Tutorial 4 - Epigraphy and Status Flashcards
What types of unions were there in ancient Rome?
Marriage - conumbium is the permission to intermarry, one individual is not a Roman citizen (special permission needed)
Citizens can not marry slaves, prostitutes, incest, non-citizens - conumbium would interfere here
Divorce: legal, common, could be initiated by either man or woman
Any children born into conumbium would take the lineage and status of the father
Contubernium - one or both partners is a slave; children take the status of the mother
Iustae nuptiae - marriages recognized as iustae nuptiae by Roman law were, in the most general terms, those contracted between Roman citizens
Concubinadus - male partner takes a woman into his house and provides for her, but they are not married: any children born into this would be illegitimate
Why would people marry in ancient Rome?
To protect power and political alliances
Inheritance
Social status
Trade & skills
How did Roman women’s names work?
Named after the gens - one name marker to be associated with the father’s name
This can change with marriage and age
Going into the Severan period - many would take their maternal name if the maternal family tree was more illustrious
How did Roman slaves’ names work?
Cognomen (only?)
Greek origin but this is not always marker of their ethnicity
When free they take the nomen of their previous owner
Testimony manumission: death of owner - will frees slaves
What was the status of the child of a free man and free woman?
Free
What was the status of the child of a free man and enslaved woman?
Enslaved
What was the status of the child of an enslaved man and enslaved woman?
Enslaved
What was the status of the child of an enslaved man and free woman?
Free
Why are Junian Latins a grey area?
They are free but do not fit or follow the legal right of inheritance
Min. age of 30 in order to be manumitted, unless the owner had a special dispensation. Junian Latins were freed below the age of 30 and therefore could not have your children inherit; inheritance at death went to master’s family
What were the ways of being freed?
Manumission by vindicta - declared in front of a magistrate
Manumission by censure -
Manumission by ex testamento - freed in a master’s will
How can you tell if someone is a Junian Latin or not?
Tribal affiliation is often an indicator that someone is a freedman and not a Junian Latin
