The Position of Roman Slaves: Social Realities and Legal Differences

Open Access Published by De Gruyter 2023

The Position of Roman Slaves

Social Realities and Legal Differences

Edited by: Martin Schermaier

Volume 6 in the series Dependency and Slavery Studies

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110987195

Overview
Contents

About this book

Open Access

Slaves were property of their dominus, objects rather than persons, without rights: These are some components of our basic knowledge about Roman slavery. But Roman slavery was more diverse than we might assume from the standard wording about servile legal status. Numerous inscriptions as well as literary and legal sources reveal clear differences in the social structure of Roman slavery. There were numerous groups and professions who shared the status of being unfree while inhabiting very different worlds.

The papers in this volume pose the question of whether and how legal texts reflected such social differences within the Roman servile community. Did the legal system reinscribe social differences, and if so, in what shape? Were exceptions created only in individual cases, or did the legal system generate privileges for particular groups of slaves? Did it reinforce and even promote social differentiation? All papers probe neuralgic points that are apt to challenge the homogeneous image of Roman slave law. They show that this law was a good deal more colourful than historical research has so far assumed. The authors’ primary concern is to make this legal diversity accessible to historical scholarship.

Author / Editor information

Martin Schermaier, University of Bonn, Germany.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Introduction Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Without Rights? Social Theories Meet Roman Law Texts Martin Schermaier Open Access Download PDF	1
Filii naturales: Social Fate or Legal Privilege? Thomas Finkenauer Open Access Download PDF	25
Social Status ‘Without’ Legal Difference. Historiography and Puzzling Legal Questions About Imperial Freedmen and Slaves Pierangelo Buongiorno Open Access Download PDF	67
Peculium: Paradoxes of Slaves With Property Richard Gamauf Open Access Download PDF	87
Dispensator: The Social Profile of a Servile Profession in the Satyrica and in Roman Jurists’ Texts Richard Gamauf Open Access Download PDF	125
Giving and Taking: The Effects of Roman Inheritance Law on the Social Position of Slaves Wolfram Buchwitz Open Access Download PDF	165
Servi poenae: What Did It Mean to Be ‘Condemned to Slavery’? Aglaia McClintock Open Access Download PDF	187
Favor libertatis: Slaveholders as Freedom Fighters Jakob Fortunat Stagl Open Access Download PDF	203
Neither Fish nor Fowl: Some Grey Areas of Roman Slave Law Martin Schermaier Open Access Download PDF	237
Bibliography Open Access Download PDF	269
Authors Open Access Download PDF	297
Index of Sources Open Access Download PDF	299

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Scholars in the field of history, legal history, historic sociology
Pages
- Front matter: 7
- Main content: 310
Keywords: Roman law; peculium; slave families; slave hierarchies

eBook

Published: March 6, 2023
ISBN: 9783110987195

Hardcover

Published: March 6, 2023
ISBN: 9783110998689