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show that primarily the law protected the relation to an object of one
who had possession of it. Indeed the idea of _dominium_, or ownership
as we now understand it, was first worked out thoroughly in Roman law,
and other systems got their idea of it, as distinguished from seisin,
from the Roman books.

Recognition of individual interests of substance, or in other words
individual property, has developed out of recognition of group
interests, just as recognition of individual interests of personality
has evolved gradually from what in the first instance was a
recognition of group interests. The statement which used to be found
in the books that all property originally was owned in common means
nothing more than this: When interests of substance are first secured
they are interests of groups of kindred because in tribally organized
society groups of kindred are the legal units. Social control secures
these groups in the occupation of things which they have reduced to
their possession. In this sense the first property is group property
rather than individual property. Yet it must be noted that wherever we
find a securing of group interests, the group in occupation is secured
against interference of other groups with that occupation. Two ideas
gradually operated to break up these group interests and bring about
recognition of individual interests. One of these is the partition of
households. The other is the idea of what in the Hindu law is called
self-acquired property.

In primitive or archaic society as households grow unwieldy there is a
partition which involves partition of property as well as of the
household. Indeed in Hindu law partition is thought of as partition of
the household primarily and as partition of property only
incidentally. Also in Roman law the old action for partition is called
the action for partitioning the household. Thus, at first, partition
is a splitting up of an overgrown household into smaller households.
Presently, however, it tends to become a division of a household among
individuals. Thus in Roman law on the death of the head of a
household each of his sons in his power at his death became a _pater
familias_ and could bring a proceeding to partition the inheritance
although he might be the sole member of the household of which he was
the head. In this way individual ownership became the normal condition
instead of household ownership. In Hindu law household ownership is
still regar