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Statute of frauds
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v
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The statute of frauds refers to the requirement that certain kinds of contracts be memorialized in a writing, signed by the party to be charged, with sufficient content to evidence the contract.[1][2]
Traditionally, the statute of frauds requires a signed writing in the following circumstances:
Contracts in consideration of marriage. This provision covers prenuptial agreements.
Contracts that cannot be performed within one year. However, contracts of indefinite duration do not fall under the statute of frauds regardless of how long the performance actually takes.
Contracts for the transfer of an interest in land. This applies not only to a contract to sell land but also to any other contract in which land or an interest in it is disposed, such as the grant of a mortgage or an easement.
Contracts by the executor of a will to pay a debt of the estate with his own money.
Contracts for the sale of goods totaling $500.00 or more.
Contracts in which one party becomes a surety (acts as guarantor) for another party's debt or other obligation.
In an action for specific performance of a contract to convey land, the agreement must be in writing to satisfy the statute of frauds. The statute is satisfied if the contract to convey is evidenced by a writing or writings containing the essential terms of a purchase and sale agreement and signed by the party against whom the contract is to be enforced. If there is no written agreement, a court of equity can specifically enforce an oral agreement to convey only if the part performance doctrine is satisfied. In most jurisdictions, part performance is proven when the purchaser pays the purchase price, has possession of the land and makes improvements on the land, all with the permission of the seller. No jurisdiction is satisfied by payment of the purchase price alone.[3]
Under common law, the statute of frauds also applies to contract modifications. For example, in an oral agreement for the lease of a car, immediately after taking possession the lessor may decides that he really likes the car and make an oral offer to the lessee to extend the term of the lease by six months. Although neither agreement alone comes under the statute of frauds, the oral extension modifies the original contract to make it a fifteen-month lease, thereby bringing it under the statute as the contract now exceeds twelve months in duration. In theory, the same principle works in reverse as well, such that an agreement to reduce a lease from fifteen months to nine months would not require a writing. However, many jurisdictions have enacted statutes that require a writing for such situations.
Contents
1 Terminology
2 Raising the defense
3 Exceptions
4 Canada
5 Ireland
6 United Kingdom
6.1 England and Wales
6.2 Scotland
7 United States
7.1 State laws
7.1.1 Texas
7.1.1.1 Rule 11 Agreements
7.1.1.2 Contracts for Legal Services
7.2 Uniform Commercial Code
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
Terminology[edit]
The term statute of frauds comes from an Act of the Parliament of England (29 Chas. 2 c. 3) passed in 1677 (authored by Lord Nottingham assisted by Sir Matthew Hale, Sir Francis North and Sir Leoline Jenkins.[4] and passed by the Cavalier Parliament), the title of which is An Act for Prevention of Frauds and Perjuries.[5] Many common law jurisdictions have made similar statutory provisions, while a number of civil law jurisdictions have equivalent legislation incorporated into their civil codes. The original English statute itself may still be in effect in a number of Canadian provinces, depending on the constitutional or reception statute of English law, and any subsequent legislative developments.[citation needed]
Raising the defense[edit]
A defendant in a contract case who wants to use the statute of frauds as a defense must raise it as an affirmative defense in a timely manner.[6] The burden of proving that a written contract exists comes into play only when a statute of frauds defense is raised by the defendant.
Exceptions[edit]
An agreement may be enforced even if it does not comply with the statute of frauds in the following situations:
A statute of frauds defense may also be affected by a showing of part performance by proving the existence of one of two different conditions. If the parties have taken action in reliance on the agreement, as in the case Riley v. Capital Airlines, Inc., the court held that part performance does not take an executory portion of a contract out of the statute of frauds. Each performance constitutes a contract that falls outside the Statute of Frauds and was enforceable to the extent it is executed. However, the unexecuted portion of the contract falls within the Statute of Frauds and is unenforceable. As a result, only the executed portion of the contract can be recovered, and the doctrine of part performance does not remove the contract from the statute. On the other hand, the court, in Schwedes v. Romain, held that partial performance and grounds for estoppel can make the contract effective.
Promissory estoppel can be applied in many but not all jurisdictions when the charging party detrimentally relies on the otherwise unenforceable contract.[7] In England and Wales, the circumstances where promissory estoppel may be used to overcome the statute are limited,[8] and some jurisdictions deny this possibility altogether.
The "main purpose rule" as it relates to guarantee or suretyship type contracts: where the promisor's promise to answer for the debt of another is made mainly for the promisor's own economic advantage, then it is a primary promise, and enforceable even without a writing.
Easements by implication: easements, which are agreements that permit the use of real estate by someone who has no property interest in the land, may be created by operation of law rather than by written instrument. This may happen where, for example, a piece of land is partitioned between owners and pre-existing utilities routes or access paths that would otherwise be trespassory over one of the plots is reasonably necessary for enjoyment of the other plot. In such case, the pre-existing use must be apparent and continuous at the time of the partition for an easement to be created by implication. The implied easement constitutes an interest in land that does not require a writing to be enforceable.
In the United States, for contracts for the sale of goods that fall under the Uniform Commercial Code, additional exceptions may apply:
Admission of the existence of a contract by the defendant under oath.[9] However, the contract would only exist for the quantity of goods that were admitted.[10] For instance, if the contract was for 100 televisions but the seller admitted in court that it was for 70 televisions, then the contract would exist only for 70 televisions and not the original 100.
Merchant confirmation rule. If one merchant sends a writing sufficient to satisfy the statute of frauds to another merchant and the receiving merchant has reason to know of the contents of the sent confirmation and does not object to the confirmation within 10 days, the confirmation is good to satisfy the statute as to both parties, even if the confirmation was not signed by the party to be charged.[11]
The goods were specially manufactured for the buyer and the seller either 1) began manufacturing them, or 2) entered into a third party contract for their manufacture, and the manufacturer cannot without undue burden sell the goods to another person in the seller's ordinary course of business: for example, T-shirts with a Little League baseball team logo or wall-to-wall carpeting for an odd-sized room.[12]
Canada[edit]
The Statute of Frauds recites that it was enacted for the ". . . prevention of many fraudulent practices which are commonly endeavored to be upheld by perjury . . .". The mischief arising from claimants asserting oral agreements was to be avoided by requiring that certain contracts be evidenced by "some memorandum or note thereof . . . in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith . . .". Contracts respecting land "created by livery and seisen only or by parole" would not be enforced absent such a writing.[citation needed]
It quickly became apparent to the common law judges that the Statute might itself become an instrument of fraud (or at least injustice) if it was strictly enforced with respect to contracts that were wholly or partly performed.[13]
The courts developed the concept of "part performance" as an exception. If a contract concerning land was partly performed, that could displace the need for a note or memorandum in writing signed by the party to be charged.
It was one thing to create an exception that displaced the need for a memorandum in writing, but something else to completely nullify the Statute's operation. The thrust of the Statute was that contracts concerning land could not be proved by parol evidence alone. Thus, part performance might be an exception, but it could not, in effect, mean that the underlying contract could be proven by parol evidence. In developing the "part performance" exception, a balancing of the competing considerations was required. An important factor in the case law became that the part performance must be "unequivocally" related to the alleged contract.[14]
Ireland[edit]
The Statute of Frauds was passed in 1695 in Ireland.[15] The statute is one of the few pre-Independence laws that survived the Statute Law Revision (Pre-1922) Act 2005 and the Statute Law Revision Act 2007, and remains largely in force today.
Some effects of the law have been softened by equity, for example the requirement that all contracts for sale of land be evidenced in writing can be circumvented by reliance on the doctrine of part performance.
United Kingdom[edit]
England and Wales[edit]
See also: Formalities in English law
The Statute of Frauds[16] (1677) was largely repealed in England and Wales by the Law Reform (Enforcement of Contracts) Act 1954 (2 & 3 Eliz 2 c 34). The only provision of it extant is part of Section 4[17] which means that contracts of guarantee (surety for another's debt) are unenforceable unless evidenced in writing. This requirement is clarified by section 3 of the Mercantile Law Amendment Act 1856[18] (19 & 20 Vict 97) which provides that the consideration for the guarantee need not appear in writing or by necessary inference from a written document.
