Although the lex Aquilia de damno is commonly considered the historical origin of modern civil Liability, this communis opinio requires some critical observations from a romanistic point of view. Infact the actio ex lege Aquilia was an actio poenalis, that is an actio with a penal nature, sed this actio has been intended to rei persecutio, that is to guarantee to the injured party the patrimonial compensation. This essay is based on the exegesis of some interesting giurisprudential passages that attest actio ex lege Aquilia “ad rei persecutionem respicit” (e.g. Paul. D.17.2.50; Paul. D.44.7.34.2) and discuss the alternative concurrence between this actio and actiones ex contractu ex eodem facto. After the focus about other aspects of actio legis Aquiliae’s classical depenalization, the final part of this essay concerns the actio damni dati in factum ex lege Aquilia introduced by Iustinian for compensation every kind of damages.