| 1 | Lawful ownership (of property) is proven by proper manifest through testimony, recording or long possession. |
| 2 | No one may deprive another of lawful ownership of property without compensation; else such an act is considered theft. |
| 3 | Slaves and foreigners are not permitted to own land. |
| 4 | Where anyone commits a theft by night, and having been caught in the act is killed, he is legally killed. |
| 5 | If anyone commits a theft during the day, and is caught in the act, he shall be scourged, and given up as a slave to the person against whom the theft was committed. If he who perpetrated the theft is a slave, he shall be beaten with rods and hurled from the Tarpeian Rock. If he is under the age of puberty, the magistrate shall decide whether he shall be scourged, and surrendered by way of reparation for the injury. |
| 6 | When any persons commit a theft during the day and in the light, whether they be freemen or slaves, of full age or minors, and attempt to defend themselves with weapons, or with any kind of implements; and the party against whom the violence is committed raises the cry of thief, and calls upon other persons, if any are present, to come to his assistance; and this is done, and the thieves are killed by him in the defence of his person and property, it is legal, and no liability attaches to the homicide. |
| 7 | If a theft be detected by means of a dish and a girdle, it is the same as manifest theft, and shall be punished as such. |
| 8 | When anyone accuses and convicts another of theft which is not manifest, and no stolen property is found, judgment shall be rendered to compel the thief to pay double the value of what was stolen. |
| 9 | Where anyone, in order to favor a thief, makes a compromise for the loss sustained, he cannot afterwards prosecute him for theft. |
| 10 | Stolen property shall always be his to whom it formerly belonged; nor can the lawful owner ever be deprived of it by long possession, without regard to its duration; nor can it ever be acquired by another, no matter in what way this may take place |
| 11 | A foreigner cannot acquire the property of another by usucaption; but a Roman citizen, who is the lawful owner of the property, shall always have the right to demand it from him |
| 12 | Against a foreigner the right in property shall be valid forever. |
Search Texts
Download book as a pdf
Table II. Property Rights