Section 6[19] of the Statute of Frauds Amendment Act 1828[20] (9 Geo 4 c 14) (commonly known as Lord Tenterden's Act)[21] was enacted to prevent Section 4 being circumvented by bringing an action against a verbal guarantor for the tort of deceit (the tort in Freeman v. Palsey).[22] A common summary of the law is "a verbal guarantee (for a debt) isn't worth the paper it is written on".
Provisions in section 4 as to formalities for contracts for the sale of land were repealed by Schedule 7 to the Law of Property Act 1925 (15 Geo 5 c 20), however the requirement that contracts for the sale of land be evidenced in writing was maintained by section 40 of that Act,[23] subsequently replaced by section 2[24] of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989 (c 34).
Scotland[edit]
Section 6 of the Mercantile Law Amendment Act Scotland 1856[25] was derived from those parts of section 4 of the Statute of Frauds (1677) which relate to contracts of guarantee and from section 6 of the Statute of Frauds Amendment Act 1828.
It was repealed on 1 August 1995[26][27] by the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995, sections 14(2)[28] and Schedule 5[29] (with ss. 9(3)(5)(7), 13, 14(3)).
United States[edit]
State laws[edit]
Every state has a statute that requires certain types of contracts to be in writing and signed by the party to be charged. The most common requirements are for contracts that involve the sale or transfer of land, and contracts that cannot be completed within one year.[30] When the statute of frauds applies, a typical statute requires that the writing commemorating the agreement identify the contracting parties, recite the subject matter of the contract so that it is reasonably identifiable, and include the important terms and conditions of agreement.[31]
The statute of frauds in various states comes in three types:
those that follow the English statute and provide that "no action shall be brought" on the contract or the contract "shall not be enforced"
Those that declare contracts "void"[32]
Those that make the contract "voidable" at the affected party's election [33]
Texas[edit]
In addition to the statute of frauds as conventionally defined,[34] the State of Texas has two rules that govern the litigation process, each of which also has the character of a statute of frauds. One is a rule of general applicability and requires agreements between counsel (or a party, if self-represented) to be in writing to be enforceable. Tex. R. Civ. P. 11.[35]
Rule 11 Agreements[edit]
Agreements under this rule are called "Rule 11 Agreements" and may either concern settlement or any procedural aspect, such as an agreement regarding scheduling, continuances of trial settings, or discovery matters. The rule has existed since 1840 and has contained the filing requirement since 1877.[36] The number designation can cause confusion to non-Texas attorneys because the federal rule 11 is the sanctions rule, whose state-court counterpart has the number designation 13 under the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure (TRCP).
Contracts for Legal Services[edit]
The other rule that is in the nature of a statute of frauds governs fee agreements with clients when the attorney is to be compensated based on the outcome of the case. The Texas Government Code requires that "[a] contingent fee contract for legal services must be in writing and signed by the attorney and client." TEX. GOV'T CODE ANN. § 82.065(a).[37] The classic example is a contingent fee contract in a personal injury case that provides for the claimant's lawyer to receive a certain percentage of the settlement amount (or of the amount awarded by judgment) net of litigation costs, with the percentages typically staggered and increasing based on whether a settlement was obtained before lawsuit is filed, after a lawsuit was filed but before trial, or whether a judgment favorable to the client was obtained through trial. The other scenario is a contingency fee contract based on cost savings achieved (for a client who is a defendant sued for a money judgment) or based on other specified litigation objectives. In those cases, the client will not recover any money from his opponent in the lawsuit, and will have to pay his attorney from his or her own funds in accordance with the terms of the agreement, once the matter is concluded favorably. When the client does not pay, some attorneys then sue the client on the contingency fee contract, or in quantum meruit in the alternative. See, e.g., Shamoun & Norman, LLP v. Hill, 483 S.W.3d 767 (Tex. App.-Dallas 2016), reversed on other grounds by Hill v. Shamoun & Norman, LLP, No. 16-0107 (Tex. April 13, 2018).[38] The attorney-vs-client fee-dispute issue generally does not arise in personal injury cases because the settlement funds from the settling party or judgment-debtor are disbursed through the attorney of the party entitled to them, net of costs and the contingency fee component.
Uniform Commercial Code[edit]
In addition to general statutes of frauds, under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), every state except Louisiana has adopted an additional statute of frauds that relates to the sale of goods. Pursuant to the UCC, contracts for the sale of goods where the price equals $500 or more fall under the statute of frauds, with the exceptions for professional merchants performing their normal business transactions, and for any custom-made items designed for one specific buyer.[39]
The application of the statute of frauds to dealings between merchants has been modified by provisions of the UCC. There is a "catch-all" provision in the UCC for personal property not covered by any other specific law,[40] stating that a contract for the sale of such property where the purchase price exceeds $500 is not enforceable unless memorialized by a signed writing. The most recent UCC revision increases the triggering point for the UCC Statute of Frauds to $5,000, but states have been slow to amend their versions of the statute to increase the trigger point.
For purposes of the UCC, a defendant who admits the existence of the contract in his pleadings, under oath in a deposition or affidavit, or at trial, may not use the statute of frauds as a defense. However, a statute of frauds defense may still be available under a state's the general statute.
With respect to securities transactions, the Uniform Commercial Code has abrogated the statute of frauds.[41] The drafters of the most recent revision commented that "with the increasing use of electronic means of communication, the statute of frauds is unsuited to the realities of the securities business."
See also[edit]
Oral contract
Parol evidence rule
Quia Emptores
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Drachsler, Leo M. (1958). "The British Statute of Frauds - British Reform and American Experience". Section of International and Comparative Law Bulletin. 3 (24).
Jump up ^ The list of contracts that fall under a traditional statute of frauds can be remembered by using the mnemonic "MY LEGS": Marriage, contracts for more than one Year, Land, Executor (or Estate), Goods ($500.00 or more), Surety.
Jump up ^ Restatement (Second) of the Law of Contracts § 129. American Law Institute.
Jump up ^ Cosgigan Jr., George P. (1913). "The Date and Authorship of Statute of Frauds". Harvard Law Review. 26: 329 at 334–42. doi:10.2307/1326318.
Jump up ^ 'Charles II, 1677: An Act for prevention of Frauds and Perjuryes.', Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628-80 (1991), pp. 839-42. "Report". Retrieved 6 March 2007.
Jump up ^ Herbert, M.J. (Summer 1992). "Procedure and Promise: Rethinking the Admissions Exception to the Statute of Frauds under UCC Articles 2, 2A, and 8". Oklahoma Law Review. 45 (2): 203. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ Summers, Lionel Morgan (1931). "The Doctrine of Estoppel Applied to the Statute of Frauds". University of Pennsylvania Law Review and American Law Register. 79 (4): 440–464. JSTOR 3307890.
Jump up ^ Actionstrength Ltd (t/a Vital Resources) v. International Glass Engineering In.Gl.En. SpA & Ors [2003] UKHL 17, [2003] 2 AC 541 (3 April 2003)
Jump up ^ U.C.C. 2-201(3)(b)
Jump up ^ Mann, Richard A.; Roberts, Barry S. (2015). Business Law and the Regulation of Business (12th ed.). Boston, MA 02210: Cengage Learning. ISBN 978-1-305-50955-9. LCCN 2015949710.
Jump up ^ U.C.C. 2-201(2)
Jump up ^ U.C.C. 2-201(3)(a)
Jump up ^ "Hill v. Nova Scotia (Attorney General) (1997)". CanLII. lexum. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ Deglman v Guaranty Trust Co. of Canada and Constantineau, [1954] S.C.R. 725 https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/2738/index.do
Jump up ^ "Statute of Frauds 1695 - An Act for Prevention of Frauds and Perjuries". eISB. Government of Ireland. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ This short title was given by the Short Titles Act 1896. It is written here as printed in "The Public General Acts, 1896", HMSO, 1896.
