Ulpianus, On the Office of Proconsul, Book IX. Governors should hear the complaints of patrons against their freedmen, and their cases should be tried without delay; for if a freedman is ungrateful, he should not go unpunished. Where, however, the freedman fails in the duty which he owes to his patron, his patroness, or their children, he should only be punished lightly, with a warning that a more severe penalty will be imposed if he again gives cause for complaint, and then be dismissed. But if he is guilty of insult or abuse of his patrons, he should be sent into temporary exile. If. he offers them personal violence, he must be sentenced to the mines. The same rule will apply where he has caused them annoyance by means of a vexatious lawsuit, or suborned an informer against them, or has attempted to make some accusation against them.

The Same, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. Persons who carry bags, and make use of them for forbidden purposes, by purloining or carrying away portions of property, and also those called derectarii, that is to say, such as introduce themselves into apartments with the intention of stealing, should be punished more severely than ordinary thieves, and therefore they are sentenced for a term to the public works, or are scourged and then discharged, or are deported for a certain time.

The Same, In the Same Book. There are, besides, crimes over which the Governor has jurisdiction; as, wherever anyone alleges that documents belonging to him have treacherously been given to another, for the prosecution of this offence was assigned by the Divine Brothers to the Prefect of the City.

The Same, In the Same Book. There are certain offences which are punished in accordance with the customs of the provinces in which they are committed; as, for instance, in the Province of Arabia a certain crime, designated “the placing of stones,” is known, the nature of which is as follows: The majority of the people are accustomed to set stones in the field of an enemy, which indicate that if anyone cultivates the field, he will suffer death through the snares of those who deposited the stones there. This proceeding causes such fear that no one dares approach the field in apprehension of the cruelty of those who placed the stones on the land. Governors are accustomed to inflict the extreme penalty for the commission of this offence, because it itself threatens death.

The Same, In the Same Book. In Egypt, anyone who breaks or injures dykes (these are levees which retain the water of the Nile) are also punished in an arbitrary manner, according to their civil condition, and the measure of the offence. Some of them are sentenced to the public works, or to the mines. Anyone, also, who cuts down a sycamore tree, can also be sentenced to the mines, according to his rank, for this offence is also punished arbitrarily, and by a severe penalty, because these trees strengthen the dykes of the Nile by which the inundations of that river are distributed and restrained, and the diminution of its volume arrested. The dykes, as well as the channels cut through them, afford ground for the punishment of those who interfere with their operation.

Ulpianus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. It should be remembered that, at present, those who are guilty of this offence are punished with an arbitrary penalty.

Ulpianus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. In prosecuting the crime of plundering an estate, the Governor of the province should take judicial cognizance of the same; for when the action for theft cannot be brought, recourse to the Governor alone remains. 1It is evident that the offence of plundering an estate can only be prosecuted under circumstances where the action for theft is not available, that is to say, before the estate has been entered upon, or after it has been entered upon, but before the property has been taken possession of by the heir; for it is clear that, in this instance, the action of theft will not lie, although there is no doubt that one for the production of property can be brought, if anyone desires this to be done in order to enable him to claim it.

The Same, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. Where anyone does not produce a person who is accused of crime, and for whom he is responsible, he is punished with a pecuniary penalty. I think, however, that if, through fraud, he does not produce him, he also should arbitrarily be condemned. But if no certain amount is mentioned in the bond or in the Decree of the Governor, and custom does not establish it, the Governor must decide what sum of money must be paid.

Ulpianus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. By the Julian Law relating to Provisions a penalty is prescribed against him who commits any act, or forms any association by means of which the price of provisions may be increased. 1It is provided by the saine law that no one shall detain a ship or a sailor, or maliciously commit any act by which delay may be caused. 2The penalty prescribed is a fine of twenty aurei.

The Same, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. It must be remembered that the Favian Law does not relate to those who, having in their hands absent slaves, sell them; for it is one thing to be absent, and another to be in flight. 1Again, it does not apply to a person who has ordered his fugitive slave to be pursued and sold; for he did not sell a fugitive slave. 2It can further be said that if anyone orders Titius to arrest a fugitive slave, and, if he should do so, to hold him as purchased, the Decree of the Senate does not apply. 3Masters who have sold their slaves when in flight are also liable under this Decree of the Senate.

The Same, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. When anyone, to avoid being subjected to punishment, alleges that he has something to communicate to the Emperor which concerns his safety, let us see whether he should be sent to him. There are many Governors who are so timid that, even after they have passed sentence for a crime, they suspend its execution, and do not dare to do anything else. Others do not permit defendants to say anything of this kind. Others again, sometimes, but not always, send them to the Emperor, but they inquire what it is they wish to communicate to him, and what they have to say with reference to his safety; after which they either defer the infliction of the penalty, or execute it; which course seems to be reasonable. Besides, in my opinion, after the defendants once have been convicted, no attention should be paid to them, no matter what they say. For who can entertain any doubt that they have had recourse to this pretext for the purpose of escaping punishment? And there is even more reason that they should be punished for having so long failed to mention what they boast they have to disclose concerning the safety of the Emperor, for they should not keep such important information to themselves for so long a time. 1If a Proconsul ascertains that any of his attendants, or any of those of his Deputy is a criminal, should he punish him, or reserve him for his successor? is a question which may be asked. But there are many examples which show that they have punished not only the slaves of their officers, and of their subordinates, but their own as well. This, indeed, is what should be done, in order that, having been terrified by the example, they may commit fewer offences. 2Now we must enumerate the different kinds of penalties which Governors can inflict upon various culprits. These are such as take away life, or impose servitude, or deprive a person of citizenship, or include exile or corporeal punishment:

Ulpianus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. Or condemnation with infamy, or degradation from rank, or the prohibition of some act. 1Life is taken away, for instance, where anyone is sentenced to be put to death by the sword, for the punishment must be inflicted with a sword, and not with an ax, a dart, a club, a noose, or in any other way. Hence Governors have not free power to grant the choice of death, and even less the right to inflict it by means of poison. Still, the Divine Brothers stated in a Rescript that they are permitted to select the mode of death. 2Enemies, as well as deserters, are subjected to the penalty of being burned alive. 3No one can be condemned to the penalty of being beaten to death, or to die under rods or during torture, although most persons, when they are tortured, lose their lives. 4There are penalties which deprive a person of his liberty, as where anyone is sentenced to the mines, or to some work connected with them. There are a great number of mines. Some provinces have them and some have not; and those which have none send culprits who have been sentenced into the provinces which have. 5By a Rescript of the Divine Severus, addressed to Fabius Cilo, the right to sentence persons to the mines is exclusively reserved to the Prefect of the City of Rome. 6The difference between those who are sentenced to the mines, and those who are sentenced to labor in the mines, is only a matter of chains; for those who are sentenced to the mines are oppressed with heavier chains, and those who are sentenced to work connected with the mines wear lighter ones. The result of this is that those who escape from labor connected with the mines are sentenced to the mines; and those who escape from the mines themselves are punished even more severely. 7Moreover, anyone sentenced to labor on the public works and escapes is usually condemned to serve double time; but only that time should be doubled which remained for him to serve when he escaped, and that should not be doubled which he passed in prison after having been arrested. If he was sentenced to serve ten years, his punishment should be made perpetual, or he should be transferred to the labor of the mines. Where he was sentenced to serve ten years, and immediately afterwards escaped, let us see whether his time should be doubled, or be made perpetual, or whether he should be transferred to the labor of the mines. The better opinion is, that he should either be transferred, or sentenced to serve for life. For, generally speaking, it is said that when double the time exceeds the period of ten years, the penalty should not be limited. 8Women are usually sentenced to the service of those working in the mines, for life or for a term, just as is the case with reference to the salt-pits. Where they are sentenced for life, they are considered penal slaves; but if they are sentenced for a prescribed term, they retain their civil rights. 9Governors usually sentence criminals to be confined in prison, or to be kept in chains; but they should not do this, for penalties of this kind are forbidden, as a prison should be used for the safe-keeping of men, and not for their punishment. 10They are also accustomed to sentence them to chalk-pits, and sulphur-pits, but these punishments are rather included in that of the mines. 11Let us see whether those who are sentenced to the amusement of hunting, become penal slaves; for the younger ones are ordinarily subjected to this penalty. Therefore it must be considered whether such persons become penal slaves, or whether they retain their freedom. The better opinion is that they also become slaves, for the only way in which they differ from others is that they are instructed in hunting, or dancing, or in some other art, for the purpose of acting in pantomime, and other theatrical exhibitions for the entertainment of audiences. 12There is no doubt that slaves are usually sentenced to the mines, to labor connected with the mines, or to the amusement of hunting. When this is done they become penal slaves, and no longer belong to him whose property they were before they were convicted. Finally, when a certain slave who was sentenced to the mines was released from punishment through the indulgence of the sovereign, the Emperor Antoninus very properly stated in a Rescript that, for the reason that he having become a penal slave, and on that account having ceased to belong to his master, he should not afterwards be restored to him. 13Where a slave has been sentenced to perpetual, or temporary confinement in chains, he continues to be the property of him to whom he belonged before he was convicted.

Ulpianus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. Among the penalties is also included deportation to an island, which deprives the person of Roman citizenship. 1The right of deportation to an island is not granted to the Governors of provinces, although it is granted to the Prefect of the City, for this is stated in an Epistle of the Divine Severus to Fabius Cilo, Urban Prefect. Therefore, whenever the Governor of a province thinks that anyone ought to be deported to an island, he should notify the person himself, and also send his name to the Emperor, in order that he may be deported; and then write to the Emperor stating his opinion fully, so that the latter may determine whether his sentence should be executed, and the culprit be deported to an island; and, in the meantime, until the answer is given, he must order him to remain in prison. 2The decurions of cities (as was stated by the Divine Brothers in a Rescript), should be either deported or relegated on account of capital crimes. And, in fact, they ordered Priscus, who, before being tortured, confessed that he had committed homicide and arson, to be deported to an island.

Ulpianus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book IX. The bodies of those who are condemned to death should not be refused their relatives; and the Divine Augustus, in the Tenth Book on his life, said that this rule had been observed. At present, the bodies of those who have been punished are only buried when this has been requested and permission granted; and sometimes it is not permitted, especially where persons have been convicted of high treason. Even the bodies of those who have been sentenced to be burned can be claimed, in order that their bones and ashes, after having been collected, may be buried.