Legal wager
In the Roman litigation system, while the Legis Actiones procedure was in force during the early Republic, both parties had to lay down a wager at the preliminary hearing, probably to discourage frivolous litigation. In some cases, if the party lost, the wager went to the other party, to compensate him for his inconvenience, rather than to the court to cover costs. There were three different types of legis actiones, and the wager differed in each one. Sacramentum The standard procedure for litigation under the legis actiones system, it was used whenever another procedure was not proscribed by statute. Both parties had to lay down a wager of 50 asses, 500 if the matter under dispute was worth 1000 or more. The wager of the winning party would be returned, but the loser's would be forfeited to the state. While the reasoning lay, in theory, in the idea of a sacrifice to the gods, its main effect was to discourage frivolous litigation since the sums laid down as wagers were substantial. Iudis arbitrive postulatio This procedure (in full, "", "complaint before the judge or arbiter") was used only in some in personam cases laid down by statute. It did not