Servitude in Roman law

A servitude is a qualified beneficial interest severed or fragmented from the ownership of an inferior property (servient estate) and attached to a superior property (dominant estate) or to some person (personal beneficiary) other than the owner. Servitudes are either positive or negative. A negative servitude would prevent the owner from doing specified acts (for example building higher), while a positive one would require the owner to permit the beneficiary of the servitude to do positive acts on the property (for example a right of way). The principal means of creating servitudes in the classical period seems to have be assignment in court ( cessio in jure).