Jump up ^ "Statute of Frauds (1677), Sec. IV". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ "Mercantile Law Amendment Act 1856, Sec. 3". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ "Statute of Frauds Amendment Act 1828, Sec. 6". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archive. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ This short title was given by the Short Titles Act 1896
Jump up ^ Clerk and Lindsell on Torts, 16th Edition, 1989, Sweet and Maxwell, paragraph 18-41, at page 1036
Jump up ^ (1789) 3TR 51
Jump up ^ "Law of Property Act 1925, Sec. 40". legislation.gov.uk. National Archive. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ "Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, Sec. 2". legislation.co.uk. The National Archive. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ "Mercantile Law Amendment Act Scotland 1856, c. 60, s. VI". Legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives.
Jump up ^ "Mercantile Law Amendment Act Scotland 1856". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archive. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ "Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archive. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ "Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995, Sec. 14". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archive. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ "Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995, Schedule 5". legislation.gov.uk. The National Archive. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ Staff, LII (6 August 2007). "Statute of frauds".
Jump up ^ Larson, Aaron (20 May 2016). "The Statute of Frauds and Contract Law". ExpertLaw. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
Jump up ^ 3 Williston, Contracts §§526, 527 (3d ed. Jager 1960)
Jump up ^ e.g. Tex. Gov't Code Sec. 82.065 (a)(b) (contingent fee contract for legal services. http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/GV/htm/GV.82.htm#82.065
Jump up ^ The Statute of Frauds generally renders a contract that falls within its purview unenforceable unless an exception applies. TEX. BUS. & COM. CODE § 26.01(a).
Jump up ^ Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 11 provides as follows: Unless otherwise provided in these rules, no agreement between attorneys or parties touching any suit pending will be enforced unless it be in writing, signed and filed with the papers as part of the record, or unless it be made in open court and entered of record. http://www.txcourts.gov/media/1435952/trcp-all-updated-with-amendments-effective-january-1-2018.pdf
Jump up ^ See Kennedy v. Hyde, 682 S.W.2d 525, 526 (Tex.1984) (tracing the history of Rule 11); Birdwell v. Cox, 18 Tex. 535, 537 (1857) (providing rationale for in-writing requirement).
Jump up ^ http://www.statutes.legis.state.tx.us/Docs/GV/htm/GV.82.htm#82.065
Jump up ^ http://www.txcourts.gov/media/1441370/160107.pdf
Jump up ^ UCC § 2-201
Jump up ^ UCC § 1-206
Jump up ^ UCC § 8-319
External links[edit]
Statute of Frauds definition at UCC § 2-201
Text of the Statute of Frauds 1677 as in force today (including any amendments) within the United Kingdom, from legislation.gov.uk Last accessed:22:04, Friday September 30, 2011 (UTC)
"Statutes of the Realm: volume 5: 1628-80 (1819), pp. 839-42". Retrieved 9 April 2013.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Statute_of_frauds&oldid=854484919"
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Roman mosaic from Dougga, Tunisia (2nd century AD): the two slaves carrying wine jars wear typical slave clothing and an amulet against the evil eye on a necklace; the slave boy to the left carries water and towels, and the one on the right a bough and a basket of flowers[1]
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Slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in society and the economy. Besides manual labour, slaves performed many domestic services, and might be employed at highly skilled jobs and professions. Accountants and physicians were often slaves. Slaves of Greek origin in particular might be highly educated. Unskilled slaves, or those sentenced to slavery as punishment, worked on farms, in mines, and at mills: their living conditions were brutal, and their lives short.
Slaves were considered property under Roman law and had no legal personhood. Unlike Roman citizens, they could be subjected to corporal punishment, sexual exploitation (prostitutes were often slaves), torture, and summary execution. Over time, however, slaves gained increased legal protection, including the right to file complaints against their masters.
A major source of slaves had been Roman military expansion during the Republic. The use of former soldiers as slaves led perhaps inevitably to a series of en masse armed rebellions, the Servile Wars, the last of which was led by Spartacus. During the Pax Romana of the early Roman Empire (1st–2nd centuries AD), emphasis was placed on maintaining stability, and the lack of new territorial conquests dried up this supply line of human trafficking. To maintain an enslaved work force, increased legal restrictions on freeing slaves were put into place. Escaped slaves would be hunted down and returned (often for a reward). There were also many cases of poor people selling their children to richer neighbors as slaves in times of hardship.
Contents
1 Origins
2 Slavery and warfare
3 Trade and economy
4 Demography
5 Auctions and sales
5.1 Debt slavery
6 Types of work
6.1 Servus publicus
7 Treatment and legal status
8 Rebellions and runaways
9 Serfdom
10 Slavery in philosophy and religion
10.1 Classical Roman religion
10.1.1 Female slaves and religion
10.2 Mystery cults
10.3 Stoic philosophy
10.4 Early Christianity
11 In literature
11.1 Plutarch
11.2 Cicero
11.3 Roman comedies
12 Emancipation
13 Freedmen
14 See also
15 References
15.1 Bibliography
16 External links
Origins[edit]
Further information: Slavery in antiquity
In his Institutiones (161 AD), the Roman jurist Gaius wrote that:
Slavery is a human invention and not found in nature. Indeed, it was that other human invention, war, which provided the bulk of slaves, but they were also the bounty of piracy ... or the product of breeding.
—  Gaius, as translated and quoted by Nic Fields[2]
The 1st century BC Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus indicates that the Roman institution of slavery began with the legendary founder Romulus giving Roman fathers the right to sell their own children into slavery, and kept growing with the expansion of the Roman state. Slave ownership was most widespread throughout the Roman citizenry from the Second Punic War (218–201 BC) to the 4th century AD. The Greek geographer Strabo (1st century AD) records how an enormous slave trade resulted from the collapse of the Seleucid Empire (100–63 BC).[3]
The Twelve Tables, Rome's oldest legal code, has brief references to slavery, indicating that the institution was of long standing. In the tripartite division of law by the jurist Ulpian (2nd century AD), slavery was an aspect of the ius gentium, the customary international law held in common among all peoples (gentes). The "law of nations" was neither natural law, which existed in nature and governed animals as well as humans, nor civil law, which was the body of laws specific to a people.[4] All human beings are born free (liberi) under natural law, but slavery was held to be a practice common to all nations, who might then have specific civil laws pertaining to slaves.[4] In ancient warfare, the victor had the right under the ius gentium to enslave a defeated population; however, if a settlement had been reached through diplomatic negotiations or formal surrender, the people were by custom to be spared violence and enslavement. The ius gentium was not a legal code,[5] and any force it had depended on "reasoned compliance with standards of international conduct."[6]
Vernae (singular verna) were slaves born within a household (familia) or on a family farm or agricultural estate (villa). There was a stronger social obligation to care for vernae, whose epitaphs sometimes identify them as such, and at times they would have been the children of free males of the household.[7][8] The general Latin word for slave was servus.
