Legal Definitions - abigeatus

Abigeatus is a term originating from ancient Roman and civil law that describes the specific crime of stealing livestock, particularly cattle, by driving them away from their owner's property. It is an older legal concept equivalent to what is commonly known today as cattle rustling.

Here are some examples illustrating abigeatus:

• Imagine a historical scenario where a rival chieftain, seeking to weaken a neighboring village, sends his men to raid their pastures under the cover of darkness. The men systematically round up the village's entire herd of oxen and cows, then force them to march across the plains back to their own territory. This act of forcibly driving away the cattle constitutes abigeatus.

• Consider a modern-day large-scale operation where a criminal syndicate targets several cattle ranches across a state. They use specialized vehicles and trained personnel to gather hundreds of head of beef cattle from various fields, loading them onto large trailers and transporting them hundreds of miles away to be illegally sold. This organized theft, involving the deliberate movement of livestock from their rightful place, would fall under the historical definition of abigeatus.

• Picture a lone individual who, motivated by a desire for quick profit, sneaks onto a dairy farm late at night. Instead of stealing equipment, they open the gates to a pasture and, using a small ATV, herd a dozen valuable dairy cows down a remote road and into a waiting truck. The act of actively driving these cows away from the farm to steal them is an example of abigeatus.