[ULPIANUS libro singulari de officio praefecti urbi. ] §1.12.1.prOmnia omnino crimina praefectura urbis sibi uindicauit, nec tantum ea, quae intra urbem admittuntur, uerum ea quoque, quae extra urbem intra Italiam, epistula diui Seueri ad Fabium Cilonem praefectum urbi missa declaratur.
[ULPIANUS, in his single book On the Office of the Prefect of the City.] It is declared by a letter of the divine Severus sent to Fabius Cilo, prefect of the city, that the prefecture of the city has claimed for itself absolutely all crimes, not only those which are committed within the city, but also those which are committed outside the city within Italy.
§1.12.1.1Seruos qui ad statuas confugerint, uel sua pecunia emptos ut manumittantur, de dominis querentes audiet.
He shall hear slaves who have fled to statues, or who were bought with their own money in order to be manumitted, when they make complaints about their masters.
§1.12.1.2Sed et patronos egentes de suis libertis querentes audiet, maxime si aegros se esse dicant desiderentque a libertis exhiberi.
But he shall also hear needy patrons when they complain about their freedmen, especially if they say they are sick and desire to be supported by their freedmen.
§1.12.1.3Relegandi deportandique in insulam, quam imperator adsignauerit, licentiam habet.
He has the power of relegating and deporting to an island which the emperor shall have assigned.
§1.12.1.4Initio eiusdem epistulae ita scriptum est: 'cum urbem nostram fidei tuae commiserimus': quidquid igitur intra urbem admittitur, ad praefectum urbi uidetur pertinere.
In the beginning of the same letter it is written: 'Since we have committed our city to your trust': therefore, whatever is committed within the city is deemed to belong to the prefect of the city.
sed et si quid intra centensimum miliarium admissum sit, ad praefectum urbi pertinet: si ultra ipsum lapidem, egressum est praefecti urbi notionem.
But also, if anything is committed within the hundredth milestone, it belongs to the prefect of the city; if beyond that very milestone, it has gone beyond the jurisdiction of the prefect of the city.
§1.12.1.5Si quis seruum suum adulterium commisisse dicat in uxorem suam, apud praefectum urbi erit audiendus.
If anyone should say that his slave has committed adultery with his wife, he must be heard before the prefect of the city.
§1.12.1.6Sed et ex interdictis quod ui aut clam aut interdicto unde ui audire potest.
But he can also hear cases arising from the interdicts 'by force or stealth' (quod vi aut clam) or the interdict 'from where by force' (unde vi).
§1.12.1.7Solent ad praefecturam urbis remitti etiam tutores siue curatores, qui male in tutela siue cura uersati grauiore animaduersione indigent, quam ut sufficiat eis suspectorum infamia: quos probari poterit uel nummis datis tutelam occupasse, uel praemio accepto operam dedisse ut non idoneus tutor alicui daretur, uel consulto circa edendum patrimonium quantitatem minuisse, uel euidenti fraude pupilli bona alienasse.
There are also accustomed to be referred to the prefecture of the city tutors or curators who, having conducted themselves badly in their tutelage or curatorship, need a heavier punishment than that the infamy of being suspected tutors should suffice for them: those, namely, of whom it can be proved that they either occupied the tutelage by giving money, or, having accepted a bribe, exerted themselves so that an unfit tutor should be given to someone, or deliberately reduced the amount of the estate in declaring it, or alienated the ward's goods with evident fraud.
§1.12.1.8Quod autem dictum est, ut seruos de dominis querentes praefectus audiat, sic accipiemus non accusantes dominos (hoc enim nequaquam seruo permittendum est nisi ex causis receptis) sed si uerecunde expostulent, si saeuitiam, si duritiam, si famem, qua eos premant, si obscenitatem, in qua eos compulerint uel compellant, apud praefectum urbi exponant.
However, as to what was said, that the prefect should hear slaves complaining about their masters, we shall understand this not as accusing their masters (for this is by no means to be permitted to a slave except for recognized causes), but if they expostulate respectfully, if they lay before the prefect of the city the cruelty, the severity, the hunger with which they oppress them, or the obscenity to which they have compelled or are compelling them.
hoc quoque officium praefecto urbi a diuo Seuero datum est, ut mancipia tueatur ne prostituantur.
This duty was also given to the prefect of the city by the divine Severus, that he should protect slaves from being prostituted.
§1.12.1.9Praeterea curare debebit praefectus urbi, ut nummularii probe se agant circa omne negotium suum et temperent his, quae sunt prohibita.
Furthermore, the prefect of the city must take care that money-changers conduct themselves honestly in all their business and refrain from those things which are prohibited.
§1.12.1.10Cum patronus contemni se a liberto dixerit uel contumeliosum sibi libertum queratur uel conuicium se ab eo passum liberosque suos uel uxorem uel quid huic simile obicit: praefectus urbi adiri solet et pro modo querellae corrigere eum.
When a patron says that he is despised by his freedman, or complains that his freedman is insolent to him, or charges that he has suffered abuse from him, as well as his children or his wife, or objects anything similar to this: the prefect of the city is accustomed to be approached, and to correct him according to the measure of the complaint.
aut comminari aut fustibus castigare aut ulterius procedere in poena eius solet: nam et puniendi plerumque sunt liberti.
He is accustomed either to threaten, or to chastise with rods, or to proceed further in his punishment; for indeed freedmen are frequently to be punished.
certe si se delatum a liberto uel conspirasse eum contra se cum inimicis doceat, etiam metalli poena in eum statui debet.
Certainly, if the patron shows that he has been denounced by his freedman, or that the freedman has conspired against him with his enemies, even the punishment of the mines ought to be decreed against him.
§1.12.1.11Cura carnis omnis ut iusto pretio praebeatur ad curam praefecturae pertinet, et ideo et forum suarium sub ipsius cura est: sed et ceterorum pecorum siue armentorum quae ad huiusmodi praebitionem spectant ad ipsius curam pertinent.
The care that all meat be supplied at a just price belongs to the care of the prefecture, and therefore the pig market is also under his care; but also other small cattle or herds which look to this kind of supply belong to his care.
§1.12.1.12Quies quoque popularium et disciplina spectaculorum ad praefecti urbi curam pertinere uidetur: et sane debet etiam dispositos milites stationarios habere ad tuendam popularium quietem et ad referendum sibi quid ubi agatur.
The peace of the populace also and the discipline of spectacles are deemed to belong to the care of the prefect of the city; and indeed, he ought also to have stationed soldiers deployed to protect the peace of the populace and to report to him what is happening and where.
§1.12.1.13Et urbe interdicere praefectus urbi et qua alia solitarum regionum potest, et negotiatione et professione et aduocationibus et foro, et ad tempus et in perpetuum: interdicere poterit et spectaculis: et si quem releget ab Italia, summouere eum etiam a prouincia sua.
The prefect of the city can interdict someone from the city and from any other of the usual regions, and from business, profession, advocacy, and the forum, both for a time and in perpetuity; he can also interdict someone from spectacles; and if he should relegate anyone from Italy, he can remove him even from his own province.
§1.12.1.14Diuus Seuerus rescripsit eos etiam, qui illicitum collegium coisse dicuntur, apud praefectum urbi accusandos.
The divine Severus wrote back in a rescript that those also who are said to have formed an illicit association must be accused before the prefect of the city.