Slavery and warfare[edit]
Throughout the Roman period many slaves for the Roman market were acquired through warfare. Many captives were either brought back as war booty or sold to traders,[9] and ancient sources cite anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of such slaves captured in each war.[10][11] These wars included every major war of conquest from the Monarchical period to the Imperial period, as well as the Social and Samnite Wars.[12] The prisoners taken or re-taken after the three Roman Servile Wars (135–132, 104–100, and 73–71 BC, respectively) also contributed to the slave supply.[13] While warfare during the Republic provided the largest figures for captives,[14] warfare continued to produce slaves for Rome throughout the imperial period.[15]
Piracy has a long history of adding to the slave trade,[16] and the period of the Roman Republic was no different. Piracy was particularly affluent in Cilicia where pirates operated with impunity from a number of strongholds. Pompey was credited with effectively eradicating piracy from the Mediterranean in 67 BC.[17] Although large scale piracy was curbed under Pompey and controlled under the Roman Empire, it remained a steady institution and kidnapping through piracy continued to contribute to the Roman slave supply. Augustine lamented the wide scale practice of kidnapping in North Africa in the early 5th century AD.[18]
Trade and economy[edit]
During the period of Roman imperial expansion, the increase in wealth amongst the Roman elite and the substantial growth of slavery transformed the economy.[19] Although the economy was dependent on slavery, Rome was not the most slave-dependent culture in history. Among the Spartans, for instance, the slave class of helots outnumbered the free by about seven to one, according to Herodotus.[20] In any case, the overall role of slavery in Roman economy is a discussed issue among scholars.[21][22][23]
Delos in the eastern Mediterranean was made a free port in 166 BC and became one of the main market venues for slaves. Multitudes of slaves who found their way to Italy were purchased by wealthy landowners in need of large numbers of slaves to labor on their estates. Historian Keith Hopkins noted that it was land investment and agricultural production which generated great wealth in Italy, and considered that Rome's military conquests and the subsequent introduction of vast wealth and slaves into Italy had effects comparable to widespread and rapid technological innovations.[3]
Augustus imposed a 2 percent tax on the sale of slaves, estimated to generate annual revenues of about 5 million sesterces—a figure that indicates some 250,000 sales.[24] The tax was increased to 4 percent by 43 AD.[25] Slave markets seem to have existed in every city of the Empire, but outside Rome the major center was Ephesus.[24]
Demography[edit]
4th-century sarcophagus relief of Valerius Petronianus, with his slave holding writing tablets
Estimates for the prevalence of slavery in the Roman Empire vary. Estimates of the percentage of the population of Italy who were slaves range from 30 to 40 percent in the 1st century BC, upwards of two to three million slaves in Italy by the end of the 1st century BC, about 35% to 40% of Italy's population.[26][27][28] For the empire as a whole during the period 260–425 AD, according to a study done by Kyle Harper, the slave population has been estimated at just under five million, representing 10–15% of the total population of 50–60 million+ inhabitants. An estimated 49% of all slaves were owned by the elite, who made up less than 1.5% of the empire's population. About half of all slaves worked in the countryside where they were a small percentage of the population except on some large agricultural, especially imperial, estates; the remainder the other half were a significant percentage 25% or more in towns and cities as domestics and workers in commercial enterprises and manufacturers.[29]
Roman slavery was not based on ideas of race.[30][31] Slaves were drawn from all over Europe and the Mediterranean, including Gaul, Hispania, North Africa, Syria, Germany, Britannia, the Balkans, Greece, etc. Those from outside of Europe were predominantly of Greek descent, while the Jewish ones never fully assimilated into Roman society, remaining an identifiable minority. The slaves (especially the foreigners) had higher mortality rates and lower birth rates than natives, and were sometimes even subjected to mass expulsions.[32] The averaged recorded age at death for the slaves of the city of Rome was extraordinarily low: seventeen and a half years (17.2 for males; 17.9 for females).[33] By comparison, life expectancy at birth for the population as a whole was in the mid-twenties (36% percent of men could expect to reach the age of 62 and 27% of women if they succeeded in reaching the age of 10).
The overall impact of slavery on the Italian genetics was insignificant though, because the slaves imported in Italy were native Europeans, and very few if any of them had extra European origin. This has been further confirmed by recent biochemical analysis of 166 skeletons from three non-elite imperial-era cemeteries in the vicinity of Rome (where the bulk of the slaves lived), which shows that only one individual definitely came from outside of Europe (North Africa), and another two possibly did, but results are inconclusive. In the rest of the Italian peninsula, the fraction of non-European slaves was definitively much lower than that.[34][35]
Auctions and sales[edit]
Slave Market in Ancient Rome, by Jean-Léon Gérôme
New slaves were primarily acquired by wholesale dealers who followed the Roman armies.[36] Many people who bought slaves wanted strong slaves, mostly men.[37] Child slaves cost less than adults[38] although other sources state their price as higher.[39] Julius Caesar once sold the entire population of a conquered region in Gaul, no fewer than 53,000 people, to slave dealers on the spot.[40]
Within the empire, slaves were sold at public auction or sometimes in shops, or by private sale in the case of more valuable slaves. Slave dealing was overseen by the Roman fiscal officials called quaestors.
Sometimes slaves stood on revolving stands, and around each slave for sale hung a type of plaque describing his or her origin, health, character, intelligence, education, and other information pertinent to purchasers. Prices varied with age and quality, with the most valuable slaves fetching high prices. Because the Romans wanted to know exactly what they were buying, slaves were presented naked. The dealer was required to take a slave back within six months if the slave had defects that were not manifest at the sale, or make good the buyer's loss.[41] Slaves to be sold with no guarantee were made to wear a cap at the auction.
Debt slavery[edit]
Main article: Nexum
Nexum was a debt bondage contract in the early Roman Republic. Within the Roman legal system, it was a form of mancipatio. Though the terms of the contract would vary, essentially a free man pledged himself as a bond slave (nexus) as surety for a loan. He might also hand over his son as collateral. Although the bondsman could expect to face humiliation and some abuse, as a legal citizen he was supposed to be exempt from corporal punishment. Nexum was abolished by the Lex Poetelia Papiria in 326 BC, in part to prevent abuses to the physical integrity of citizens who had fallen into debt bondage.
Roman historians illuminated the abolition of nexum with a traditional story that varied in its particulars; basically, a nexus who was a handsome but upstanding youth suffered sexual harassment by the holder of the debt. In one version, the youth had gone into debt to pay for his father's funeral; in others, he had been handed over by his father. In all versions, he is presented as a model of virtue. Historical or not, the cautionary tale highlighted the incongruities of subjecting one free citizen to another's use, and the legal response was aimed at establishing the citizen's right to liberty (libertas), as distinguished from the slave or social outcast (infamis).[42]
Cicero considered the abolition of nexum primarily a political maneuver to appease the common people (plebs): the law was passed during the Conflict of the Orders, when plebeians were struggling to establish their rights in relation to the hereditary privileges of the patricians. Although nexum was abolished as a way to secure a loan, debt bondage might still result after a debtor defaulted.[43]
Types of work[edit]
Mosaic depicting two female slaves (ancillae) attending their mistress.
Slaves worked in a wide range of occupations that can be roughly divided into five categories: household or domestic, imperial or public, urban crafts and services, agriculture, and mining.[44]
Epitaphs record at least 55 different jobs a household slave might have,[44] including barber, butler, cook, hairdresser, handmaid (ancilla), wash their master's clothes, wet nurse or nursery attendant, teacher, secretary, seamstress, accountant, and physician.[3] A large elite household (a domus in town, or a villa in the countryside) might be supported by a staff of hundreds.[44] The living conditions of slaves attached to a domus (the familia urbana), while inferior to those of the free persons they lived with, were sometimes superior to that of many free urban poor in Rome.[45] Household slaves likely enjoyed the highest standard of living among Roman slaves, next to publicly owned slaves, who were not subject to the whims of a single master.[41] Imperial slaves were those attached to the emperor's household, the familia Caesaris.[44]
In urban workplaces, the occupations of slaves included fullers, engravers, shoemakers, bakers, mule drivers, and prostitutes. Farm slaves (familia rustica) probably lived in more healthful conditions. Roman agricultural writers expect that the workforce of a farm will be mostly slaves, managed by a vilicus, who was often a slave himself.[44]
"Here lies Eros, Posidippus' chef, a slave": epitaph on a stele[46]
Slaves numbering in the tens of thousands were condemned to work in the mines or quarries, where conditions were notoriously brutal.[44] Damnati in metallum ("those condemned to the mine") were convicts who lost their freedom as citizens (libertas), forfeited their property (bona) to the state, and became servi poenae, slaves as a legal penalty. Their status under the law was different from that of other slaves; they could not buy their freedom, be sold, or be set free. They were expected to live and die in the mines.[47] Imperial slaves and freedmen (the familia Caesaris) worked in mine administration and management.[48]
In the Late Republic, about half the gladiators who fought in Roman arenas were slaves, though the most skilled were often free volunteers.[49] Successful gladiators were occasionally rewarded with freedom. However gladiators, being trained warriors and having access to weapons, were potentially the most dangerous slaves. At an earlier time, many gladiators had been soldiers taken captive in war. Spartacus, who led the great slave rebellion of 73–71 BC, was a rebel gladiator.
