Published: 2020-12-15

From ‘res nullius to fructus fundi’: Roman Jurists on Hunted Quarry and Gains the Hunters Obtained from the Chase as Profit Drawn from the Land

Zuzanna Benincasa
Zeszyty Prawnicze
Section: Artykuły
https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2020.20.4.03

Abstract

Te article discusses the comments made by Roman jurists on game, wild fowl, and fish, and the profit to be obtained from hunting and fishing in the sense of fructus fundi. In principle, game, wildfowl, and fish living in a state of naturalis libertas could not be treated as profit obtained from the land, because they were part of the natural world and therefore res nullius, i.e. they did not belong to any specific proprietor and hence any person could acquire them. A change in this line of reasoning came in late Republican times, when a growing demand for wild animals, fowl, and fish contributed to the spread of vivaria and large game reserves, where animals were reared for commercial purposes. This socio-economic development induced jurists to extend the traditional concept of fructus fundi to cover the profit from hunting, fowling, and fishing, and the income from the sale of such quarry obtained on the land used for these purposes. Te new ideas went as far as to include even the occasional profit a user could obtain from the sale or hire of wild animals, fowl or fish living in a state of naturalis libertas on a given tract of land, and caught during a hunt or a fishing expedition.

Keywords:

fructus fundi; profit; hunting; venatio; vivarium.

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Citation rules

Benincasa, Z. (2020). From ‘res nullius to fructus fundi’: Roman Jurists on Hunted Quarry and Gains the Hunters Obtained from the Chase as Profit Drawn from the Land. Zeszyty Prawnicze, 20(4), 23–53. https://doi.org/10.21697/zp.2020.20.4.03

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