Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Status

be more trustworthy. What the standards were for placing or revoking either designation, we do not know. The law does, however, seem to assume that at least some people will slip in and out of these states, and that their legal situation should fluctuate accordingly.

Peculium and Agency

It has often been noted that the legal positions of slaves and children in power were quite similar. One institution that applies in both cases is a kind of fund called peculium . Neither group could technically own property, but it was often found to be convenient to allow them to operate as if they did – say, in running a partially independent business. This pseudo property could include cash or any other property (including slaves, who could then be virtually owned by other slaves! [8] ). A slave operating a business would presumably be expected to keep it running in the black after the initial investment; a grown son or daughter of the political class might be given a more regular allowance just for support. Anything that was earned by the use of the peculium was typically funneled back in (or at least some percentage, as informally agreed between the father/owner and child/slave). To make this legally sound, the praetor allowed someone who did business with the child or slave to sue the father or owner for up to the value of the peculium (at the time of the original deal) to enforce their agreements.

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