Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Other Rights over Property

sidewalks around the edges of the campus. On these, the uni versity regents assert that passage is by permission only and so does not create an easement.) In addition to the rules of creation and loss of servitudes, and the lists of specific types, there were a few general prin ciples about how all of them could be exercised. Most of these show that the servitude rights were not just technically attached to the physical properties, but were thought of as closely tied to them. First, the servitude holder could not demand any help from the other property owner. You might have a right to walk across your neighbor’s land or draw water from his spring, but he didn’t have to clear a path or provide containers. Second, you had to minimize the disruption caused by exercising your rights. Driving a herd across your neighbor’s land to get to mar ket was no excuse for wandering through the farmhouse, much less grazing on his crops. Finally, the benefit from your exploi tation of your right had to be tied to the land it came with. For instance, you could draw water to irrigate your farm, but not to sell or even to share with your neighbor on the other side. So servitudes were narrower than, say, the mineral rights often sold in the American West, which are specifically designed for commercial exploitation.

Damnum Infectum

Though they are not conventionally classed with usufruct and servitudes, there are other legal institutions that can be

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