XVIII
BOOK OF CONSTITUTIONS 35 to prove this fact with two or three native freeborn witnesses, let him (the man who refused to come to court) pay a fine of six solidi and nonetheless be compelled to come to judgment. 5. With the further condition that a Roman freeman who has a case with a barbarian (serf) should admonish either his master or his overseer (actor), and if the overseer shall not come after he has been admonished repeatedly (twice?) to reply to the charge in behalf of the serf (originarius) committed to him, let the overseer receive a hundred blows. XVIII 1. If any animal by chance, or if any dog by bite, causes death to a man, we order that among Burgundians the ancient rule of blame be removed henceforth: because what happens by chance ought not to conduce to the loss or discomfiture of man. So that if among animals, a horse kills a horse unexpectedly, or an ox gores an ox, or a dog gnaws a dog, so that it is crippled, let the owner hand over the animal or dog through which the loss is seen to have been committed to him who suffers the 1 0 ~ s . ~ 2. In truth, if a lance or any kind of weapon shall have been thrown upon the ground or set there without intent to do harm (simpliciter ), and if by accident a man or animal impales himself thereupon , we order that he to whom the weapon belongs shall pay nothing unless by chance he held the weapon in his own hands in such a manner that it could cause harm to a man. 1 By the phrase "the ancient rule of blame" perhaps this statute is referring to the earlier customary law of the Burgundians that was in effect among the people of that tribe before they entered the Roman Empire and came into contact with the written Roman law. Perhaps this is a reference to the earl Germanic faidn or law of revenge, for our law here seems to imply that undkr the "ancient rule of blame"a man was held personally accountable for the actions of his animals. Cf. ibid.,I (C,2 ). DeSalis, op.cit., p. 56, n. 3, suggests that it is probable that the legislator wished to follow the Roman law in this instance since he states specifically that the ancient Burgundian law has been abolished or replaced. ...
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