ANCIENT LAW.
VIII. Where a Freewoman Marries without the Consent of her Parents.
If any freeborn girl should marry a freeman before the latter has consulted her parents, and if he then should obtain consent to have her as his wife, he shall pay the legal dowry to her parents; but if he can not furnish that sum, the girl shall be again placed under their control. If she should have been voluntarily married without the consent and knowledge of her parents, and they should then be unwilling to receive her, she shall not inherit along with her brothers, for the reason that she married without the permission of her parents. If her parents should give her any of their property, she shall have full liberty to dispose of it at her pleasure.
TITLE III. CONCERNING THE RAPE OF VIRGINS, OR WIDOWS.
| I. | Where a Freeman carries off a Freewoman by Force, he shall not be permitted to Marry her, if she was a Virgin. |
| II. | Where Parents remove their Daughter from the Power of a Ravisher. |
| III. | Where the Parents of a Girl, who has been Betrothed, consent that She should be Carried Away by Another. |
| IV. | Where Brothers, either during the Life of their Father, or after his Death, consent that any one should Carry Away their Sister by Force. |
| V. | Where any one Carries Away by Violence a Woman who was Betrothed to Another. |
| VI. | Where a Ravisher is Killed. |
| VII. | Within what Time it is Lawful to Prosecute a Ravisher; and Whether any Marriage Contract can be entered into with Him by the Girl or her Parents. |
| VIII. | Where a Slave carries off a Freewoman by Force. |
| IX. | Where a Slave carries off a Freedwoman by Force. |
| X. | Where a Slave carries off the Female Slave of Another by Force. |
| XI. | Concerning those who Deceive Girls, or the Wives of Others, or Widows; and Concerning those who Compel by Force, and without the Royal Command, any Freeborn Girl or Widow to take a Husband. |
| XII. | Concerning Freemen and Slaves who are Proved to have been Implicated in the Crime of Rape. |
ANCIENT LAW.
I. Where a Freeman carries off a Freewoman by Force, he shall not be permitted to Marry her, if she was a Virgin.
If any freeman should carry off a virgin or widow by violence, and she should be rescued before she has lost her chastity, he who carried her off shall lose half of his property, which shall be given to her. But should such not be the case, and the crime should have been fully committed, under no circumstances shall a marriage contract be entered into with him; but he shall be surrendered, with all his possessions, to the injured party; and shall, in addition, receive two hundred lashes in public; and, after having been deprived of his liberty, he shall be delivered up to the parents of her whom he violated, or to the virgin or widow herself, to forever serve as a slave, to the end that there may be no possibility of a future marriage between them. And if it should be proved that she has received anything from the property of the ravisher, on account of her injury, she shall lose it, and it shall be given to her parents, by whose agency this matter should be prosecuted. But if a man who has legitimate children by a former wife should be convicted of this crime, he alone shall be given up into the power of her whom he carried off; and his children shall have the right to inherit his property.[16]
FLAVIUS RECESVINTUS, KING.
II. Where Parents remove their Daughter from the Power of a Ravisher.