In conservative societies such as Rome, it is often much easier to change how one practices a law than to get rid of it entirely. For example, one of the ways that Romans manumitted their slaves was through a process called manumissio vindicta. Originally what this process referred to was how a Roman master would let his slave assert that he was a Roman citizen who had been unlawfully enslaved. The master would get a witness to represent the slave in court and when they were all before a magistrate, the witness would assert that the slave was a citizen and the master would not present any evidence to the contrary. The slave would then go free and also be registered as a Roman citizen. It is quite probable that masters originally adopted this practice because the idea of enfranchising former slaves was somewhat controversial. Overtime the controversy died away but the practice remained.
Towards the end of the Republic Roman masters gained the ability to free slaves inter amicos, or among friends. The disadvantage of this practice compared to manumissio vindicta is that while the friends may testify to the manumission, because there was no governmental official present, there was no legal record. As a result, manumissio vindicta was frequently even though the slave didn’t have to pretend to have originally been a Roman citizen. Manumissio vindicta was also popular with the government, because by requiring a governmental official be present at this ceremony the Romans could persuade themselves that they had some control over what kind of slaves became citizens. Indeed, the Romans passed a law called the lex Aelia Sentia that among other things tried to prohibit slaves who had ever been tortured or punished to work as gladiators from becoming Roman citizens. The Aelia Sentia also prohibited slaves who were younger than 30 from being manumitted, except in special circumstances.
However, the testimony of the jurist Gaius suggests that Roman officials had little interest in interrogating slaves whom their masters had manumitted. Gaius has the following to say about how manumissio vindicta is practiced in his day:
Maiores vero triginta annorum servi semper manumitti solent, adeo ut vel in transitu manumittantur, veluti cum praetor aut pro consule in balneum vel in theatrum eat.
The practice is that slaves over thirty are readily manumitted; it is such an everyday matter that manumissions are performed even en route from one place to another, for instance, when the praetor or proconsul is on the way to the baths or the theatre. (Trans. Gordon and Robinson, Institutes 1.20).
Towards the end of the Republic Roman masters gained the ability to free slaves inter amicos, or among friends. The disadvantage of this practice compared to manumissio vindicta is that while the friends may testify to the manumission, because there was no governmental official present, there was no legal record. As a result, manumissio vindicta was frequently even though the slave didn’t have to pretend to have originally been a Roman citizen. Manumissio vindicta was also popular with the government, because by requiring a governmental official be present at this ceremony the Romans could persuade themselves that they had some control over what kind of slaves became citizens. Indeed, the Romans passed a law called the lex Aelia Sentia that among other things tried to prohibit slaves who had ever been tortured or punished to work as gladiators from becoming Roman citizens. The Aelia Sentia also prohibited slaves who were younger than 30 from being manumitted, except in special circumstances.
However, the testimony of the jurist Gaius suggests that Roman officials had little interest in interrogating slaves whom their masters had manumitted. Gaius has the following to say about how manumissio vindicta is practiced in his day:
Maiores vero triginta annorum servi semper manumitti solent, adeo ut vel in transitu manumittantur, veluti cum praetor aut pro consule in balneum vel in theatrum eat.
The practice is that slaves over thirty are readily manumitted; it is such an everyday matter that manumissions are performed even en route from one place to another, for instance, when the praetor or proconsul is on the way to the baths or the theatre. (Trans. Gordon and Robinson, Institutes 1.20).