Il «servus fugitivus» nelle previsioni edittali e nella giurisprudenza romana

[Machine translation] The phenomenon of fugitive servants has been particularly felt in Rome since the republican era. It involves an articulated analysis by jurists in strong synergy with the judiciary of magistrates and then with the activity of the imperial chancellery. The efforts of the prudentes to correctly identify the very notion of 'servus fugitivus' unfold over a period of at least four centuries, are clearly affected by the requirements of a correct commercial practice in the sale of slaves and offer subtle distinctions, obviously useful for rhetorical practice. In Ulp. 1 ad ed. ed. ed. cur. D. 21.1.17 pr.-16 the largest surviving articulation of classical jurisprudence on the notion of 'servus fugitivus' is preserved. The exegesis of the text makes it possible to identify in the literary genre of commentary on building editorial clauses the main source of reference for the reconstruction of this notion, following the development that leads it from the memory of the most ancient late-republican configuration to that established in the imperial age by Sabinian-Proculian reflection. This contribution overcomes the deep-rooted doctrinal orientation that identifies the indefectible requirements for the configuration of the servant as a “fugitive” in the necessary presence of the materiality of the conduct and the intentional element: without prejudice to the reflection of the jurists also on the above-mentioned elements, in fact, the analysis of the Ulpian paragraphs makes it possible to identify the real element of novelty of the jurisprudential elaboration on the subject, in particular between the Julio-Claudia and Flavian ages, in the deepening of the issue relating to the servant's escape from the dominical sphere of control.