usufruct over a slave woman, ignorant of the law, wrongly believes the child to be his and sells it. Land could not be stolen, but it could certainly be taken by force. In either case (theft or force) it is only if the owner from whom it has been stolen regains it, or considers it lost forever (i.e. abandons it), that a valid usucapio can take place. Given this strict limitation, usucapio must surely only have been about shifting the burden of proof to the claimant from the possessor, whose possession was usually easy to show. However, it remains a departure from usual Roman ideas of ownership. Bonitary ownership and good faith possession The two cases where usucapio could be said to create two classes of people – the "bonitary owner" where formalities have not been complied with, and the "good faith possessor" where, for example, the seller is not the owner. Under statute, neither class of persons had any more protection than a mere possessor. As such, their claim lay solely against their immediate dis-possessor, and were without an action against any further dis-possessors. The Praetor granted them further protection, probably in the late Republic. The bonitary owner was protected against anyone, the good faith possessor was protected with regards to everyone except the owner. To deny the owner the right of vindicatio against the good faith possessor would run contrary to the concept of the usucapio, with it effectively completed before the required time had passed. In the case of the bonitary owner, the Praetor provided a defence to the vindicatio if there had been a transfer (improper or not). It was typical of the Praetor to ignore technical formalities to achieve practical benefits, in this case certainty of ownership. If either the bonitary owner or good faith possessor was dis-possessed, he could under the normal law claim a possessory interdict against his dis-possessor, but this did not cover further people if possession had been further transferred. If that immediate dis-possessor was the owner, then the case would be the same as for vindicatio: the bonitary owner would have a claim, but the good faith possessor would not. If the immediate dis-possessor was not the owner, then both the bonitary owner and the good faith possessor would have a claim. This claim was the actio Publiciana. By giving the bonitary owner the protection of an owner, the Praetor