Definition
A Latin term from Roman civil law meaning, in its primary sense, to drive away — specifically applied to the act of driving off animals with the intent to steal them. The term encompasses what would now be recognized as cattle theft or livestock rustling, and was the operative verb underlying the Roman law category of the abigeus (the cattle thief).
The term carries two distinct applications in the historical legal record:
1. Theft of livestock (civil law and border law): The driving away of animals — cattle, horses, or other livestock — with intent to steal. This was treated as a distinct and more serious offense than ordinary theft (furtum), particularly when committed on a large scale. The related noun abigeus denoted the offender, and Roman law drew an explicit line between the fur (ordinary thief of a single animal) and the abigeus (one who drove off herds or flocks). The offense was addressed in the Digest at 47.14, De abigeis.
2. Forcible expulsion and inducing abortion: A secondary but recorded usage extends the term to mean to drive out or expel by force, and also — in a distinct legal-medical context — to produce an abortion. This usage appears in Digest 47.11.4, covering offenses involving extraordinary force or harm.
Common Confusion
The two meanings of abigere are rooted in the same Latin verb but address entirely different legal wrongs. Researchers encountering the term in Roman law sources should identify which Digest title is being cited: references to D. 47.14 concern livestock theft; references to D. 47.11 concern forcible expulsion or induced abortion. The two usages are not interchangeable and should not be read as variations of a single offense.
Why It Matters in Research
Abigere is a term of Roman civil law that never migrated into English common law as a legal term of art — but it appears in Anglo-Scottish historical sources in connection with border reiving, the practice of cattle raiding along the England-Scotland border. Black's Law Dictionary's reference to Scott's Minstrelsy of the Scottish Border (Introduction, Appendix No. vii) signals that this term surfaces not only in Digest commentary but in literary and historical sources documenting a specific regional criminal tradition. Researchers working in early modern Scottish border law or Anglo-Scottish legal history should be alert to this secondary usage appearing outside strictly juristic sources.
For Roman law researchers, the term anchors a doctrinal category distinguishing aggravated livestock theft from ordinary furtum — a distinction relevant to understanding gradations of theft in Roman criminal law and their influence on later European legal systems. The abigeus offense, grounded in abigere, was treated as a public crime (crimen) rather than merely a private wrong, which carries implications for the applicable procedure and penalties.
The secondary meaning — producing abortion — is encountered rarely in legal dictionary treatments and almost exclusively in Digest commentary. Researchers should not assume the theft meaning when the civil law source context concerns bodily harm or expulsion.
Historical Dictionary Support
The four source dictionaries agree on the core meaning: to drive away animals with intent to steal. Black's (both editions), Burrill's, and Bouvier's all trace the term to the same root (ab + agere) and cite D. 47.14 as the governing Digest title. Bouvier's is useful for contextualizing abigere within its related noun form abigeus, making explicit the legal distinction between stealing a single animal (fur) and stealing in numbers (abigeus) — a doctrinal line that explains why the term warranted separate treatment in Roman law rather than subsumption under general furtum.
Black's (both editions) uniquely preserves the secondary meaning — to drive out, expel by force, and to produce abortion — with reference to D. 47.11.4, a citation the other dictionaries omit. Burrill's entry, while beginning the abigere definition, appears to trail into a discussion of abjudicare, suggesting a typographical or pagination issue in the source — researchers relying on Burrill's for abigere should verify the entry boundaries.
None of the historical dictionaries provide extended doctrinal analysis of the abortion meaning, treating it only as a definitional note. For substantive treatment of that aspect of Roman law, researchers will need to consult dedicated Roman law scholarship beyond the dictionary shelf.
Jurisdictional Note
Abigere is a term of Roman civil law and has no direct equivalent as a term of art in Anglo-American common law. Its appearance in Scottish and English border law sources is historical and literary rather than doctrinal. Modern livestock theft is governed by ordinary theft and larceny statutes with no surviving dependence on the Roman category.
Encyclopedia Cross-Reference
See Law Mind Encyclopedia — Theft and Larceny in Roman and Early Common Law
See also Law Mind Encyclopedia — Roman Civil Law: Sources and Structure (Digest)