TITLE III. CONCERNING APPROPRIATORS AND KIDNAPPERS OF SLAVES.

I.Where Anyone Seizes the Slave of Another.
II.Where a Freeman is Convicted of Having Stolen the Male or Female Slave of Another.
III.Concerning Kidnapped Children of Freeborn Persons.
IV.Where one Slave Kidnaps Another Belonging to a Person not his Master.
V.Where a Slave, at the Command of his Master, Kidnaps a Freeborn Person.
VI.Where a Slave, without the Knowledge of his Master, Kidnaps a Freeborn Person.

THE GLORIOUS FLAVIUS RECESVINTUS, KING.

I. Where Anyone Seizes the Slave of Another.

If any freeborn person should seize and appropriate a slave belonging to another, he shall be compelled to give to the master another slave, of equal value, by way of restitution. If a slave should commit this offence, he must return the slave whom he has seized to the master of the same, and he shall then receive a hundred lashes. If the slave that was seized cannot be produced in court, the master must give another slave, of equal value, to him who sustained the loss; to be kept by him until the slave who was carried off is restored, when the other slave, who was surrendered in his place, shall be returned to his own master.

FLAVIUS RECESVINTUS, KING.

II. Where a Freeman is Convicted of Having Stolen the Male or Female Slave of Another.

If a freeman should kidnap the male or female slave of another, he shall be compelled to give, by way of reparation, four slaves of the same sex to the master or mistress of said slave, and shall receive a hundred lashes in public; and if he should not have the property wherewith to make restitution, he himself shall be reduced to slavery.

ANCIENT LAW.

III. Concerning Kidnapped Children of Freeborn Persons.

If anyone should kidnap the son or daughter of a freeborn person, of either sex; or should lure them from home, and cause them to be taken into other provinces of our kingdom, or into any foreign country; he who is guilty of such an atrocious crime, shall be delivered up to the father or mother of the child; or to its brothers, if there are any; or to its nearest relatives; to be killed or sold into slavery. Should they wish to do so, they may exact from the kidnapper, the legal compensation for homicide; that is to say, three hundred solidi: because for a child to be sold by its parents, or to be kidnapped, is as serious a crime as the commission of homicide. If, however, the kidnapper should recover the child from the foreign country where it has been sent, and bring it again to its native land, he shall pay a hundred and fifty solidi: that is to say, half of the composition for homicide; and should he not be possessed of said amount, he shall be condemned to servitude.

ANCIENT LAW.

IV. Where One Slave Kidnaps Another Belonging to a Person not his Master.

If one slave should steal another, who is the property of another master, without the knowledge of his own master, he shall receive a hundred and fifty lashes in the presence of the judge, and the kidnapped slave shall be restored to his master. And he whose slave was stolen shall not be entitled to demand a reward from the master of the kidnapper for the capture of the kidnapped slave. If, however, the slave who was kidnapped should not be found, the master of the kidnapper shall be compelled by the judge to give another slave of equal value, or the kidnapper himself, up to him whose slave was stolen; to serve until such time as his own slave shall be restored to him, when the other slave shall be returned to his master.

ANCIENT LAW.

V. Where a Slave, at the Command of his Master, Kidnaps a Freeborn Person.

If a slave, by order of his master, should kidnap a freeborn person, the master shall be liable for such satisfaction in damages as has been elsewhere provided in the case of freeborn persons, and shall receive a hundred lashes in public; but the slave himself shall incur no penalty, having acted under the command of his master.

VI. Where a Slave, without the Knowledge of his Master, Kidnaps a Freeborn Person.

If a slave, without the knowledge of his master, should kidnap a freeborn person, he shall be delivered up, without delay, to the parents of said person, to be disposed of absolutely at their pleasure. If, however, the kidnapped person should be brought back, and the master should desire to give satisfaction for the act of his slave; he shall pay a pound of gold, as compensation for the injury inflicted upon said freeborn person.[40]