Schiavi fuggitivi e ribelli nel diritto e nella storia di Roma. Dalla repubblica all'età dei Severi

[Machine translation] The flight of slaves haunts the masters and is constantly associated, by ancient authors, with the danger of rebellions and revolts, as well as with the annoyance of the pauperation of the assets of the dominus. The unwitting purchase of a slave with a tendency to flee is a terrible deal, and for this reason, for the purpose of the protection provided by builders and praetors, Roman jurists reflect extensively on the very notion of 'servus fugitivus'. Even in 18th and 19th century America, the danger of slave flight particularly disturbs the masters, who invest more money in the costs of their recovery than in any other aspect of slavery: even George Washington's family will experience the problem, to the point of prompting the first president of the United States of America to write a letter urging the research of his wife's personal servant - who probably fled at the instigation of a seducer - which is so reminiscent of those with which Cicero angrily reported the escape of his Schiavo Dionisio or that of Licino, the slave of his friend Claudio Aesop, and, with regard to the phenomenon under consideration, invites - albeit with all the caution that must accompany certain comparative readings - to investigate the factors of continuity or break between the ancient and the modern world.