# The Institutes of Gaius 3.1.223-225

Roman Law and Society, The Institutes of Gaius, 3.1.223 to 3.1.225. Latin.

Canonical: https://interlinea.aeterna-institute.org/library/latin/roman-law-and-society/the-institutes-of-gaius/3.1.223

(194) For the reason that the law, in a case of this kind, declared such an offence to be manifest theft, there are some writers who hold that manifest theft may be either that defined by law, or that established by nature; that defined by law being what we are discussing, and that established by nature being what we have previously explained. The better opinion, however, is that manifest theft should be understood to be that which has been actually committed, for the law cannot cause a non-manifest thief to become a manifest one, any more than it can cause one who is not a thief at all, to become a thief, or anyone who is not an adulterer, or a homicide, to become an adulterer, or a homicide. The law, however, can cause anyone to be liable to a penalty, just as if he had committed theft, adultery, or homicide, even though he had not been guilty of any of these crimes. (195) Again, theft is committed not only when a person removes the property of another with the intention of appropriating it, but, generally speaking, when anyone handles the property of another without the consent of the owner. (196) Therefore, if anyone makes use of property deposited with him for safe keeping, he commits theft, and if having received an article for the purpose of using it, he employs it for some other purpose, he becomes liable for theft; for example, if anyone being about to invite friends to supper borrows silver plate and takes it away with him to a distance; or if anyone borrows a horse to carry him to a certain place, and takes it much further away, or, as the ancient lawyers stated by way of example, if he takes the horse into battle.

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Roman Law and Society, The Institutes of Gaius. Text: The Latin Library (thelatinlibrary.com), used with permission. Changes: HTML markup removed and the text divided into reading sections by Interlinea.
License: Used with permission (https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/about.html). Source: http://thelatinlibrary.com/law/gaius.html.