Servus publicus[edit]
A servus publicus was a slave owned not by a private individual, but by the Roman people. Public slaves worked in temples and other public buildings both in Rome and in the municipalities. Most performed general, basic tasks as servants to the College of Pontiffs, magistrates, and other officials. Some well-qualified public slaves did skilled office work such as accounting and secretarial services. They were permitted to earn money for their personal use.[50]
Because they had an opportunity to prove their merit, they could acquire a reputation and influence, and were sometimes deemed eligible for manumission. During the Republic, a public slave could be freed by a magistrate's declaration, with the prior authorization of the senate; in the Imperial era, liberty would be granted by the emperor. Municipal public slaves could be freed by the municipal council.[50]
Treatment and legal status[edit]
Relief from Smyrna (present-day Izmir, Turkey) depicting a Roman soldier leading captives in chains
According to Marcel Mauss, in Roman times the persona gradually became "synonymous with the true nature of the individual" but "the slave was excluded from it. servus non habet personam ('a slave has no persona'). He has no personality. He does not own his body; he has no ancestors, no name, no cognomen, no goods of his own."[51] The testimony of a slave could not be accepted in a court of law[52] unless the slave was tortured—a practice based on the belief that slaves in a position to be privy to their masters' affairs would be too virtuously loyal to reveal damaging evidence unless coerced.
Rome differed from Greek city-states in allowing freed slaves to become citizens. After manumission, a male slave who had belonged to a Roman citizen enjoyed not only passive freedom from ownership, but active political freedom (libertas), including the right to vote.[53] A slave who had acquired libertas was thus a libertus ("freed person", feminine liberta) in relation to his former master, who then became his patron (patronus). As a social class, freed slaves were libertini, though later writers used the terms libertus and libertinus interchangeably.[54][55] Libertini were not entitled to hold public office or state priesthoods, nor could they achieve senatorial rank. During the early Empire, however, freedmen held key positions in the government bureaucracy, so much so that Hadrian limited their participation by law.[56] Any future children of a freedman would be born free, with full rights of citizenship.
Although in general freed slaves could become citizens, with the right to vote if they were male, those categorized as dediticii suffered permanent disbarment from citizenship. The dediticii were mainly slaves whose masters had felt compelled to punish them for serious misconduct by placing them in chains, branding them, torturing them to confess a crime, imprisoning them or sending them involuntarily to a gladiatorial school (ludus), or condemning them to fight with gladiator or wild beasts (their subsequent status was obviously a concern only to those who survived). Dediticii were regarded as a threat to society, regardless of whether their master's punishments had been justified, and if they came within a hundred miles of Rome, they were subject to reenslavement.[57]
Roman slaves could hold property which, despite the fact that it belonged to their masters, they were allowed to use as if it were their own.[58] Skilled or educated slaves were allowed to earn their own money, and might hope to save enough to buy their freedom.[59][60] Such slaves were often freed by the terms of their master's will, or for services rendered. A notable example of a high-status slave was Tiro, the secretary of Cicero. Tiro was freed before his master's death, and was successful enough to retire on his own country estate, where he died at the age of 99.[61][62][63] However, the master could arrange that slaves would only have enough money to buy their freedom when they were too old to work. They could then use the money to buy a new young slave while the old slave, unable to work, would be forced to rely on charity to stay alive.[64]
Several emperors began to grant more rights to slaves as the empire grew. Claudius announced that if a slave was abandoned by his master, he became free. Nero granted slaves the right to complain against their masters in a court. And under Antoninus Pius, a master who killed a slave without just cause could be tried for homicide.[65] Legal protection of slaves continued to grow as the empire expanded. It became common throughout the mid to late 2nd century AD to allow slaves to complain of cruel or unfair treatment by their owners.[66] Attitudes changed in part because of the influence among the educated elite of the Stoics, whose egalitarian views of humanity extended to slaves.
There are reports of abuse of slaves by Romans, but there is little information to indicate how widespread such harsh treatment was. Cato the Elder was recorded as expelling his old or sick slaves from his house. Seneca held the view that a slave who was treated well would perform a better job than a poorly treated slave. As most slaves in the Roman world could easily blend into the population if they escaped, it was normal for the masters to discourage slaves from running away by putting a tattoo reading "Stop me! I am a runaway!" or "tax paid" if the slaves were owned by the Roman state on the foreheads of their slaves.[67] For this reason, slaves usually wore headbands to cover up their disfiguring tattoos and at the Temple of Asclepius, the Greek god of healing, in Ephesus, archeologists have found thousands of tablets from escaped slaves asking Asclepius to make their tattoos on their foreheads disappear.[68] Crucifixion was the capital punishment meted out specifically to slaves, traitors, and bandits.[69][70][71][72] Marcus Crassus was supposed to have concluded his victory over Spartacus in the Third Servile War by crucifying 6,000 of the slave rebels along the Appian Way.
Rebellions and runaways[edit]
Moses Finley remarked, "fugitive slaves are almost an obsession in the sources". Rome forbade the harbouring of fugitive slaves, and professional slave-catchers were hired to hunt down runaways. Advertisements were posted with precise descriptions of escaped slaves, and offered rewards.[73] If caught, fugitives could be punished by being whipped, burnt with iron, or killed. Those who lived were branded on the forehead with the letters FUG, for fugitivus. Sometimes slaves had a metal collar riveted around the neck. One such collar is preserved at Rome and states in Latin, "I have run away. Catch me. If you take me back to my master Zoninus, you'll be rewarded."[41]
There was a constant danger of servile insurrection, which had more than once seriously threatened the republic.[74] The 1st century BC Greek historian Diodorus Siculus wrote that slaves sometimes banded together to plot revolt. He chronicled the three major slave rebellions: in 135–132 BC (the First Servile War), in 104–100 BC (the Second Servile War), and in 73–71 BC (the Third Servile War).[75]
Serfdom[edit]
In addition to slavery, the Romans also practiced serfdom. By the 3rd century AD, the Roman Empire faced a labour shortage. Large Roman landowners increasingly relied on Roman freemen, acting as tenant farmers, instead of slaves to provide labour.[76] The status of these tenant farmers, eventually known as coloni, steadily eroded. Because the tax system implemented by Diocletian assessed taxes based on both land and the inhabitants of that land, it became administratively inconvenient for peasants to leave the land where they were counted in the census.[76] In 332 AD Emperor Constantine issued legislation that greatly restricted the rights of the coloni and tied them to the land. Some see these laws as the beginning of medieval serfdom in Europe.
