Definition
A term from Roman civil law (Latin: *haustus*, meaning drawing or the act of drawing) denoting a servitude — specifically, the right to draw water from a well, spring, or other water source located on another person's land. Haustus is one of the recognized *servitutes praediorum rusticorum* (rural praedial servitudes) under Roman law, conferring on the holder a legally protected entitlement to take water from the servient estate for use on the dominant estate or for personal use.
A defining feature of haustus is that it carries within it, by tacit implication, the right of access — the *iter* — necessary to reach the water source. The holder of haustus need not separately secure a right of way; the access right is subsumed as a matter of law insofar as it is required to exercise the water-drawing right.
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Common Language
This is a term of pure Roman law with no meaningful common counterpart in modern English. The Latin word *haustus* (from *haurire*, to draw or drain) appears in general Latin but carries no relevant legal sense in ordinary modern usage. The COMMON LANGUAGE section is omitted accordingly.
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Core Elements
Haustus as a civil law servitude rests on three operative components:
1. THE DRAWING RIGHT: The substantive entitlement — the right to take water from the well, spring, or other source on the servient estate. This is the primary right constituting haustus.
2. THE TACIT ITER: The implied right of way to and from the water source, included automatically and without separate grant, but only to the extent necessary for exercising the drawing right. Burrill captures the underlying maxim: *Cuicunque conceditur haustus, ei conceditur iter ad fontem et accessus* — to whomsoever is granted the right of drawing, there is also granted a right of way to the spring and access to it.
3. SERVIENT AND DOMINANT RELATIONSHIP: Like all Roman praedial servitudes, haustus presupposes two distinct estates — the servient estate (burdened by the right) and the dominant estate (benefited by it), or, in personal servitudes, a burdened estate and an individual beneficiary.
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Recognized Forms
/SUBTYPES
Roman law recognized haustus as one of several related *aqua* servitudes:
- AQUAEDUCTUS: The right to conduct or channel water across another's land.
- AQUAE HAUSTUS (or simply HAUSTUS): The right to draw water at the source itself.
- ITER AD AQUAM: The right of access to water, which, as noted, is included by implication within haustus rather than standing as a fully independent servitude in this context.
These water servitudes were distinct rights and could be held separately; a person might have *aquaeductus* without *haustus*, or vice versa.
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Why It Matters in Research
CORPUS POSITIONING: Haustus will appear almost exclusively in sources treating Roman law, civil law jurisdictions, or historical treatments of property and servitude doctrine. Researchers encountering the term in Anglo-American sources will typically find it in comparative law passages, annotated editions of Justinian's Digest, or scholarly treatises on property theory — not in common law casebooks or statutes.
SERVITUDE DOCTRINE BRIDGE: Haustus is a useful research entry point for tracing how Roman servitude concepts influenced modern civil law systems (Louisiana, Quebec, Scotland, South Africa, and the Louisiana Civil Code in particular) and, more indirectly, how equitable doctrines of easements in English and American common law were shaped by civilian thought. Researchers studying easement law should distinguish carefully between the Roman haustus framework and the common law doctrine of water rights, which developed along different lines.
ITER INCLUSION RULE: The tacit inclusion of iter within haustus is doctrinally significant and represents an early expression of what modern property law would call an implied easement of necessity or an appurtenant right. Researchers comparing Roman and modern approaches to implied easements will find haustus relevant.
HISTORICAL SOURCE LIMITATION: Because haustus is a Roman law term, the Anglo-American legal dictionaries treat it briefly and derivatively — essentially paraphrasing the Digest. Researchers requiring depth should go directly to the Corpus Juris Civilis (Dig. 8, 3) and to Mackeldey's *Handbook of the Roman Law* (cited by Black's as § 318), rather than relying on the dictionary entries as primary exposition.
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Historical Dictionary Support
The four source dictionaries agree closely, as expected for a term whose entire content derives from Roman sources rather than from common law development.
Black's (1st and 2nd editions) are essentially identical, both citing Dig. 8, 3, 1 and Mackeldey's *Roman Law* § 318. Both correctly identify haustus as a species of servitude and note the tacit inclusion of iter.
Burrill's is the most expansive, providing the underlying Latin maxims from the Digest and quoting *Qui habet haustum, iter quoque habere videtur ad hauriendum* (Dig. 8, 3, 3, 3), which supplies the textual foundation for the iter-inclusion rule. Burrill's inclusion of the operative maxims makes it the most instructive entry for a researcher seeking to understand the doctrine rather than merely identify the term.
Rapalje & Lawrence state the core definition accurately but truncate abruptly, flowing into unrelated entries — a limitation of that dictionary's format rather than a substantive divergence.
None of the historical dictionaries address how haustus was received or adapted in civil law jurisdictions outside Rome, which is the question most likely to arise for a modern researcher working in Louisiana or comparative property law.
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Jurisdictional Note
Haustus as a named legal concept is operative primarily in civil law systems that received Roman law directly. In Louisiana, the Civil Code recognizes servitudes of drawing water and related water rights in terms that parallel the Roman framework, though the term *haustus* itself is not used in the codified text. Common law jurisdictions address functionally equivalent situations through easement doctrine and riparian or appropriation water rights, but without the Roman terminology.
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Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia: SERVITUDES (ROMAN LAW); EASEMENTS (HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS); WATER RIGHTS.
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