The Freedman in the Roman World [Paperback]

The first comprehensive study in over a century, covering all major aspects of the subject.The first comprehensive study of Roman freedmen and women in over a century, covering all major aspects of the subject. These include manumission practices, legal status, the patronus-libertus relationship, freedmen's place in public life and the self-representation of freedmen and women through epigraphic and literary sources.The first comprehensive study of Roman freedmen and women in over a century, covering all major aspects of the subject. These include manumission practices, legal status, the patronus-libertus relationship, freedmen's place in public life and the self-representation of freedmen and women through epigraphic and literary sources.Freedmen occupied a place in Roman society between slaves on the one hand and full 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; but their position between slave and citizen was of course not unproblematic. Henrik Mouritsen presents an original synthesis of Roman manumission, 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 itself, 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.1. Introduction: approaching Roman freedmen; 2. Macula servitutis: slavery, freedom and manumission; 3. Freedmen and their patrons; 4. The power and status of freedmen; 5. The practice of manumission at Rome; 6. The freedman in the Roman economy; 7. The freedman (and his son) in Roman public life; 8. Being a Roman freedl!