Abstract
The paper focuses on the position of the personae alieni iuris in connection with the theft. These persons subordinated to pater familias, the male head of the family, may become subjects as well as objects of the theft, at least according to what Gaius has written in his Institutions (Gai 3,199 and Dig. 9.1.3 Gaius 7 ad ed. provinc.).
First part of the contribution deals with the situation when the theft is committed by the persons under the power of the pater familias. Subsequently, the paper makes a brief excursion to public law, in particular to lex Fabia de plagiariis by which the crimen plagii was introduced in 1st century BC.
There are also many questions that should be analysed if speaking about the furtum of persons alieni iuris. Are there another references about the theft of a person alieni iuris in legal sources, besides the one in Gaius' Institutions? Is it possible to valuate the body of a free person in the case of a theft? If a person alieni iuris has been stolen (kidnapped), what was the usual reaction of the pater familias?