FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.
VII. Concerning Those who Kill their Children before, or after, they are Born.
No depravity is greater than that which characterizes those who, unmindful of their parental duties, wilfully deprive their children of life; and, as this crime is said to be increasing throughout the provinces of our kingdom and as men as well as women are said to be guilty of it; therefore, by way of correcting such license, we hereby decree that if either a freewoman or a slave should kill her child before, or after its birth; or should take any potion for the purpose of producing abortion; or should use any other means of putting an end to the life of her child; the judge of the province or district, as soon as he is advised of the fact, shall at once condemn the author of the crime to execution in public; or, should he desire to spare her life, he shall at once cause her eyesight to be completely destroyed; and if it should be proved that her husband either ordered, or permitted the commission of this crime, he shall suffer the same penalty.[35]
TITLE IV. CONCERNING INJURIES, WOUNDS, AND MUTILATIONS INFLICTED UPON MEN.
| I. | Concerning the Injury of Freemen and Slaves. |
| II. | Concerning Insolent Persons and their Acts. |
| III. | Concerning the Law of Retaliation, and the Amount to be Paid in Lieu of the Enforcement of said Law. |
| IV. | Where a Person Deprives a Traveller of his Liberty, against the Will of the Latter, and with Intent to do him Injury. |
| V. | He who Violates the Law by Inflicting Injury upon Another, shall undergo the same Punishment which he Himself Inflicted. |
| VI. | He shall not be Considered Guilty who Struck Another, when the Latter was about to Strike Him. |
| VII. | Where a Slave Insults a Freeborn Person. |
| VIII. | Where one Freeborn Person Strikes Another. |
| IX. | Where the Slave of Another is Mutilated by a Freeborn Person. |
| X. | Where a Slave Strikes a Freeborn Person. |
| XI. | Where One Slave Mutilates Another Slave. |
I. Concerning the Injury of Freemen and Slaves.
Where one freeborn person strikes another any kind of a blow upon the head, he shall pay five solidi for a bruise, ten solidi if the skin be broken, twenty solidi for a wound extending to the bone, and a hundred solidi where a bone is broken. If a freeborn man should commit any of the above named acts upon the slave of another, he shall pay half of the above named penalties, according to the degree of his offence. If one slave should strike another, as above stated, he shall pay a third part of the above penalties, proportionate to his offence, and shall receive fifty lashes. If a slave, however, should wound a freeborn person, he shall pay the largest sum hereinbefore mentioned, which is exacted from freeborn persons for assaults upon slaves, and shall receive seventy lashes. If the master should not be willing to give satisfaction for the acts of his slave, he must surrender him on account of his crime.
II. Concerning Insolent Persons and their Acts.
If anyone with a drawn sword, or armed with any kind of weapon, should insolently enter the house of another, with the design of killing the master of the same, and should be himself killed, no one shall be held responsible for his death; but if he who entered said house should kill anyone, he shall be put to death at once. But if he should not commit any crime, he must at once give satisfaction, according to law, for any injury resulting from his act. And if he who entered the house of another by violence, should steal anything there, he shall be compelled to pay elevenfold the value of what he carried away. And if he should not have the means to pay the amount due, he shall be given up to serve as a slave; and if no damage should result from his violent entrance into the house, and he should not steal anything therefrom; for the mere fact of his forcible entry, he shall be compelled to pay ten solidi and shall receive a hundred lashes in public; and if he should not be possessed of said sum, he shall receive two hundred lashes. If any other freeborn persons, who were not under his orders or subject to him, or under his protection, should enter with him into the house; all of them, as giving consent to a high-handed and illegal act, shall undergo similar condemnation and penalties. If they should not have the property wherewith to render satisfaction, each one of them shall receive a hundred and fifty lashes; but they shall not lose the right to testify in court. But if they were under the protection, or in the service of the aggressor, and it is proved that he ordered them to commit the act of violence, or that they participated in it with him, the patron alone shall be held liable for all damage committed, as well as for the penalty; for they were not guilty who only carried out the orders of their superior. If a slave should commit such an act of violence without the knowledge of his master, he shall receive two hundred lashes, and shall be compelled to restore whatever he carried away. If, however, the slave acted with the knowledge of his master, the latter must give satisfaction for his act, as has been hereinbefore provided in the cases of freeborn persons.
FLAVIUS CHINTASVINTUS, KING.