The Loan for Use in Roman Law. Object and Contractual Liability (Part I, 1-4)

The loan for use (commodatum) is a type of real contract in Roman law. The object of this contract is usually tangible things and things not consumed by use. Tangible things and things consumed by use can exceptionally be the object of this type of contract, although such things, e.g. money, are usually the object of a loan for consumption (mutuum). The immediate analysis of ancient legal sources that we can access today in relation to the loan for use offers the chance for details on the language used, further term clarification, the classes of things that could become the object of the loan for use and the action meant to retrieve them by the lender from the borrower in case of refusal to return.