Slavery in philosophy and religion[edit]
Classical Roman religion[edit]
The religious holiday most famously celebrated by slaves at Rome was the Saturnalia, a December festival of role reversals during which time slaves enjoyed a rich banquet, gambling, free speech and other forms of license not normally available to them. To mark their temporary freedom, they wore the pilleus, the cap of freedom, as did free citizens, who normally went about bareheaded.[77][78] Some ancient sources suggest that master and slave dined together,[79][80] while others indicate that the slaves feasted first, or that the masters actually served the food. The practice may have varied over time.[81] Macrobius (5th century AD) describes the occasion thus:
Meanwhile the head of the slave household, whose responsibility it was to offer sacrifice to the Penates, to manage the provisions and to direct the activities of the domestic servants, came to tell his master that the household had feasted according to the annual ritual custom. For at this festival, in houses that keep to proper religious usage, they first of all honor the slaves with a dinner prepared as if for the master; and only afterwards is the table set again for the head of the household. So, then, the chief slave came in to announce the time of dinner and to summon the masters to the table.[82][83]
Saturnalian license also permitted slaves to enjoy a pretense of disrespect for their masters, and exempted them from punishment. The Augustan poet Horace calls their freedom of speech "December liberty" (libertas Decembri).[84][85] In two satires set during the Saturnalia, Horace portrays a slave as offering sharp criticism to his master.[86][87][88] But everyone knew that the leveling of the social hierarchy was temporary and had limits; no social norms were ultimately threatened, because the holiday would end.[89]
Another slaves' holiday (servorum dies festus) was held August 13[90] in honor of Servius Tullius, the legendary sixth king of Rome who was the child of a slave woman. Like the Saturnalia, the holiday involved a role reversal: the matron of the household washed the heads of her slaves, as well as her own.[91][92]
The temple of Feronia at Terracina in Latium was the site of special ceremonies pertaining to manumission. The goddess was identified with Libertas, the personification of liberty,[93] and was a tutelary goddess of freedmen (dea libertorum). A stone at her temple was inscribed "let deserving slaves sit down so that they may stand up free."[94][95]
Female slaves and religion[edit]
At the Matralia, a women's festival held June 11 in connection with the goddess Mater Matuta, free women ceremonially beat a slave girl and drove her from the community. Slave women were otherwise forbidden participation.[96]
Slave women were honored at the Ancillarum Feriae on July 7.[97][98] The holiday is explained as commemorating the service rendered to Rome by a group of ancillae (female slaves or "handmaids") during the war with the Fidenates in the late 4th century BC.[99][100] Weakened by the Gallic sack of Rome in 390 BC, the Romans next had suffered a stinging defeat by the Fidenates, who demanded that they hand over their wives and virgin daughters as hostages to secure a peace. A handmaid named either Philotis or Tutula came up with a plan to deceive the enemy: the ancillae would put on the apparel of the free women, spend one night in the enemy camp, and send a signal to the Romans about the most advantageous time to launch a counterattack.[96][101] Although the historicity of the underlying tale may be doubtful, it indicates that the Romans thought they had already had a significant slave population before the Punic Wars.[102]
Dedication to Mithras by the Imperial slave Atimetus; a great number of inscriptions from around the Empire record votive offerings from slaves and freedmen
Mystery cults[edit]
The Mithraic mysteries were open to slaves and freedmen, and at some cult sites most or all votive offerings are made by slaves, sometimes for the sake of their masters' wellbeing.[103] The cult of Mithras, which valued submission to authority and promotion through a hierarchy, was in harmony with the structure of Roman society, and thus the participation of slaves posed no threat to social order.[104]
Stoic philosophy[edit]
The Stoics taught that all men were manifestations of the same universal spirit, and thus by nature equal. Stoicism also held that external circumstances (such as being enslaved) did not truly impede a person from practicing the Stoic ideal of inner self-mastery: It has been said that one of the more important Roman stoics, Epictetus, spent his youth as a slave.
Early Christianity[edit]
See also: Christianity and slavery
Both the Stoics and some early Christians opposed the ill-treatment of slaves, rather than slavery itself. Advocates of these philosophies saw them as ways to live within human societies as they were, rather than to overthrow entrenched institutions. In the Christian scriptures equal pay and fair treatment of slaves was enjoined upon slave masters, and slaves were advised to obey their earthly masters, even if their masters are unfair, and lawfully obtain freedom if possible.[105][106][107][108]
Certain senior Christian leaders (such as Gregory of Nyssa and John Chrysostom) called for good treatment for slaves and condemned slavery, while others supported it. Christianity gave slaves an equal place within the religion, allowing them to participate in the liturgy. According to tradition, Pope Clement I (term c. 92–99), Pope Pius I (158–167) and Pope Callixtus I (c. 217–222) were former slaves.[109]
In literature[edit]
Although ancient authors rarely discussed slavery in terms of morals, because their society did not view slavery as the moral dilemma we do today,[110] they included slaves and the treatment of slaves in works in order to shed light on other topics—history, economy, an individual's character—or to entertain and amuse. Texts mentioning slaves include histories, personal letters, dramas, and satires, including Petronius' Banquet of Trimalchio, in which the eponymous freedman asserts "Slaves too are men. The milk they have drunk is just the same even if an evil fate has oppressed them."[111] Many literary works may have served to help educated Roman slave owners navigate acceptability in the master-slave relationships in terms of slaves' behavior and punishment. To achieve this navigation of acceptability, works often focus on extreme cases, such as the crucifixion of hundreds of slaves for the murder of their master. We must be careful to recognize these instances as exceptional and yet recognize that the underlying problems must have concerned the authors and audiences.[112] Examining the literary sources that mention ancient slavery can reveal both the context for and contemporary views of the institution. The following examples provide a sampling of different genres and portrayals.
Plutarch[edit]
Plutarch mentioned slavery in his biographical history in order to pass judgement on men's characters. In his Life of Cato the Elder, Plutarch revealed contrasting views of slaves. He wrote that Cato, known for his stringency, would resell his old servants because "no useless servants were fed in his house," but that he himself believes that "it marks an over-rigid temper for a man to take the work out of his servants as out of brute beasts."[113]
Cicero[edit]
A prolific letter writer, Cicero even wrote letters to one of his administrative slaves, one Marcus Tullius Tiro. Even though Cicero himself remarked that he only wrote to Tiro "for the sake of keeping to [his] established practice,"[114] he occasionally revealed personal care and concern for his slave. Indeed, just the fact that Tiro had enough education and freedom to express his opinions in letters to his master is exceptional and only allowed through his unique circumstances.[115] First, as an administrative slave, Tiro would have enjoyed better living and working conditions than the majority of slaves working in the fields, mines, or workhouses. Also, Cicero was an exceptional owner, even taking Tiro's education into his own hands.[116] While these letters suggest a familiarity and connection between master and slave, each letter still contains a direct command, suggesting that Cicero calculatingly used familiarity in order to ensure performance and loyalty from Tiro.[117]
Roman comedies[edit]
Main article: Theatre of ancient Rome
In Roman comedy, servi or slaves make up the majority of the stock characters, and generally fall into two basic categories: loyal slaves and tricksters. Loyal slaves often help their master in their plan to woo or obtain a lover (the most popular plot-driving element in Roman comedy). They are often dim, timid, and worried about what punishments may befall them. Trickster slaves are more numerous and often use their masters' unfortunate situation to create a "topsy-turvy" world in which they are the masters and their masters are subservient to them. The master will often ask the slave for a favor and the slave only complies once the master has made it clear that the slave is in charge, beseeching him and calling him lord, sometimes even a god.[118] These slaves are threatened with numerous punishments for their treachery, but always escape the fulfillment of these threats through their wit.[118]
Depictions of slaves in Roman comedies can be seen in the work of Plautus and Publius Terentius Afer. Dartmouth associate professor Roberta Stewart has stated that Plautus’ plays represent slavery "as a complex institution that raised perplexing problems in human relationships involving masters and slaves.”[119] Terence added a new element to how slaves were portrayed in his plays, due to his personal background as a former slave. In the work Andria, slaves are at the centerpiece off the plot. In this play, Simo, a wealthy Athenian wants his son, Pamphilius, to marry one girl but Pamphilius has his sights set on another. Much of the conflict in this play revolves around schemes with Pamphilius’s slave, Davos, and the rest of the characters in the story. Many times throughout the play, slaves are allowed to engage in activity, such as the inner and personal lives of their owners, that wouldn’t normally be seen with slaves in every day society. This is a form of satire by Terence due to the unrealistic nature of events that occurs between slaves and citizens in his plays.[120]
Emancipation[edit]
Freeing a slave was called manumissio, which literally means "sending out from the hand". The freeing of the slave was a public ceremony, performed before some sort of public official, usually a judge. The owner touched the slave on the head with a staff and he was free to go. Simpler methods were sometimes used, usually with the owner proclaiming a slave's freedom in front of friends and family, or just a simple invitation to recline with the family at dinner.
A felt cap called the Pileus was given to the former slave as symbol of manumission.
