Aspect of the Civil Responsibility for fact of third in the Roman Law

Abstract

In a number of situations a person is held liable for harm brought about by another. Roman jurists, as usual, did not develop a general doctrine on such vicarious liability, which they only dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Accordingly, instead of a general and systematic treatment of the matter they rather devised several diverse solutions, each one applicable only to very specific situations, either in the field of contract or of torts (e.g. receptum, actiones adiecticiae qualitatis, actiones noxales, the quasi-delicta, etc.). There are cases, however, which cannot be subsumed into any of those specific, ready-made solutions, for instance if a free and independent employee, instead of a slave or member of the family, should cause harm to the other part in a contract entered into by the employer. This essay, which is but a brief synopsis of a much more detailed dissertation of doctorate, presents an exegetic study of several such cases, in an attempt to understand the tendencies of Roman jurisprudence in that respect.