Civil Modes of Acquiring Property in Roman Private Law

ABSTRACT: Ius civile regulates legal relations between Roman citizens. The dominium mentality of the Romans led them to pay more attention to the legal relations specific to the possession of goods. During ancient times, when the Romans were a people of shepherds and farmers, the norms of the old Civil Law established the legal institution of mancipatio, which applied only to res mancipi. The development of society determined the appearance of other categories of goods, the possession of which could no longer be obtained with the help of mancipatio. In order to update the legal regime of acquiring property and relate it to reality, the Roman developed additional civil law procedures that contributed to the improvement of private property and to the crystallization of the concept of patrimony. KEYWORDS: mancipatio, in iure cessio, usucapio, adiudicatio, lex