Slaves were freed for a variety of reasons; for a particularly good deed toward the slave's owner, or out of friendship or respect. Sometimes, a slave who had enough money could buy his freedom and the freedom of a fellow slave, frequently a spouse. However, few slaves had enough money to do so, and many slaves were not allowed to hold money. Slaves were also freed through testamentary manumission, by a provision in an owner's will at his death. Augustus restricted such manumissions to at most a hundred slaves, and fewer in a small household.
Already educated or experienced slaves were freed the most often. Eventually the practice became so common that Augustus decreed that no Roman slave could be freed before age 30.
Freedmen[edit]
Cinerary urn for the freedman Tiberius Claudius Chryseros and two women, probably his wife and daughter
A freed slave was the libertus of his former master, who became his patron (patronus). The two had mutual obligations to each other within the traditional patronage network. The terms of his manumission might specify the services a libertus owed. A freedman could "network" with other patrons as well.
As a social class, former slaves were libertini. Men could vote and participate in politics, with some limitations. They could not run for office, nor be admitted to the senatorial class. The children of former slaves enjoyed the full privileges of Roman citizenship without restrictions. The Latin poet Horace was the son of a freedman, and an officer in the army of Marcus Junius Brutus.
Some freedmen became very powerful. Many freedmen had important roles in the Roman government. Freedmen of the Imperial families often were the main functionaries in the Imperial administration. Some rose to positions of great influence, such as Narcissus, a former slave of the Emperor Claudius.
Other freedmen became wealthy. The brothers who owned House of the Vettii, one of the biggest and most magnificent houses in Pompeii, are thought to have been freedmen. A freedman designed the amphitheater in Pompeii.
A freedman who became rich and influential might still be looked down on by the traditional aristocracy as a vulgar nouveau riche. Trimalchio, a character in the Satyricon, is a caricature of such a freedman.
See also[edit]
Slavery in ancient Greece
Slavery in antiquity
History of slavery
References[edit]
Jump up ^ Described by Mikhail Rostovtzev, The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire (Tannen, 1900), p. 288.
Jump up ^ Fields, p. 18, citing Caius (internal citations omitted).
^ Jump up to: a b c Roman Slavery: The Social, Cultural, Political, and Demographic Consequences by Moya K. Mason
^ Jump up to: a b Brian Tierney, The Idea of Natural Rights (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2002, originally published 1997 by Scholars Press for Emory University), p. 136.
Jump up ^ R.W. Dyson, Natural Law and Political Realism in the History of Political Thought (Peter Lang, 2005), vol. 1, p. 127.
Jump up ^ David J. Bederman, International Law in Antiquity (Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 85.
Jump up ^ Bradley (1994), pp. 33–34, 48–49
Jump up ^ Mouritsen (2011), p. 100
Jump up ^ Dupont p. 63.
Jump up ^ Tim Cornell 'The Recovery of Rome' in CAH2 7.2 F.W. Walbank et al. (eds.) Cambridge.
Jump up ^ Wickham (2014), pp. 210–217
Jump up ^ W.V. Harris. 1979. War and Imperialism in Republican Rome 327–70 B.C.. Oxford, p. 59 n. 4.
Jump up ^ Fields, pp. 7, 8–10.
Jump up ^ K.R. Bradley. 2004. 'On Captives under the Principate', Phoenix 58,3/4:, 299; Brunt 1971 Italian Manpower, Oxford, p. 707; Hopkins 1978, pp. 8–15. This view has been challenged more recently by Wickham (2014).
Jump up ^ Bradley 2004, pp. 298–318.
Jump up ^ V. Gabrielsen 'Piracy and the Slave-Trade' in A. Erskine (ed.) A Companion to the Hellenistic World (London, 2003) pp. 389–404.
Jump up ^ Plutarch, Pompey 24-8.
Jump up ^ St. Augustine Letter 10.
Jump up ^ Hopkins, Keith. Conquerors and Slaves: Sociological Studies in Roman History. Cambridge University Press, New York. Pgs. 4–5
Jump up ^ Herodotus, Histories 9.10.
Jump up ^ Finley, Moses I. (1960). Slavery in classical Antiquity. Views and controversies. Cambridge.
Jump up ^ Finley, Moses I. (1980). Ancient Slavery and Modern Ideology. Chatto & Windus.
Jump up ^ Montoya Rubio, Bernat (2015). L'esclavitud en l'economia antiga: fonaments discursius de la historiografia moderna (Segles XV-XVIII). Presses universitaires de Franche-Comté. pp. 15–25. ISBN 978-2-84867-510-7.
^ Jump up to: a b Harris (2000), p. 721
Jump up ^ Harris (2000), p. 722
Jump up ^ Welcome to Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to History
Jump up ^ Walter Scheidel. 2005. 'Human Mobility in Roman Italy, II: The Slave Population', Journal of Roman Studies 95: 64-79. Scheidel, p. 170, has estimated between 1 and 1.5 million slaves in the 1st century BC.
Jump up ^ Wickham (2014), p. 198 notes the difficulty in estimating the size of the slave population and the supply needed to maintain and grow the population.
Jump up ^ No contemporary or systematic census of slave numbers is known; in the Empire, under-reporting of male slave numbers would have reduced the tax liabilities attached to their ownership. See Kyle Harper, Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275–425. Cambridge University Press, 2011, pp. 58–60, and footnote 150. ISBN 978-0-521-19861-5
Jump up ^ Bruce W. Frier and Thomas A. J. McGinn. 2004. A Casebook on Roman Family Law. Oxford University Press: American Philological Association. p. 15
Jump up ^ Stefan Goodwin. 2009. Africa in Europe: Antiquity into the Age of Global Expansion. Lexington Books. vol. 1, p. 41, noting that "Roman slavery was a nonracist and fluid system".
Jump up ^ Noy, David (2000). Foreigners at Rome: Citizens and Strangers. Duckworth with the Classical Press of Wales. ISBN 978-0-7156-2952-9.
Jump up ^ Harper, James (1972). Slaves and Freedmen in Imperial Rome. Am J Philol.
Jump up ^ "Isotopic evidence for age-related immigration to imperial Rome". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 132: 510–519. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20541.
Jump up ^ "All Roads Lead to Rome: Exploring Human Migration to the Eternal City through Biochemistry of Skeletons from Two Imperial-Era Cemeteries (1st–3rd c AD)". PLOS ONE. 11: e0147585. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0147585.
Jump up ^ Wickham (2014), pp. 180–184
Jump up ^ This is contested by Wickham (2014), pp. iv, 202–205.
Jump up ^ William L. Westermann, The slave systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity, The American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, US.
Jump up ^ de souza,Philip:"the roman news" , page 11. Candlewick press, 1996.;
Jump up ^ Roman Society, Roman Life
^ Jump up to: a b c Johnston, Mary. Roman Life. Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1957, p. 158–177
Jump up ^ P.A. Brunt, Social Conflicts in the Roman Republic (Chatto & Windus, 1971), pp. 56–57.
Jump up ^ Brunt, Social Conflicts in the Roman Republic, pp. 56–57.
^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "Slavery in Rome," in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome (Oxford University Press, 2010), p. 323.
Jump up ^ Roman Civilization Archived 2009-02-03 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ CIL VI, 6246.
Jump up ^ Alfred Michael Hirt, Imperial Mines and Quarries in the Roman World: Organizational Aspects 27–BC AD 235 (Oxford University Press, 2010), sect. 3.3.
Jump up ^ Hirt, Imperial Mines and Quarries, sect. 4.2.1.
Jump up ^ Alison Futrell, A Sourcebook on the Roman Games (Blackwell, 2006), p. 124.
^ Jump up to: a b Adolf Berger. 1991. Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law. American Philosophical Society (reprint). p. 706.
Jump up ^ Marcel Mauss. 1979. "A Category of the human mind: the notion of the person, the notion of 'self'". In: Marcel Mauss. 1979. Sociology and psychology. Essays. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. p. 81.
