Full Description
The book investigates the lives of libertae, i.e. female ex-slaves, in the western part of the Roman Empire, by analysing the inscriptional evidence left behind by these women and those close to them. The study considers the freedwomen both inside and outside the domestic environment, looking at libertae not only as former slaves, but also as wives and mothers, workers, labourers, service providers and professionals, besides their wider roles as members of their communities. The innovative aspect of this study is the choice of rigorously giving centre stage to epigraphic documents, rather than the well-known literary texts. This approach is essential to foreground the freedwomen's point of view, in place of the perspective of the elite male authors that has however hitherto been given priority in the modern discussion of Roman freedpersons. The analysed sample, nearly 10,000 inscriptions, includes texts from every area of the western Roman Empire: this large data pool allows wide-reaching detailed qualitative analysis as well as quantitative comparisons, enabling moreover highly differentiated insights into the similarities and differences that existed for libertae across the Empire.
Contents
Preface
Reading Guide
Acknowledgements
List of Figures
List of Maps
List of Graphs
List of Abbreviations
Introduction
Part II: From Serva to Materfamilias: The Role of Freedwomen in the Roman Familia
1. The Life Course of Roman Freedwomen: Manumission and Death in the Light of Funerary Commemoration
2. Freedwoman and Wife: Marriage Options and the Identity of Freedwomen's Spouses
3. Uxor Aut Concubina? The Use of Conjugal Terms in the Epigraphic Evidence
4. Freedwoman and Mother: Manumission and Motherhood in Relation to the Children's Legal Statuses
Part II: Outside the Walls of the Domus: Roman Freedwomen in the Public Sphere
5. The Occupations of Roman Freedwomen: Service, Skills, Professions and Offices
6. Between Wo(men) and Gods: The Religious Activity of Roman Libertae
7. Distinguished Roles, Public Honours and Acts of Euergetism: The Role of Freedwomen and their Familiae in Local Communities and the Wider Society
Conclusion
Appendix graphica
Appendix epigraphica
Bibliography
Index libertarum
General index
