1Paulus, Sentences, Book IV. The seducers of married women, as well as other disturbers of the marital relation, even though they may be unable to consummate their crimes, are punished arbitrarily on account of the tendency of their destructive passions. 1An injury is committed against good morals, for instance, where one person throws manure upon another, or smears him with filth, or mud; or defiles water, canals, or reservoirs; or fouls anything else for the purpose of injuring the public; and upon persons of this kind it is customary to inflict the most condign punishment. 2Anyone who persuades a boy to submit to lewdness, either by leading him aside, or by corrupting his attendant, or anyone who attempts to seduce a woman or a girl, or does anything for the purpose of encouraging her in debauchery either by lending his house, or by paying her money, in order to persuade her, and the crime is accomplished, shall be punished with death, and if it is not accomplished, he shall be deported to some island. Attendants who have been corrupted shall suffer the extreme penalty.

2Ulpianus, Opinions, Book IV. Unlawful assembles must not be attempted, even by veteran soldiers, under the pretext of religion, or that of performing a vow.

3The Same, On Adultery, Book III. The actions for embezzlement and the exploitation of estates include an accusation, but they are not criminal prosecutions.

4Marcianus, Rules, Book I. The Divine Severus and Antoninus stated in a Rescript that a woman who purposely produces an abortion on herself should be sentenced to temporary exile by the Governor; for it may be considered dishonorable for a woman to deprive her husband of children with impunity.

5Ulpianus, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book V. In addition to liability to the action for corrupting a slave, which is authorized by the Perpetual Edict, anyone at whose instigation a slave is proved to have sought sanctuary at the foot of a statue, for the purpose of defaming his master, shall be severely punished.

6The Same, On the Duties of Proconsul, Book VIII. Those who are accustomed to embrace every opportunity to increase the price of food are called dardanarii, and provision has been made by the Imperial Decrees and Constitutions for the repression of their avarice. It is provided as follows in the Decrees: “Moreover, you should take care that there are no dardanarii of any kind of goods, and that they do not adopt measures for storing away merchandise which they have purchased; or, that the more wealthy of them may not be unwilling to dispose of their goods at reasonable prices in expectation of an unproductive season, so that the price of food may not be raised.” The punishments imposed upon such persons, however, vary greatly, for generally, if they are merchants, they are only prohibited from engaging in trade, and sometimes they are deported, but those of low rank are condemned to the public works. 1The price of food is also increased by the use of false balances, with reference to which the Divine Trajan promulgated an Edict, by which Edict he renders such persons liable to the penalty of the Cornelian Law; just as if under that section of this law, which has reference to wills, anyone had been condemned for having written, sealed, or published a forged testament. 2The Divine Hadrian also condemned to deportation anyone who had false measures in his possession.

7The 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.

8The 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.

9The 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.

10The 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.

11Paulus, Sentences, Book I. An action in proportion to the gravity of the offence will be granted against mountebanks who carry around and exhibit serpents, when any damage results through fear of these reptiles.