Roman freedmen

This paper is an attempt to understand some of the implications the legal complexities of ius patronatus had for a historic analysis of Roman society. Since its main importance lay on the rights over the inheritance of freedmen, we must conclude that it was ill-devised as an instrument for an economic exploitation of freedmen by their patrons. We should also take into account the possibility that in certain cases there was no ius patronatus. This leads us to a deep analysis of the so-called incerti from the album of Herculaneum who are considered to be freedmen who lacked a patron (with the orcini as a relevant group within this category). Other options (such as considering them to be Junian Latins or promoted Junian Latins) are less likely.

Traditionally, scholars portray the palaces of imperial Rome as spaces for interaction between the emperor and his elite guests while erasing the majority of the familia urbana that populated these sprawling structures: the slaves. Yet by examining the architecture and decorations of the palaces of Augustus and Nero in Rome, the lives of enslaved people can be reconstructed, restoring their centrality to the history of the early Principate.

This article examines a marble bust of a charioteer now in Budapest as well as one in Rome and reconstructs the previously overlooked genre to which they belong. First, it discusses the formal qualities of the two busts, including their materials, manufacture, and craftsmanship, and compares their imagery to representations of charioteers in bust form across visual media (i.e., graffiti, ivory figurines, lead weights, terracotta lamps, and freestanding sculptures). It then considers their social patronage and function, and seeks to reimagine the responses of their viewers—especially amongst the lower social orders, who were charioteers’ most passionate and partisan followers. In this way, the article aims to provide new insights into their graded hierarchies of material, form, style, and display—hierarchies which take on their full import when set within the wider context of the Roman economy of civic honors, sacred dedications, and funerary memorials.

Tout au long de l’histoire, les relations entre les êtres humains ont toujours été marquées par des périodes de transition. Pour les Romains, l’un de ces moments cruciaux était représenté par la manumission, par laquelle on redéfinissait des rapports, dans certains cas très anciens. À cet égard, l’étude des modalités de réalisation de cet acte juridique, à travers l’analyse des inscriptions, nous donne des renseignements précieux. Ces témoignages montrent que la naissance d'un nouveau type de relation, celle entre patron et affranchi, révèle beaucoup à propos de la nature du précédent rapport entre maître et esclave.

La stele modenese del tonsor L. Rubrius Stabilio Primus si rivela una fonte preziosa per riflettere su varie problematiche legate alla considerazione del lavoro nel mondo antico. Molto interessante e complessa è anche la storia familiare di questo antico professionista.

Il saggio è dedicato ad alcune figure professionali del mondo romano legate alla lavorazione e alla vendita dell'oro e di manufatti realizzati con questo metallo prezioso. Nel testo si analizzano in particolare le testimonianze epigrafiche di Roma e quelle di Mutina nel cui territorio, secondo un'antica tradizione popolare, sarebbe stato possibile estrarre masse aurifere.

This chapter analyses the general features of the seviratus Augustalis, its territorial presence and continuity in the Roman Empire, and its influence in the spreading of the cultural and religious Roman customs in Hispania, through the study of its preserved epigraphic sources. The seviratus Augustalis was especially developed in the Western towns of the Empire, it lasted from the 1 st to the 3 rd century AD, and it was a semi-official institution mainly held by wealthy freedmen looking for social recognition. Despite the unresolved debate about its concrete function, the numerous preserved inscriptions in relation to the Augustality provide important information about the religious and munificent actions of its members. From the study of the existing epigraphic inscriptions in Hispania, we will demonstrate the role played by the seviri Augustales as promoters of Romanity, based on elements such as the worship of Roman deities, the connection of different gods with the emperor, the diffusion of Latin onomastics, the adoption of Roman magistracies and the imitation of the local Romanised elites. Consequently, this position created in Italy worked in Hispania as a diffusor of the Roman religion and the Roman social order, promoting the consolidation of the imperial regime in the provinces.

El sevirato augustal es un tema conocido en los estudios del mundo antiguo. Se trata de una institución de carácter semioficial que se desarrolló durante los siglos I a.C. y III d.C., principalmente en las ciudades de la mitad occidental y de habla latina del Imperio romano. Sus miembros eran en su mayor parte libertos enriquecidos vinculados al ejercicio de actividades artesanales y comerciales, que exhibían su nuevo estatus y hacían gala de su exitosa promoción social por medio del desempeño del sevirato augustal. A través del análisis de las inscripciones epigráficas de Hispania y Galia, este libro aborda distintas cuestiones en torno al cargo de seviro augustal que han sido objeto de un prolongado debate entre los historiadores y realiza nuevas aportaciones en línea con corrientes de investigación más recientes. A lo largo de sus páginas se estudia la variada terminología de los seviros augustales, la distribución geográfica de éstos y sus diversas características regionales y locales, el estatus jurídico de los seviros augustales a partir de su análisis onomástico, su promoción social y las distinciones y jerarquías internas de esta institución, los oficios que constituían la base de la riqueza de sus miembros, sus numerosos actos evergéticos como indicador de su ascenso social, las particularidades de sus relaciones familiares y personales, la debatida función religiosa de la augustalidad y la movilidad geográfica de sus miembros.
https://publicaciones.unirioja.es/catalogo/monografias/inv72.shtml

