[UENULEIUS SATURNINUS libro secundo de iudiciis publicis. ] §48.2.12.pros accusare non licet: legatum imperatoris, id est praesidem prouinciae, ex sententia Lentuli dicta Sulla et Trione consulibus: item legatum prouincialem eius dumtaxat criminis, quod ante commiserit, quam in legationem uenerit: item magistratum populi Romani eumue, qui rei publicae causa afuerit, dum non detractandae legis causa abest.
[VENULEIUS SATURNINUS, On Public Judgments, Book 2] It is not permitted to accuse these persons: a legate of the Emperor, that is, a governor of a province, in accordance with the opinion of Lentulus delivered in the consulship of Sulla and Trio; likewise, a provincial legate, but only with respect to a crime which he committed before he entered upon his legation; likewise, a magistrate of the Roman people, or one who is absent on account of the state, provided that he is not absent for the purpose of evading the law.
H §48.2.12.1oc beneficio etiam in reos recepti uti possunt, si abolitione interueniente repeti se non debere contendant, secundum epistulam diui Hadriani ad Glabrionem consulem scriptam.
Even those who have been accepted as defendants can enjoy this benefit, if they contend that they ought not to be prosecuted again after a public or private abolition has intervened, in accordance with the letter of the Divine Hadrian written to the consul Glabrio.
§48.2.12.2Lege Iulia iudiciorum publicorum cauetur, ne eodem tempore de duobus reis quis quereretur nisi suarum iniuriarum causa.
It is provided by the Julia Law on Public Judgments that no one may complain of two defendants at the same time, unless it be on account of an injury done to himself.
§48.2.12.3Si seruus reus postulabitur, eadem obseruanda sunt, quae si liber esset, ex senatus consulto Cotta et Messala consulibus.
If a slave is to be prosecuted as a defendant, the same rules must be observed as if he were a free person, according to the senatusconsultum passed in the consulship of Cotta and Messala.
§48.2.12.4Omnibus autem legibus serui rei fiunt excepta lege Iulia de ui priuata, quia ea lege damnati partis tertiae bonorum publicatione puniuntur, quae poena in seruum non cadit.
Moreover, slaves can be made defendants under all laws, with the exception of the Julia Law on Private Violence, because those convicted under that law are punished by the confiscation of a third part of their property, which is a punishment that does not apply to a slave.
idemque dicendum est in ceteris legibus, quibus pecuniaria poena irrogatur uel etiam capitis, quae seruorum poenis non conuenit, sicuti relegatio.
The same must be said of other laws by which a pecuniary penalty or even a capital punishment is imposed, which is not compatible with the punishments of slaves, such as relegation.
item nec lex Pompeia parricidii, quoniam caput primum eos adpraehendit, qui parentes cognatosue aut patronos occiderint: quae in seruos, quantum ad uerba pertinet, non cadunt: sed cum natura communis est, similiter et in eos animaduertetur.
Likewise, the Pompeian Law on Parricide does not apply, since its first chapter encompasses those who have killed their parents, relatives, or patrons; words which, so far as their literal meaning is concerned, do not apply to slaves; but since human nature is common to both, they will be punished in a similar manner.
item Cornelia iniuriarum seruum non debere recipi reum Cornelius Sulla auctor fuit: sed durior ei poena extra ordinem imminebit.
Likewise, Cornelius Sulla was the authority for the rule under the Cornelian Law on Injuries that a slave should not be accepted as a defendant; but a more severe, extraordinary punishment will hang over him.