Paulus, On the Edict, Book XLVI. Even if the murderer should be well known, torture must still be inflicted, in order that the instigator of the crime may be detected. Moreover, the murderer himself shall, by all means, be put to the question, and the other slaves also punished. 1Although slaves shall not be tortured except where their master is accused of a capital crime; still, torture can be properly inflicted even if the heir is accused, whether he be a foreign, or the proper heir. 2Where one of two masters does not appear, the slaves held in common shall be put to the question to ascertain what has happened to him; for they are tortured to ascertain something with reference to the fate of the master who does not appear, rather than to avenge his death, or to obtain information which may implicate the master who is present in a capital crime. 3Where a master has been attacked, but not killed, nothing is provided by the Decree of the Senate, for he himself can punish his own slave.

The Same, On the Edict, Book XLIX. It is provided by the Pisonian Decree of the Senate that: “Where a slave is liable to some penalty and is about to be punished, the vendor shall refund the price paid for him to the purchaser;” which was enacted by the Senate to avoid any injury being done to the purchaser. 1Where a son under paternal control, who has made a testamentary disposition of his castrense peculium, is killed, it should undoubtedly be maintained that under these circumstances the estate of the deceased will belong to the Treasury, if his heirs have entered upon his estate, and did not avenge his death; just as in a similar instance, the estate of the head of a household will also be forfeited.