L'articolo ripercorre la storia degli studi sull'istituto degli Apollinares di Mutina dal XIX secolo a oggi. In base alle indagini finora condotte gli Apollinares modenesi, talora associati agli Augustales, vengono per lo più interpretati come addetti al culto e alla propaganda imperiale in ambito civico, in virtù dell'associazione tra il dio Apollo e Ottaviano/Augusto. Anche se non tutti gli Autori sono di questo parere, non si riscontrano al momento elementi decisivi per confutare questa interpretazione.

The group of the seviri Augustales, composed mainly by freedmen and closely related to commercial activities, had an important role in the processes of social and geographic mobility along the western provinces of the Early Roman Empire. In this paper, we will analyse the epigraphic sources with documented geographic mobility involving seviri Augustales in the territory of Gallia Narbonensis, inside this province and in the testimonies that imply movements from or to other territories outside. This analysis will show the main emitting and recipient cities of this kind of mobility, as well as the importance of different maritime and land commercial routes as main axis of the movements of the seviri Augustales. It must be emphasized the high frequency of movements along the course of Rhone River, which was used in most of our testimonies, and also the route along the coast of Gallia Narbonensis or various contacts with neighbour provinces and with the capital of the Empire.

Revisita-se uma inscrição romana de Beja (IRCP 240), o hermes dedicado pelos publici liberti a um cidadão, D. Iulius Saturninus. Mostra-se a importância que tem a existência de um hermes no conjunto da epigrafia da colónia de Pax Iulia, na medida em há mais um e, exceptuando os 5 testemunhos da capital, Mérida, mais nenhuma cidade lusitana apresenta este tipo de monumento epigráfico fora do comum. É, porém, texto para o grande público, no sentido de salientar o contributo da Epigrafia para a História.

Ce prix récompense tous les 4 ans le meilleur mémoire de Master en Histoire de l'Université catholique de Louvain. Il permet la publication de ce mémoire et octroie la possibilité au lauréat de faire une communication d'une heure sur les recherches qui ont abouti au mémoire final.

Selon une historiographie longtemps dominante, les affranchis dominaient la vie professionnelle romaine. Il est vrai que les mentions épigraphiques de métiers relatives aux anciens esclaves sont majoritaires. Néanmoins, l’affirmation doit être nuancée, comme le montre, notamment, l’étude approfondie d’un affranchi de la cité de Capoue. Ce dernier a visiblement indiqué sa profession dans ses deux inscriptions dans le but de se distinguer de la masse affranchie. Vraisemblablement, il a pu le faire car il détenait le statut « d’entrepreneur », c’est-à-dire d’individu qui gérait au quotidien une « entreprise » sans pour autant la posséder. Un tel constat permet d’éclairer la position des autres personnages mentionnés dans les deux inscriptions. Ils formaient probablement la main-d’œuvre de « l’entreprise » de Diogenes. Nous pouvons même aller plus loin en suggérant que seul le personnel le plus important de « l’entreprise » a été immortalisé dans ces textes. L’étude contribue à montrer que la catégorie affranchie était finement hiérarchisée, tout comme la main-d’œuvre des « entreprises ».

Edition of a Latin inscription of the early Empire. The inscription mentions a freedman of some Vibii named Festus. It is carefully cut and carved, and it shows a series of round holes on its perimeter which were drilled to fix an overlapping frame, currently lost.

Edición de una inscripción de comienzos del Imperio de cuidada labra, protagonizada por Festus, liberto de unos Vibii, que destaca por los taladros de su perímetro, destinados a la fijación de un marco superpuesto, actualmente perdido.

This article assembles documentary and legal evidence highlighting testamentary manumission as an important but previously undervalued path to freedom for slaves attached to Roman imperial soldiers of the principate (27 BCE–284 CE). Special imperial concessions permitted soldiers to easily make valid wills and manumit slaves in them (Dig. 29.1). Several particularly informative inscriptions and papyri, moreover, show us how this legal device was used in practice and allow us to surmise that it underlies many of the other, less expansive inscriptions collected for this study.

