The Freedman in the Roman World

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, Jan 27, 2011 - History
Freedmen occupied a complex and often problematic place in Roman society between slaves on the one hand and freeborn citizens on the other. Playing an extremely important role in the economic life of the Roman world, they were also a key instrument for replenishing and even increasing the size of the citizen body. This book presents an original synthesis, for the first time covering both Republic and Empire in a single volume. While providing up-to-date discussions of most significant aspects of the phenomenon, the book also offers a new understanding of the practice of manumission, its role in the organisation of slave labour and the Roman economy, as well as the deep-seated ideological concerns to which it gave rise. It locates the freedman in a broader social and economic context, explaining the remarkable popularity of manumission in the Roman world.
 

Contents

chapter 1 Introduction
1
chapter 2 Macula servitutis
10
chapter 3 Freedmen and their patrons
36
chapter 4 The power and status of freedmen
66
chapter 5 The practice of manumission at Rome
120
chapter 6 The freedman in the Roman economy
206
chapter 7 The freedman and his son in public life
248
chapter 8 Being a Roman freedman
279
Bibliography
300
Index
335
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2011)

Henrik Mouritsen is Professor of Roman History at King's College London. He has published widely on Roman history, including local politics, Pompeii and Ostia, freedmen, Latin epigraphy, Roman Italy, and Republican politics. His other books include Elections, Magistrates and Municipal Elite: Studies in Pompeian Epigraphy (1988), Italian Unification: A Study in Ancient and Modern Historiography (1998), and Plebs and Politics in the Late Roman Republic (2001).

Bibliographic information