Legal Definitions - servus

The term servus refers to:

• In Roman Law: A person who was legally considered property rather than an individual with personal rights. A servus could be bought, sold, inherited, or used as collateral by their owner. If formally freed through a legal process, a servus could gain Roman citizenship.

• Historically (more broadly): A bondman or a servant, indicating a person bound to another through obligation, service, or a state of servitude, often with limited personal freedom.

Examples:

• Imagine a wealthy Roman citizen in ancient Rome who owns several individuals classified as servi. These individuals perform various tasks, from managing the household to working in the fields. The Roman citizen has the legal right to sell one of these servi to another family, or to include them as part of his estate to be inherited by his children upon his death.

  This example illustrates the Roman law definition of a servus as a human being who was legally considered property, subject to transactions like sale and inheritance.

• Consider a medieval European manor where a peasant family is described as servi to the local lord. While not owned outright like Roman slaves, these individuals are bound to the lord's land. They cannot leave without permission, owe a portion of their harvest, and must provide labor services to the lord in exchange for protection and the right to cultivate a small plot of land for their own sustenance.

  This example demonstrates the broader historical meaning of servus as a bondman or serf, a person bound by obligation and limited freedom to a lord or land, even if not chattel property.