This database refers to the people of servile condition known from the Ostia epigraphy from the Late Republic to the time of Diocletian. It includes all those individuals who were undoubtedly slaves or freedmen, but also those others who, for various reasons, it is possible to suspect that they were, although we cannot be sure of that. Our center of interest is not the inscriptions as such, which serve as a starting point (particularly those published in M. L. Caldelli et al. 2020. Italia Epigrafica Digitale, vol. II Regio I – Latium et Campania. Fascicolo I. Ostia et Portus- Inscriptiones Latinae, Rome), but the people, their legal status and their family relationships.
This research Project benefits from a geneous grant by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación: (2021-2024). PID2020-114696GB-I00 LIBERTOS Y LIBERTAS EN OSTIA (S.I A. C. – III D.C.): MOVILIDAD SOCIAL E IDENTIDAD DE GRUPO.
In the modern studies on freedpeople in ancient Rome, the dominant line leads into a dead end: since it is generally accepted that their former owners would inexorably claim the economic benefits they obtained after the manumission, the social mobility of some of their descendants cannot be explained. It is then necessary to seek an alternative explanation. The aim of the project is to argue that freedpeople were a social group with close internal relations, which allowed, in some cases, their social ascent and the entry of some of their descendants in municipal oligarchies. Ostia antica (between the first century BC and the third century AD) was chosen as a case study for two reasons: its extraordinary epigraphic wealth and the strong economic growth that the city, as port of Rome, experienced from the end of the 1st century AD. Thus, the optimal conditions were then given to attracting immigrant population and the success of some entrepreneurial freedpeople. Especially, the remarkable public presence of *augustales, served to reinforce the "group identity" of those freedpeople who had obtained a good economic position. The material used as source for this project is made up of the inscriptions set up by freedpeople and their families. Then, once the database is completed, we proceed to an analysis of three elements showing the features of this internal cohesion or “group identity”:
(1) Marriages. The starting hypothesis suggests that freedpeople mostly marry each other, often with people from the same servile family (they share the nomen), which indicates that they used to initiate these relationships when one of the two members of the couple, or both, was a slave;
(2) Necropolis. The evidence we have suggests that there is a greater presence of freedpeople in the Porta Laurentina cemetery.
(3) Self-representation (Selbstdarstellung). Certain markers, in particular, the indication of freedman between nomen and cognomen, are definitional, but other iconographic character or even epigraphy (the number of persons mentioned on gravestones) or adjectives may be put to good use. All these elements make up symbolic features that reinforce this group identity.
Finally, the study of the composition of the ordo Ostiensis allow us to establish a chronology of changes that occur with the entry of new members, some descendants of former slaves. We think that, as a result of this project, we will be able to propose a radically new conception of the freedmen in Ancient Rome, which will also have an impact on the way in which current societies approach the difficult question of the integration of immigrants.
This database refers to the people of servile condition known from the Ostia epigraphy from the Late Republic to the time of Diocletian. It includes all those individuals who were undoubtedly slaves or freedmen, but also those others who, for various reasons, it is possible to suspect that they were, although we cannot be sure of that. Our center of interest is not the inscriptions as such, which serve as a starting point (particularly those published in M. L. Caldelli et al. 2020. Italia Epigrafica Digitale, vol. II Regio I – Latium et Campania. Fascicolo I. Ostia et Portus- Inscriptiones Latinae, Rome), but the people, their legal status and their family relationships.
This research Project benefits from a geneous grant by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación: (2021-2024). PID2020-114696GB-I00 LIBERTOS Y LIBERTAS EN OSTIA (S.I A. C. – III D.C.): MOVILIDAD SOCIAL E IDENTIDAD DE GRUPO.
In the modern studies on freedpeople in ancient Rome, the dominant line leads into a dead end: since it is generally accepted that their former owners would inexorably claim the economic benefits they obtained after the manumission, the social mobility of some of their descendants cannot be explained. It is then necessary to seek an alternative explanation. The aim of the project is to argue that freedpeople were a social group with close internal relations, which allowed, in some cases, their social ascent and the entry of some of their descendants in municipal oligarchies. Ostia antica (between the first century BC and the third century AD) was chosen as a case study for two reasons: its extraordinary epigraphic wealth and the strong economic growth that the city, as port of Rome, experienced from the end of the 1st century AD. Thus, the optimal conditions were then given to attracting immigrant population and the success of some entrepreneurial freedpeople. Especially, the remarkable public presence of *augustales, served to reinforce the "group identity" of those freedpeople who had obtained a good economic position. The material used as source for this project is made up of the inscriptions set up by freedpeople and their families. Then, once the database is completed, we proceed to an analysis of three elements showing the features of this internal cohesion or “group identity”:
(1) Marriages. The starting hypothesis suggests that freedpeople mostly marry each other, often with people from the same servile family (they share the nomen), which indicates that they used to initiate these relationships when one of the two members of the couple, or both, was a slave;
(2) Necropolis. The evidence we have suggests that there is a greater presence of freedpeople in the Porta Laurentina cemetery.
(3) Self-representation (Selbstdarstellung). Certain markers, in particular, the indication of freedman between nomen and cognomen, are definitional, but other iconographic character or even epigraphy (the number of persons mentioned on gravestones) or adjectives may be put to good use. All these elements make up symbolic features that reinforce this group identity.
Finally, the study of the composition of the ordo Ostiensis allow us to establish a chronology of changes that occur with the entry of new members, some descendants of former slaves. We think that, as a result of this project, we will be able to propose a radically new conception of the freedmen in Ancient Rome, which will also have an impact on the way in which current societies approach the difficult question of the integration of immigrants.
