“Dediticii … were not reduced to slavery, but to a condition quite analogous. They were not allowed to make a will, or to take under one; they never obtained Roman citizenship, and they could not come within one hundred miles of the city of Rome.” Andrew Stephenson, A History of Roman Law § 119, at 324 (1912).
“Slaves who before manumission had been subjected to degrading punishment (e.g. had been branded or made to fight in the arena) were given, on manumission, a special status, viz. that of enemies surrendered at discretion (dediticii). A dediticius, though free and not a slave, had none of the rights of a citizen, could never under any circumstances better his position (e.g. become a citizen), and was not allowed to live within 100 miles of Rome.” R.W. Leage, Roman Private Law 67 (C.H. Ziegler ed., 2d ed. 1942).
