VI. Concerning Property Entrusted to a Slave without his Master’s Knowledge.
If any property entrusted to a slave for safe keeping, without the knowledge of his master, should be lost, no responsibility therefor shall attach to either the master or the slave. For the fault is his who entrusted his property to the slave of another, the master being ignorant of the fact. If the property aforesaid should be an animal, and it should be lost through the fraud of shepherds, the master shall be compelled to pay for it. The same rule shall apply to property entrusted to another, which has been consumed or wasted through the fraud or malice of those to whose charge it was committed.
ANCIENT LAW.
VII. Where a Slave Fraudulently Demands Property Entrusted by his Master to Another.
If a master desiring to borrow, or to hire any property, should send his slave for the same, and the latter should abscond with said property, the master shall be compelled to make restitution. But if the slave should falsely represent that his master had sent him, and the property should be given him to be taken to his master, and he should either destroy or lose said property, and absconding, cannot be found, the master shall make oath that he had not sent the slave upon such an errand, and that he did not know that he had gone; and, under such circumstances, he shall incur no liability. The master, as well as the person who entrusted the slave with the property, shall exert themselves to the utmost to find him. We hereby decree that this same rule shall apply to all property entrusted to anyone without compensation.
ANCIENT LAW.
VIII. Concerning Legal Interest.
Where anyone loans money at interest, he shall not have a right to demand more than three siliquæ per annum, for every solidus; the debtor shall pay one solidus, as annual interest, for every eight solidi, and the creditor may claim from the debtor the principal and the aforesaid interest. If the creditor, by a written agreement, should extort from the necessities of the debtor a sum, as interest, in excess of the above amount, the contract, being contrary to law, shall be invalid. But if any one should thus violate the law, and should receive the sum which was agreed upon in writing, the usurious interest shall not be returned.[30]
ANCIENT LAW.
IX. What shall be Paid for the Use of Fruits of the Soil.