Revocatio in servitutem

The revocatio in servitutem , also revocatio in servitutem propter ingratitudinem ("recall to slavery for ingratitude") meant in Roman law the revocation of the release ( manumissio ).

Relieved by law by Emperor Constantine I and later placed on an even broader basis by Theodosius II , it came into consideration if the freedman violated his continuing service obligations towards the patron , but was practically rare. It was used, for example, when, after the death of the freedman, his heirs wanted to obtain access to the freed person.

Several ancient writers, most notably Augustine of Hippo , criticized this institute.

To what extent it had forerunner institutes in principle is controversial. According to Suet. Claud. 25, 1 had already made use of it by Emperor Claudius .

literature

• Wolfgang Waldstein : Revocatio in servitutem . In: Heinz Heinen u. a. (Ed.): Concise dictionary of ancient slavery (HAS). CD-ROM delivery I-II. Stuttgart 2008
• Denise Roth, Revocatio in servitutem. The legal stability of the release against the background of the actio ingrati , Berlin 2018. ISBN 978-3-631-76465-7
• Max Kaser , R. Knütel: Roman private law. A study book Munich: Beck.
• P. de Francisi: La revocatio in servitutem del liberto ingrato , vol. 1. In: Collinet, Paul, Albertario, Emilio (eds.): Mélanges de droit romain: Dédiés a Georges Cornil . Gand et al. a. : Vanderpoorten, pp. 295–323.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ See Cod. Theod. 4, 10, 1 (a. 332) and Cod. Iust. 6, 7, 4 (= Cod. Theod. 4, 10, 3) (a. 426)
2. ↑ Jens Perch village: freedmen in late antiquity . Sources and research on the Ancient World Vol. 58, Utz-Verlag, Munich 2012; also Univ.-Diss. Munich, 2011. Introduction ( Memento of the original from May 20, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Pp. 1-24. Review by Ulrich Lambrecht, Plekos 14, 2012, p. 156