[IDEM libro septimo decimo ad Plautium. ] §5.1.24.prNon alias in eos, quos princeps euocauit, Romae competit actio, quam si hoc tempore contraxerint.
[THE SAME, in the seventeenth book on Plautius.] An action does not lie at Rome against those whom the Emperor has summoned, unless they have contracted during this time.
§5.1.24.1Legati ex delictis in legatione commissis coguntur iudicium Romae pati, siue ipsi admiserunt siue serui eorum.
Envoys are compelled to undergo trial at Rome for delicts committed during their embassy, whether they themselves committed them or their slaves.
§5.1.24.2Sed si postulatur in rem actio aduersus legatum, numquid danda sit, quoniam ex praesenti possessione haec actio est? Cassius respondit sic seruandum, ut si subducatur ministerium ei, non sit concedenda actio, si uero ex multis seruis de uno agatur, non sit inhibenda: Iulianus sine distinctione denegandam actionem: merito: ideo enim non datur actio, ne ab officio suscepto legationis auocetur.
But if an action in rem is demanded against an envoy, should it be granted, since this action arises from present possession? Cassius replied that this rule should be observed: that if he would be deprived of his service, the action should not be granted; but if, out of many slaves, the action is brought concerning only one, it should not be barred. Julian was of the opinion that the action should be denied without distinction; and rightly so; for the action is not granted for the very reason that he may not be called away from the duty of the embassy which he has undertaken.