WEEK EIGHT

FREEDMEN AT ROME

Sources: Gardner/Wiedemann, Roman Household ch. 7

Petronius, Cena Trimalchionis from the Satyricon (translations: Loeb; Penguin Classics; Oxford World’s Classics; U. of California/ Methuen entitled Satyrica; also available in cheap Wordsworth edition); use also Courtney’s Companion (2001) and now especially Prag/Repath’s Handbook (2009)

On imperial freedmen: Tacitus, Annals esp. bks 11-13; Pliny, Letters 8.6; Suetonius, Life of Claudius; Statius, Silvae 3.3

EVERYONE to read and MAKE NOTES on the Cena, and be prepared to talk about it in class. Think about the following: Who was Petronius? When did he live? What sort of work is he writing and for whom? Does he have an ‘agenda’? How many points of view or perspectives are present in the work?

What light, if any, is thrown by the Cena upon freedmen and slaves in Roman society? Consider the portrayal of Trimalchio, his attitude to himself and his status; the account of his career and wealth; the nature of his social milieu.

Wider questions:

What in general was the status of freedmen at Rome? What restrictions/burdens did they carry compared to the freeborn? What social stigma did they suffer, why and from whom? What sort of occupations were open or closed to them? What degree of social mobility was possible for them and their descendants? Did this change over time? What does this tell us about the nature and importance of social integration in Roman society?

Why were imperial freedmen so important? What functions did they perform for the emperor? Why did this cause problems and who objected? To what extent did their position change during the course of the Principate? Think of the same in relation to eunuchs in the later empire (for week 9).

Bibliography: Gardner 1993 ch. 2

Duff 1928 (empire)

Treggiari 1969 (late republic); Watson 1967 ch. 19 (law)

Kirschenbaum 1987; Andreau 1999 ch. 6 and in Giardina 1993

D’Arms 1981 chs 5-6 and D’Arms 2000; Mouritsen 2005

Garnsey 1981 = 1998 ch. 2; Petersen 2006

Millar 1995; D’Ambra and Métraux 2006 (papers by Leach, George and Koortbojian)

Wiedemann 1988 review of W. Waldstein, Operae Libertorum

Rauh 1989 (auctioneers); Purcell 1983 (apparitores); E. Rawson 1975 (sculptors)

Gordon 1931; Williams 1995 (on Horace)

On the Satyricon:

Courtney 2001; Walsh 1970; Sullivan 1963

D’Arms 1981 ch. 5; Donahue 1999

On imperial freedmen: Duff 1928 ch. 8 and App. 3; Millar 1977, III.5

Weaver 1972 with repertorium at: http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/altg/eck/weaver.html

social mobility, Weaver 1967 (cf. Hopkins 1965)

Gregory 1995; Houston 2002