nexum

Nexum is the ancient Roman term for a debt-bondage contract, one of the earliest forms of binding obligation in Roman law. The word comes from Latin nexus, meaning a binding or tie. In the traditional account, a debtor and creditor would enter into a pledge whereby the debtor’s person and, in some cases, his property, served as security for a loan.

A key feature of early nexum was the ritual binding of the debt through a formal gesture and oath, often described as the debtor placing his hand in the creditor’s hand. If the debt was not satisfied, the creditor could compel the debtor to perform services or, in extreme cases, could impose debt-slavery, or sell the debtor to satisfy the obligation. The precise mechanics varied in the sources, and the practice appears to have been more symbolic than uniform across time.

The practice was restricted and eventually prohibited for free citizens by the Lex Poetelia Papiria, enacted around 326 BCE, which barred the enforcement of debt through the binding of a person and limited coercive measures to property. After this reform, nexum faded as a live practice but remained a classic example in the discussion of early Roman contract law.

Scholars view nexum as an early stage in the evolution of Roman contractual obligations, illustrating how personal bonds and formal ritual interfaces with moneylending evolved into more formalized stipulations and property-based security in later legal developments.