The legis actiones per manus iniectionem and per pignoris capionem

The legis actio per manus iniectionem was aimed at enforcing the execution of a judgement which had been arrived at following a procedure based on a legis actio sacramento, per condictionem or per iudicis postulationem.

Thirty days after the defendant's confession, or his condemnation by the iudex, the creditor summoned the defendant to appear before the praetor.^[457] If the latter refused to do so, the creditor was entitled to bring him before the praetor by force. When both parties appeared before the praetor the creditor laid his hands on the debtor and pronounced this formal phrase: 'inasmuch as you have been sentenced to pay the sum of (e.g.) 1000 denarii and you did not pay, I lay my hands on you for that sum'.⁹⁶ Unless someone offered to act as a guarantor (vindex') for the debtor, the latter was made over to the creditor who could put him in a private prison. A vindex could either pay the debt or challenge the judgement, thus releasing the debtor.⁹⁷ If, however, in the trial that followed the creditor's claim was confirmed, the vindex could be condemned to pay double the amount owed by the original debtor who, after the intervention of the vindex, was in all probability released from the debt.

The Law of the Twelve Tables provided that the creditor had to provide a minimum supply of food to his imprisoned debtor, if the latter was unable to cater for himself.^[458] The creditor kept the debtor in bonds for sixty days and, during this period, made a public proclamation on three successive market days (nundinae) before the praetor demanding payment of the debt.^[459] If, at the end of this period, no one came forward to release the debtor by paying the debt, the creditor could use the debtor as a slave, sell him outside the city limits (trans Tiberim) or even put him to death.

The procedure of the manus iniectio iudicati was extended by later enactments to cover cases in which there had been no formal condemnation of the debtor (manus iniectio pro iudicato'. 'as if upon a judgement').^[462] [463] Moreover, in certain cases of manus iniectio recognised by special laws the debtor could resist arrest by the creditor and defend himself without the intervention of a vindex (manus iniectio pura).^W3

By a legis actio per pignoris capionem a creditor could take a pledge from his debtor's property without having to go through the regular judicial process, provided that he followed a prescribed procedure involving the use of a set form of words (certa verba) in the presence of witnesses. The taking of the pledge (pignoris capio) could be done at any time, even in the

The Archaic Period of Roman Law 139 absence of the debtor.^[464] Only some forms of execution by pignoris capio were based on statute, whilst others had been derived from custom.^[465] This form of execution, reminiscent of the early practice of self-redress, was of limited application, however, as it was employed mainly to enforce certain claims of a religious or military character. According to the Law of the Twelve Tables, the legis actio per pignoris capionem could be used against a person who had acquired an animal for sacrificial purposes but failed to pay the price.^[466] Furthermore, by custom the pignoris capio was given to soldiers for the enforcement of claims connected with military service, such as the payment of their salary (aes militare).™^[467] Finally, under the leges censoriae, the decrees by which the censors assigned the task of collecting public revenues to private contractors (publicani), the latter could use the pignoris capio in order to enforce the collection of taxes.^[468] The person who took something as a pledge was probably not allowed to sell or otherwise dispose of the thing taken, but he could keep it until his demand was met.