Manumission: Difference between revisions

Under [[Roman law]], a slave had no [[Person (law)|personhood]] and was protected under law mainly as his or her master's property. In [[Ancient Rome]], a slave who had been manumitted was a ''[[libertus]]'' ([[grammatical gender|feminine]] ''liberta'') and a citizen.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beard & Crawford |title=Rome in the Late Republic |publisher=Duckworth |year=1999 |isbn=978-0715629284 |location=London |pages=41, 48 |orig-year=1985}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hornblower & Spawforth (eds) |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726/page/334 |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0198661726 |location=Oxford |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726/page/334 334, 609]}}</ref> Manumissions were taxed.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harrsch |first=Mary |date=2016-03-16 |title=Roman Slavery and the Rate of Manumission |url=https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2016/03/roman-slavery-and-rate-of-manumission.html |access-date=2020-12-04 |website=Roman Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zelnick-Abramovitz |first=Rachel |url=https://brill.com/view/title/24276 |title=Taxing Freedom in Thessalian Manumission Inscriptions |date=2013-09-05 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-25662-0 |language=en}}</ref>

A freed slave became a citizen. Not all citizens, however, held the same freedoms and privileges. In particular contrast, [[womenWomen in Ancient Rome|women could become citizens]], but female [[Roman citizenship]] did not allow anywhere near the same protections, independence, or rights as men, either in the public or private spheres. In reflection of unwritten, yet strictly enforced contemporary social codes, women were also legally prevented from participating in public and civic society. For example: through the illegality of women voting or holding public office.

The freed slaves' rights were limited or defined by particular [[statutoryStatutory law|statutes]]. A freed male slave could become a civil servant but not hold [[Roman magistrate|higher magistracies]] (see, for instance, ''[[apparitor]]'' and ''[[scribaScriba (ancient Rome)|scriba]]''), serve as [[imperialImperial cult (ancient Rome)|priests of the emperor]] or hold any of the other highly respected public positions.

If they were sharp at business, however, there were no social limits to the wealth that freedmen could amass. Their children held full legal rights, but [[socialSocial class in ancient Rome|Roman society was stratified]]. Famous Romans who were the sons of freedmen include the [[Augustan literature (ancient Rome)|Augustan]] poet [[Horace]] and the 2nd century emperor, [[Pertinax]].