A source-book of ancient history - The Search For Mecca

352 The Early Republic
Crimes.
Rome, 86.
Debtors.
cent a month. If he shall do otherwise, let him be fined
four times that sum.
If a judge or arbitrator appointed by law shall take
money for a judgment to be given, let the crime be
capital.
If
any one breaks the limb of another and makes no
reparation, let retaliation take place.
Whoever shall maliciously burn another's house, let him
be bound and whipped at the discretion of the praetor, and
burned. But if the mischief is accidental, let him, at the
discretion of the praetor, repair the damage or be punished
for it by being whipped.
If any one shall publish slander or write verses to the
defamation of another, let the offence be capital. If any
shall assemble in the city privately at night, let the offence
be capital.
Let there be no intermarriage between patricians and
plebeians.
Let thirty days' grace be granted after a debt has been
confessed and judgment given. Then let the debtor be
seized. Let the creditor bring him before the court. If he
does not obey the summons, or is not bailed by any one,
let the creditor take him away and bind him with a thong
or with fetters weighing no more than fifteen pounds, or if
he will, less.
If the debtor pleases, let him maintain himself.
If he does not maintain himself, let the one who keeps
him in bonds give him a pound of spelt every day; if he
thinks fit, more. Meantime let there be an agreement.
If the debtor does not agree with his creditor, let the latter
keep him in bonds sixty days. In this period let the creditor
cite him to court three market-days in succession, and let
him proclaim the sum at which the costs are laid. Then
let the creditor put him to death: or if he pleases, sell him