept it is essential to percept it in relation to a unique conception of Roman property law including all its specifics and differences from current view on ownership. First part of the thesis is dedicated to Roman ownership concept and its basic characteristics. Subsequent part describes the development through which the acquisitive prescription in Roman law proceeded during its existence. The thesis focuses on particular institutes such as usus auctoritas, usucapio, praescriptio longi temporis and praescriptio longissimi temporis. Firstly a form of acquisitive prescription in ancient and pre-classical era is investigated. The subject of interest here is the term of auctoritas. The next part of the thesis is focused on classical form of acquisitive prescription, where this type of acquisition was termed as usucapio. The...

A chamada regra do usus auctoritas, presente na Lei das XII tábuas, é apontada, desde Cujácio (séc. XVI), e daí em diante por muitos juristas, como sendo uma antiga norma sobre a garantia do vendedor por meio de negócio formal, mancipatio em caso de evicção; o próprio sentido do vocábulo auctoritas seria «garantia», ou mesmo «dever de prestar garantia», neste caso particular inseparável da mancipatio. Mas o fragmento que traz essa regra USUS AUCTORITAS FUNDI BIENNIUM EST[O] nos foi transmitido por Cícero e (embora de forma já interpretada) Gaio; e estes a consideram uma espécie de antiga norma a respeito do usucapião (inicialmente apenas de imóveis). Outros juristas antigos e contemporâneos seguiram, em parte, essa interpretação original. O trabalho pretende trazer novos argumentos em favor dessa exegese natural de Cícero e Gaio no sentido de que a dita regra versa sobre usucapião, mais especificamente sobre uma sua forma arcaica e bastante peculiar. Investiga-se o surgimento da propriedade imobiliária em Roma e suas peculiaridades: o sistema augural, quase religioso, de limitação do solo destinado, no início, a todo cidadão romano, conferido por meio de atos de adsignatio (concessão) pelo «estado» em formação, que detinha a auctoritas ou poder; a passagem da soberania das gentes pré-romanas aos Quirites; a gradual privatização a atribuição dessa auctoritas coletiva e diretamente quiritária ao proprietário dessas parcelas de terra e a fragmentação do solo pelo direito privado regulado pela Lei das XII tábuas, que confere autonomia (a auctoritas ou título) aos indíviduos e suas famílias. Acrescenta-se uma breve análise lógica da regra e uma tentativa de a inserir no esquema geral do usucapião moderno. / The usus auctoritas rule from the Twelve Tables was conceived by Jacques Cujas (16th century AD), and many authors thereafter, as an ancient norm that established a warranty against eviction granted by the seller when transferring the ownership of the thing to the buyer through the performance of mancipatio. According to this view, the very word auctoritas is taken to mean warranty, or else to imply an obligation to give warranty, and is intrinsically associated with mancipatio. But the fragment of the sources that state this rule USUS AUCTORITAS FUNDI BIENNIUM EST[O] were brough to us by Cicero and Gaius (the latter in the form of an interpretation of the norm), and both consider it to be an ancient Roman disposition that originally dealt with usucaption of immovable property only. To a certain extent, various ancient and modern jurists accept the latter interpretation. The object of this thesis is to provide new arguments to support the more natural interpretation adopted by Cicero and Gaius, i.e., that the rule in question deals specifically with an archaic and peculiar form of usucapio. The present work analyzes the emergence of private ownership of immovable property in Rome and its peculiarities: the quasi-religious augural system of land apportionment adopted by the fledging Roman state to assign a lot of land to every Roman citizen through the performance of acts of adsignatio (allotment); the sovereignty transferred by the pre-Roman gentes to the Quirites; the process by which land plots were gradually privatized and landowners acquired this once collective and quiritarian auctoritas, and the resulting land apportionment caused by the application of rules of private law based on the Twelve Tables conferring autonomy (auctoritas or title) to individuals and their families. In the final lines, an attempt is made to provide a logical analysis of the rule and to place it within the general conceptual framework of modern usucaption.

A chamada regra do usus auctoritas, presente na Lei das XII tábuas, é apontada, desde Cujácio (séc. XVI), e daí em diante por muitos juristas, como sendo uma antiga norma sobre a garantia do vendedor por meio de negócio formal, mancipatio em caso de evicção; o próprio sentido do vocábulo auctoritas seria «garantia», ou mesmo «dever de prestar garantia», neste caso particular inseparável da mancipatio. Mas o fragmento que traz essa regra USUS AUCTORITAS FUNDI BIENNIUM EST[O] nos foi transmitido por Cícero e (embora de forma já interpretada) Gaio; e estes a consideram uma espécie de antiga norma a respeito do usucapião (inicialmente apenas de imóveis). Outros juristas antigos e contemporâneos seguiram, em parte, essa interpretação original. O trabalho pretende trazer novos argumentos em favor dessa exegese natural de Cícero e Gaio no sentido de que a dita regra versa sobre usucapião, mais especificamente sobre uma sua forma arcaica e bastante peculiar. Investiga-se o surgimento da propriedade imobiliária em Roma e suas peculiaridades: o sistema augural, quase religioso, de limitação do solo destinado, no início, a todo cidadão romano, conferido por meio de atos de adsignatio (concessão) pelo «estado» em formação, que detinha a auctoritas ou poder; a passagem da soberania das gentes pré-romanas aos Quirites; a gradual privatização a atribuição dessa auctoritas coletiva e diretamente quiritária ao proprietário dessas parcelas de terra e a fragmentação do solo pelo direito privado regulado pela Lei das XII tábuas, que confere autonomia (a auctoritas ou título) aos indíviduos e suas famílias. Acrescenta-se uma breve análise lógica da regra e uma tentativa de a inserir no esquema geral do usucapião moderno. / The usus auctoritas rule from the Twelve Tables was conceived by Jacques Cujas (16th century AD), and many authors thereafter, as an ancient norm that established a warranty against eviction granted by the seller when transferring the ownership of the thing to the buyer through the performance of mancipatio. According to this view, the very word auctoritas is taken to mean warranty, or else to imply an obligation to give warranty, and is intrinsically associated with mancipatio. But the fragment of the sources that state this rule USUS AUCTORITAS FUNDI BIENNIUM EST[O] were brough to us by Cicero and Gaius (the latter in the form of an interpretation of the norm), and both consider it to be an ancient Roman disposition that originally dealt with usucaption of immovable property only. To a certain extent, various ancient and modern jurists accept the latter interpretation. The object of this thesis is to provide new arguments to support the more natural interpretation adopted by Cicero and Gaius, i.e., that the rule in question deals specifically with an archaic and peculiar form of usucapio. The present work analyzes the emergence of private ownership of immovable property in Rome and its peculiarities: the quasi-religious augural system of land apportionment adopted by the fledging Roman state to assign a lot of land to every Roman citizen through the performance of acts of adsignatio (allotment); the sovereignty transferred by the pre-Roman gentes to the Quirites; the process by which land plots were gradually privatized and landowners acquired this once collective and quiritarian auctoritas, and the resulting land apportionment caused by the application of rules of private law based on the Twelve Tables conferring autonomy (auctoritas or title) to individuals and their families. In the final lines, an attempt is made to provide a logical analysis of the rule and to place it within the general conceptual framework of modern usucaption.