Roman Law and the Legal World of the Romans

Documents

[1] TPSulp 2

Guarantee-of-appearance made by Gaius Sulpicius Faustus for next 24 June in the Forum of Puteoli in front of the Hordonian altar of Augustus at 9 am. As part of an action in the matter of a sale, Lucius Faenius Eumenes asked for a formal promise for HS 1 50,000; Gaius Sulpicius Faustus made the promise. Done at Puteoli. Eumenes is suing Faustus over a sale. This tablet records • a vadimonium (a promise of bond or bail) guaranteeing Faustus’s appearance at a hearing in this matter. There are other documents in the archive recording their ongoing legal struggles. This guarantee is achieved by means of the contract form • called stipulatio , illustrated by the question-and-answer recorded in this document. Stipulatio could be used for any purpose, since it was defined by that form, not by its substance. Technically, the stipulatio was an oral contract, so this document is a record or would-be evidence, but we probably should not say that it “is” the contract.

[2] TPSulp 4

Guarantee-of-appearance made by Zenon of Tyre, freedman of Zenobius, for the coming 11 June in the Forum of Puteoli

1 “HS” is the Roman abbreviation for a standard unit of currency, the “ sesterce .”

237