The Emergence and Evolution of the Legal Institution of Possessio in Roman Private Law

ABSTRACT: The legal figure of the possession was born in the process of exploiting the lands in the ager publicus. In very ancient times, the patricians were shepherds and farmers. As the founders of Rome, they had access to the exploitation of the lands of the state. They often sublet part of these lands to their clients, who, at some point, refused to return the lands to them and endangered the rule exercised by the patres. Rome was a patrician state and that is why the fast legal protection of possessiones was required. Therefore, the imperium of the magistrates was resorted to and the interdicts of the possessors were created. Later, against the background of the development of legal ideas and the evolution of society, the effects of the interdicta were extended to other situations and contributed to the improvement of the legal protection of private property rights.

KEYWORDS: possessiones, animus, corpus, interdicta