agreed price: Such agreements do not seem to have been enforceable at law by the slave, though reneging on such an agreement was a sign of very poor moral character on the part of the master. It was common practice to allow a slave to control a certain amount of property as a peculium, a word that was also used of the sum allowed by a father to a son in power. In principle, the property remained that of the master, and he was liable for debts that the slave incurred while investing the peculium.