Slave as a subject of legal protection in the roman public criminal law: A contribution to the discussion on the situation of slaves in the roman state

Abstract

The article is aimed at answering the question about the scope of the subjectivity of slaves in Roman public criminal law. Especially in cases of crimes committed against slaves, there was a situation in which the slave, as a victim, was granted the attribute of legal subjectivity and was subject to legal protection as a human being (persona) by the Roman state. This protection, present in many aspects of the punitive policy of the Roman state, was particularly visible in the regulations that prohibited the killing of slaves, abuse of slaves, assignment to castration, gladiatorial fights or prostitution. The legal protection of slaves, and thus their empowerment in public criminal law, was based on the Roman utilitas publica, but also the emerging humanitarian tendencies in imperial law.