“The stealing of a single horse or ox might make a man an abigeus, but it seems that the crime could not be committed on less than four pigs or ten sheep. They need not however be taken all together. In such a state of the law one would expect thefts of three pigs or eight sheep to become abnormally common.” 1 James Fitzjames Stephen, A History of the Criminal Law of England 27 (1883).
abigeus
abigeus ([schwa]-bij-ee-[schwa]s), n. [Latin] Roman & civil law. One who steals cattle, esp. in large numbers; a cattle-rustler. • This was known in the later civil law as an abactor. Pl. abigei.