El objetivo de nuestro artículo es analizar la figura y el círculo familiar de Cornelia Faventina, mujer
atestiguada en la epigrafía de la Colonia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco. Proponemos su estatus liberto
utilizando una serie de marcadores epigráficos y onomásticos combinados con el análisis de su comportamiento epigráfico, tanto como dedicante individual como a través de la comparación con el
de otras dos mujeres hispanas de contextos dispares. Su promoción social, constatable a través del
matrimonio con un duovir, la convierte en un caso excepcional dentro del patrón matrimonial propio
de los libertos en Roma y en la Hispania romana.

This publication aims to study the evidence concerning Cornelia Faventina, a woman attested in
the epigraphy of the Colonia Urbs Triumphalis Tarraco. We make use of new onomastic and epigraphic
markers which allow us to propose that she was a freedwoman. This conclusion will be reinforced by
comparing her epigraphic representation with two relevant cases of Hispanic women from different
backgrounds. Her social promotion, clearly attested by her marriage to a duovir, presents her as an
exceptional case in the freedpersons’ pattern of marriage in Rome and in Hispania.

How were freed people represented in the Roman world? This volume presents new research about the integration of freed persons into Roman society. It addresses the challenge of studying Roman freed persons on the basis of highly fragmentary sources whose contents have been fundamentally shaped by the forces of domination. Even though freed persons were defined through a common legal status and shared the experience of enslavement and manumission, many different interactions could derive from these commonalities in different periods and localities across the empire. Drawing on literary, epigraphic, and archaeological evidence, this book provides cases studies that test the various ways in which juridical categories and normative discourses shaped the social and cultural landscape in which freed people lived. By approaching the literary and epigraphic representations of freed persons in new ways, it nuances the impact of power asymmetries and social strategies on the cultural practices and lived experiences of freed persons.

Historiam-se os passos da investigação da epigrafia da civitas Igaeditanorum. Apresenta-se o corpus das inscrições que referem libertos e procura mostrar-se a importância que esta ‘classe’ social deteve neste aglomerado urbano em que a riqueza – proveniente, por exemplo, da exploração aurífera – lhe proporcionou relevante papel sociopolítico logo nos primórdios da Lusitânia romana.

Decadence and Domesticity features Graeco-Roman antiquities, rare prints and books and is concerned with the theme of the Domus (house) and its iconography. It is one component of a three-part exhibition called The Arts of Engagement in the Arts West Gallery at the University of Melbourne which runs from 20 August until 23 October 2017.

This paper, titled, “Aesthetics of Excess: Challenging the Theory of ‘Elite’ Imitation in Trimalchio’s Home,” reevaluates the theory that the art and architecture of Trimalchio’s domus in Petronius’ Cena Trimalchionis is representative of a generic ‘freedmen taste’ that is derivative of higher class art. To accomplish this, I compare the imagined home of Trimalchio to three extant Pompeian homes likely owned by freedmen by placing them in the larger landscape of Campanian housing during the early empire. By using both an art historical and archaeological focus, I evaluate the stationary pieces of the homes—namely, the architectural plan, frescowork, sculpture, and floor mosaic. I argue that the architecture and stationary pieces of the Roman domus in the Bay of Naples do not differ as greatly in style and representation between freeborn Romans and freedman as has been previously argued, but the clear differences that do emerge can be credited to divergent social experiences in Roman society. To this end, I postulate that the art and architecture of freedman homes is not simply derivative of higher class art, but instead reflects the lived experience of a marginalized, ‘middling class’ of people (Mayer 2021).

Les quatre portraits qui accompagnent l'inscription CIL VI 9411 (Rome) représentent une famille Gauia d'affranchis : deux frères qui exerçaient la profession de charpentier, une femme et un jeune garçon. Image et texte se confortent pour définir l'identité familiale et individuelle en relation avec le statut de citoyen romain récemment acquis par les personnages, qui ont fait réaliser le monumentum de leur vivant. En définitive, la finalité de la représentation, caractéristique des milieux d'affranchis de la fin de la République, est de donner un rang aux membres de la famille Gauia dans leur environnement social, les plaçant face au spectateur, et non seulement d'en assurer la mémoire posthume.

All mentions of Junian Latins by their name, in the literary sources between Augustus and the Severan dinasty, are here compiled including both the suspected or doubtful and the sure ones. The Venidius Ennychus’ documents as well as some interesting cases known in epigraphy are also revised and analysed. Instead, other evidence is not here taken into account namely the late Roman literary sources and the Egyptian papyri. These sources will be dealt with shortly