Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

usefully discussed in the same context. We’ve already noted the existence of several servitudes that prevented one neigh bor from building on his own land in various ways that could interfere with another neighbor’s enjoyment of her property. There was also a more general mechanism to prevent a neigh bor from using a property in a way that would damage yours; this is called damnum infectum (“damage not yet done”). If you feared such damage, you could go to the praetor who had the power to order the neighbor to provide security (in the form of a binding promise to pay restitution) against that possibility. This procedure could be used in the course of construction or mere neglect that threatened neighboring property. In Roman law, as in the United States and England today, it is possible for something to have more than one owner at once. This would be most common in the case of the heirs to a given estate (the children typically inheriting the family farm jointly) or business partners owning the assets of the business together. (Note that there is a difference between two partners who each own a store and two partners both of whom own half of two stores. The law allows either.) In theory, any number of people could own the same object. Moreover, while equal shares were common, any division of percentages could be used. In many respects, each owner could exercise the full rights of owner ship as if she had no co-owners. She could reclaim the object Joint Ownership

150