Jump up ^ Ingram, John Kells (1911). "Slavery". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 216–227.
Jump up ^ Fergus Millar, The Crowd in Rome in the Late Republic (University of Michigan, 1998, 2002), pp. 23, 209.
Jump up ^ Mouritsen (2011), p. 36
Jump up ^ Adolf Berger, entry on libertus, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law (American Philological Society, 1953, 1991), p. 564.
Jump up ^ Berger, entry on libertinus, Encyclopedic Dictionary of Roman Law, p. 564.
Jump up ^ Jane F. Gardner. 2011. "Slavery and Roman Law," in The Cambridge World History of Slavery. Cambridge University Press. vol. 1, p. 429.
Jump up ^ Gamauf (2009)
Jump up ^ Kehoe, Dennis P. (2011). "Law and Social Function in the Roman Empire". The Oxford Handbook of Social Relations in the Roman World. Oxford University Press. pp. 147–8.
Jump up ^ Bradley (1994), pp. 2–3
Jump up ^ Cicero, Ad familiares 16.21
Jump up ^ Jerome, Chronological Tables 194.1
Jump up ^ William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology vol. 3, p. 1182 Archived 2006-12-07 at the Wayback Machine.
Jump up ^ http://spartacus-educational.com/ROMslaves.htm
Jump up ^ Dillon, Matthew and Garland, Lynda. Ancient Rome: From the Early Republic to the Assassination of Julius Caesar. Routledge, 2005. Pg 297
Jump up ^ McGinn, Thomas. Prostitution, Sexuality, and the Law in Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, 2003 Pg. 309
Jump up ^ Maylor, Adrienne The Poison King Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010 page 20.
Jump up ^ Maylor, Adrienne The Poison King Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010 pages 20-21.
Jump up ^ Strauss, pp. 190–194, 204
Jump up ^ Fields, pp. 79–81
Jump up ^ Losch, p. 56, n. 1
Jump up ^ see also Philippians 2:5-8.
Jump up ^ Bradley, Keith Resisting Slavery in Ancient Rome
Jump up ^ Naerebout and Singor, "De Oudheid", p. 296
Jump up ^ Siculus, Diodorus. The Civil Wars 111–121. 73–71 BC
^ Jump up to: a b Mackay, Christopher (2004). Ancient Rome: A Military and Political History. New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 298. ISBN 0521809185.
Jump up ^ H.S. Versnel, "Saturnus and the Saturnalia," in Inconsistencies in Greek and Roman Religion: Transition and Reversal in Myth and Ritual (Brill, 1993, 1994), p. 147
Jump up ^ Dolansky (2010), p. 492
Jump up ^ Seneca, Epistulae 47.14
Jump up ^ Barton (1993), p. 498
Jump up ^ Dolansky (2010), p. 484
Jump up ^ Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.24.22–23
Jump up ^ Mary Beard, J.A. North, and S.R.F. Price, Religions of Rome: A Sourcebook (Cambridge University Press, 1998), vol. 2, p. 124.
Jump up ^ Horace, Satires 2.7.4
Jump up ^ Hans-Friedrich Mueller, "Saturn", in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome (Oxford University Press, 2010), pp. 221,222.
Jump up ^ Horace, Satires, Book 2, poems 3 and 7
Jump up ^ Catherine Keane, Figuring Genre in Roman Satire (Oxford University Press, 2006), p. 90
Jump up ^ Maria Plaza, The Function of Humour in Roman Verse Satire: Laughing and Lying (Oxford University Press, 2006), pp. 298–300 et passim.
Jump up ^ Barton (1993), passim
Jump up ^ Richard P. Saller, "Symbols of Gender and Status Hierarchies in the Roman Household," in Women and Slaves in Greco-Roman Culture (Routledge, 1998; Taylor & Francis, 2005), p. 90.
Jump up ^ Plutarch, Roman Questions 100
Jump up ^ Saller, "Symbols of Gender and Status Hierarchies," p. 91.
Jump up ^ Servius, in his note to Aeneid 8.564, citing Varro.
Jump up ^ Livy, 22.1.18
Jump up ^ Peter F. Dorcey, The Cult of Silvanus: A Study in Roman Folk Religion (Brill, 1992), p. 109.
^ Jump up to: a b Bradley (1994), p. 18
Jump up ^ The calendar of Polemius Silvius is the only one to record the holiday.
Jump up ^ William Warde Fowler, The Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic (London, 1908), p. 176.
Jump up ^ Plutarch, Life of Camillus 33, as well as Silvius.
Jump up ^ By Macrobius, Saturnalia 1.11.36
Jump up ^ Jennifer A. Glancy, Slavery in Early Christianity (Oxford University Press, 2002; First Fortress Press, 2006), p. 27
Jump up ^ K.R. Bradley, "On the Roman Slave Supply and Slavebreeding," in Classical Slavery (Frank Cass Publishers, 1987, 1999, 2003), p. 63.
Jump up ^ Clauss (2001), pp. 33, 37–39
Jump up ^ Clauss (2001), pp. 40, 143
Jump up ^ Ephesians 6:5–9
Jump up ^ Colossians 4:1
Jump up ^ 1Corinthians 7:21.
Jump up ^ "1 Peter 2:18 Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh". biblehub.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
Jump up ^ Catholic Encyclopedia Slavery and Christianity
Jump up ^ Isaac, Benjamin (2006). "Proto-Racism in Graeco-Roman Antiquity". World Archaeology. 38 (1): 41. doi:10.1080/00438240500509819.
Jump up ^ Westermann, William Linn (1942). "Industrial Slavery in Roman Italy". The Journal of Economic History. 2 (2): 161.
Jump up ^ Hopkins, Keith (1993). "Novel Evidence for Roman Slavery". Past & Present. 138: 6, 8.
Jump up ^ Mellor, Ronald. The Historians of Ancient Rome. New York: Routledge, 1997. (467).
Jump up ^ Cicero. Ad familiares 16.6
Jump up ^ Bankston (2012), p. 209
Jump up ^ Cicero. Ad familiares 16.3
Jump up ^ Bankston (2012), p. 215
^ Jump up to: a b Segal, Erich. Roman Laughter: The Comedy of Plautus. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968. (99-169).
Jump up ^ Stewart, Roberta (2012). Plautus and Roman Slavery. Malden, MA: Oxford.
Jump up ^ Terence, Terence (2002). Andria. Bristol Classical Press.
Bibliography[edit]
Bankston, Zach (2012). Administrative Slavery in the Ancient Roman Republic: The Value of Marcus Tullius Tiro in Ciceronian Rhetoric. Rhetoric Review. 31. pp. 203–218. doi:10.1080/07350198.2012.683991.
Barton, Carlin A. (1993). The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster. Princeton University Press.
Bradley, Keith (1994). Slavery and Society at Rome. Cambridge University Press.
Clauss, Manfred (2001). The Roman Cult of Mithras: The God and His Mysteries. Translated by Richard Gordon. Routledge.
Dolansky, Fanny (2010). "Celebrating the Saturnalia: religious ritual and Roman domestic life". In Beryl Rawson. A Companion to Families in the Greek and Roman Worlds. Oxford, UK: Wiley-Blackwell. pp. 488–503. doi:10.1002/9781444390766.ch29. ISBN 978-1-4051-8767-1.
Gamauf, Richard (2009). "Slaves Doing Business: The role of Roman Law in the Economy of a Roman Household". European Review of History. 16 (3): 331–346. doi:10.1080/13507480902916837.
Harris, W. V. (2000). "Trade". The Cambridge Ancient History: The High Empire A.D. 70–192. 11. Cambridge University Press.
Mouritsen, Henrik (2011). The Freedman in the Roman World. Cambridge University Press.
Santosuosso, Antonio (2001). Storming the Heavens. Westview Press. ISBN 978-0-8133-3523-0.
Wickham, Jason Paul (2014). The Enslavement of War Captives by the Romans to 146 BC (PDF) (PhD thesis). Liverpool University.
External links[edit]
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