slaves and freedmen Flashcards
how did the lex petronia benefit enslaved people?
19 BC
limited cruelty towards enslaved people such as prescribing that slaves could only be condemned to ‘ad bestias’ with the agreement of the authorities
examples of legislation which enabled the torture of enslaved people
senatus consultum silianum - 10 AD
decreed that if an owner was killed, all slavers who had been present were to be interrogated under torture, then executed
lex julia de adulteriis coercendis - 18 BC
permitted torture of enslaved people for testimonies in cases of adultury
legislation which more clearly defined the legal rights of freed-persons
lex papia poppaea - 9 AD
determined that freedwomen could not make a will without their guardian’s authorisation, freedmen required to leave half of their estate to their patrons in their will
lex julia de maritandis ordinibus - 18 AD
prevents senators from marrying freedwomen or freedmen from marrying senators daughters - limiting capacity for upward social mobility
how was the manumission of slaves more strictly regulated under the early principate?
In republic: enslaved people could be freed by master’s will; by vindicta, buying their freedom or by enrolment in the census (less common)
lex fufia caninia - 2 BC
restricted number of slaves that could be freed in the wills of their owners on a sliding scale
lex aelia sentia - 4 AD determined
imposes age restrictions: masters to be 20 years old to free slaves, and slaves had to be at least 30 - has been seen as a measure to prevent slaves from gaining citizenship en masse and exerting significant influence in public life
lex junia
19 AD
slaves that are freed informally only granted half-citizenship - became known as ‘junian’ latins prohibited from making wills (Gaius, Institutes 1.22), had to prove themselves worthy of full citizenship by raising a child for one year with a roman/latin wife (aelio-sentian law standard)
debarred slaves with criminal records from gaining citizenship by putting them in the category of ‘dediticii’ - originally consisting of surrendered war opponents - required them to reside at least 100 miles from rome - forbade from making will or inheriting
how did tiberius widen the path to citizenship for junians?
visellian law - 24 AD
gave roman citizenship to Junians who served 6 years in the vigiles
how did claudius open up pathways to citizenship for the junians?
claudian edict - those who transp[orted grain to Rome for 6 years in ships they built themselves
imperial freedmen and their power under Claudius
by the reign of claudius, control of the fiscus as just one example, was in the hand of the ‘a rationibus’ - who became the most powerful financial officer in the empire
PALLAS - work and influence under claudius acknowledged in the grant of Praetorian insignia
limitations imposed upon the majority of freedmen and slaves by the principate did not necessarily apply within the imperial domus
