1Gaius, Institutes, Book II. Ad Dig. 1,8,1 pr.Windscheid: Lehrbuch des Pandektenrechts, 7. Aufl. 1891, Bd. I, § 146, Note 16.The principal division of Things is under two heads: for some of them belong to Divine and some to human law. Those which come under Divine law are, for instance, sacred and religious things. Sacred things are, for example, walls and gates, which, to a certain extent, are under Divine law. For what is subject to Divine law is not the property of anyone, and that indeed which belongs to human law is, for the most part, the property of someone, nevertheless, it may belong to none, for things belonging to an estate until an heir appears, are not the property of anyone. Again, those things that are under human law are either public or private. Those which are public are held to be the property of no one, and are considered to belong to the entire community, and those which are private belong to individuals. 1Moreover, some things are corporeal, and some are incorporeal. Those are corporeal which are tangible, as for instance land, slaves, clothing, gold, silver, as well as innumerable other articles. Those are incorporeal which cannot be touched as an usufruct, and obligations, in whatever way contracted. It does not matter if corporeal things are included in an estate, for the crops taken from land are corporeal, and whatever is owing to us through the obligation of another, is for the most part corporeal, as land, slaves, money; still, the right of succession, the right of use and enjoyment, and the right based upon an obligation are all incorporeal. To the same class belong all the rights of urban and rustic estates, which are designated as servitudes.

2Marcianus, Institutes, Book III. Certain things are common to all by natural law; some belong to the entire community, some to no one, and the greater number to individuals; these are acquired in various ways respectively. 1Again, all the following things are common by natural law, namely the air, running water, the sea, and hence the shores of the sea.

3Florentinus, Institutes, Book VI. Likewise, precious stones, gems, and other things which we find upon the seashore also at once become ours by natural law.

4Marcianus, Institutes, Book III. Consequently no one can be forbidden to approach the shore of the sea in order to fish; still, they must avoid interfering with houses, buildings, and monuments, because they are not subject to the Law of Nations, as the sea is; and this the Divine Pius stated in a Rescript addressed to the fisherman of Formiæ and Capena. 1Almost all rivers and harbors are also public.

5Gaius, Legal Doctrines of Daily Application and Utility. Book II. The public use of the banks of rivers is subject to the Law of Nations, just as the rivers themselves are. Therefore, everyone is free to conduct a boat to the bank; to attach ropes to trees growing there; to dry nets, and draw them up from the sea; and to deposit any cargo thereon; just as he can navigate the river itself. The ownership of the banks, however, is vested in those to whose lands they are contiguous; for which reason the trees growing upon them also belong to the latter. 1Those who fish in the sea have a right to erect a hut upon the shore in which to shelter themselves.

6Marcianus, Institutes, Book III. This right exists to such an extent that those who build there actually become the owners of the land, but only as long as the building stands; otherwise, if it falls down, the place reverts to its former condition by the law of postliminium, so to speak, and if another party builds a house in the same place, the soil becomes his. 1Ad Dig. 1,8,6,1Windscheid: Lehrbuch des Pandektenrechts, 7. Aufl. 1891, Bd. I, § 146, Note 16.There are some things which, by natural law, belong to the entire community and not to individuals; as, for instance, theatres, racecourses, and other things of this kind, or anything else which is the common property of a city. Therefore, a slave belonging to a city is not understood to be the property of any individual in particular, but of the entire community; and for this reason the Divine Brothers stated in a Rescript that a slave belonging to a city could be put to torture either against a citizen or in his behalf. In consequence of this, also the freedman of a city is not compelled to ask permission under the Edict, if he brings any citizen into court. 2Things which are sacred, religious, and holy are not the property of anyone. 3Sacred things are those which are publicly and not privately consecrated; and hence if anyone should make anything sacred for himself privately, it is not sacred but profane; where, however, a temple has once been made sacred the place still remains so, even after the edifice has been demolished. 4Anyone by his will can render a place religious by burying a corpse on his own premises; and where a burial-place belongs to several persons, one of the owners can inter a body there, even though the others may be unwilling. An interment can also be made upon the land of another, if the owner consents; and even where he ratifies it afterwards the place where the corpse was buried becomes religious. 5Again, the better opinion is that an empty tomb is a religious place, as is stated in Virgil.

7Ulpianus, On the Edict, Book XXV. Nevertheless, the Divine Brothers published a Rescript to the contrary.

8Marcianus, Rules, Book IV. A holy place is one which is defended and protected from the injuries of men. 1The word “sacred” is said to have been derived from the word sagmina, certain plants which were usually carried by the ambassadors of the Roman people to prevent their persons from being violated; just as the Greek Ambassadors carried those which are called khrukia. 2Cassius states that Sabinus very properly gave the opinion that the walls of a city were holy, and that it was necessary for persons to be prohibited from placing anything against them.

9Ulpianus, On the Edict, Book LXVIII. Sacred places are those which are dedicated to the public, either in the city or in the country. 1It should be understood that a public place can only become sacred when the Emperor has dedicated it, or granted permission for this to be done. 2It must be remarked that a sacred place is one thing and a sacrarium is another; for a sacred place is one which has been consecrated, and a sacrarium is one in which sacred things are deposited, which also may exist in a private house; and when persons desire to divest such a place of its religious character they usually withdraw the sacred things therefrom. 3We properly call those things holy which are neither sacred nor profane, but which have been confirmed by some sanction, hence the laws are holy, for the reason that they are based upon a certain sanction; and anything that is supported by a certain sanction also is holy, even though it may not be consecrated to God; and it is even sometimes added in the sanction itself that anyone who is guilty of an offence in that place shall be punished with death. 4Moreover, it is not permitted to repair the walls of cities, or to add anything to them, or place anything upon them, without the authority of the Emperor or the Governor. 5Anything that is sacred is not susceptible of appraisement.

10Pomponius, On Plautius, Book VI. Aristo declares that just as anything built into the sea becomes private property, so whatever the sea encroaches upon becomes public property.

11Pomponius, From Various Passages, Book II. Where anyone trespasses upon the walls, he is punished with death; just as where anyone climbs over them by means of ladders, or in any other manner; since Roman citizens are not permitted to leave a city except by the gates; as the former is an act of hostility and abominable. It is said that Remus, the brother of Romulus, was killed because he wished to scale the wall.