[IDEM libro secundo quaestionum. ] §47.9.7.prNe quid ex naufragiis diripiatur uel quis extraneus interueniat colligendis eis, multifariam prospectum est.
[THE SAME, Questions, book two.] Provisions have been made in many ways so that nothing is plundered from shipwrecks, and no outsider intervenes in salvage operations.
nam et diuus Hadrianus edicto praecepit, ut hi, qui iuxta litora maris possident, scirent, si quando nauis uel inficta uel fracta intra fines agri cuiusque fuerit, ne naufragia diripiant, in ipsos iudicia praesides his, qui res suas direptas queruntur, reddituros, ut quidquid probauerint ademptum sibi naufragio, id a possessoribus recipiant.
For the divine Hadrian also commanded by an edict that those who possess land near the seacoast should know that, if ever a ship is either driven ashore or wrecked within the boundaries of anyone's land, they must not plunder the shipwrecked goods, and that the governors will grant actions against them to those who complain that their property has been plundered, so that whatever they prove to have been taken from them by the shipwreck, they may recover it from the possessors.
de his autem, quos diripuisse probatum sit, praesidem ut de latronibus grauem sententiam dicere.
Furthermore, concerning those who are proved to have plundered, the governor is to pronounce a severe sentence as if against robbers.
ut facilior sit probatio huiusmodi admissi, permisit his et quidquid passos se huiusmodi queruntur, adire praefectos et ad eum testari reosque petere, ut pro modo culpae uel uincti uel sub fideiussoribus ad praesidem remittantur.
In order that the proof of this kind of offense might be easier, he permitted them, and anyone who complains of having suffered anything of this kind, to go to the prefects and testify before them, and to request that the accused be sent to the governor, either bound or under sureties, according to the measure of their guilt.
a domino quoque possessionis, in qua id admissum dicatur, satis accipi, ne cognitioni desit, praecipitur.
It is also prescribed that security be taken from the owner of the property in which the offense is said to have been committed, so that he does not fail to appear at the inquiry.
sed nec interuenire naufragiis colligendis aut militem aut priuatum aut libertum seruumue principis placere sibi ait senatus.
But the senate also states that it does not approve of any soldier, private individual, or freedman or slave of the emperor intervening in the salvage of shipwrecked goods.