Quod se emisse diceret: Überlegungen zu einer Urkunde aus dem antiken London

Summary In 1996, Roger Tomlin published a document from ancient London ( rib ii 2443.19), which contains a professional Latin legal text. It mentions a purchase transaction, but it is not a deed of sale. The expressions used ( cum ventum esset, in rem praesentem, se emisse dicetur, testatus est se ) rather indicate an extrajudicial, pre-trial context. The interpretation proposed here builds on the results of recent research in Roman law of procedure. Several indications suggest that the tabula records a preparatory act for future trial between the protagonists: Bellicus (the pursuer) bindingly declares that he is ready to take an extrajudicial oath concerning a contract of sale with his opponent, about this he can produce no other evidence.