Legal Definitions - serva aliena

The Latin legal term serva aliena refers to a female slave who belongs to someone else. In ancient Roman law, this term would be used to specify that a particular enslaved woman was the property of a different master, not the individual or household currently being discussed. It emphasizes the concept of ownership and the legal status of an enslaved person as property belonging to another party.

Here are some examples illustrating the application of serva aliena:

• Property Inheritance: Imagine a wealthy Roman citizen drafting their will. The will might state, "All enslaved persons currently residing on my estate, except for any serva aliena, shall be granted their freedom upon my death." This clause would ensure that only enslaved women directly owned by the deceased are emancipated, preventing the accidental freeing of an enslaved woman who was merely being housed or temporarily employed by the deceased but legally belonged to another family or individual.

  This example illustrates how "serva aliena" clarifies ownership in the context of inheritance, distinguishing between property owned by the deceased and property belonging to others.

• Commercial Transaction: A Roman merchant is inspecting a group of enslaved individuals offered for sale. The seller might point to one woman and declare, "She is a serva aliena; she is not part of this lot for purchase as she belongs to my neighbor, who has merely entrusted her to my care for a short period."

  Here, "serva aliena" is used in a commercial setting to indicate that a specific enslaved person cannot be bought or sold by the current party because she is the legal property of a third party.

• Legal Liability: During a dispute over damages, a Roman citizen might be accused of negligence because an enslaved woman under their temporary care caused harm to a neighbor's property. The citizen could argue in court, "The individual in question was a serva aliena; she is the property of my brother, and therefore, the legal responsibility for her actions should rest with her true owner, not with me, who was merely housing her temporarily."

  This scenario demonstrates how "serva aliena" could be invoked to shift legal liability based on actual ownership, distinguishing between temporary custody and legal proprietorship.