Serving Time: The Complicity of Clocks in Roman Slavery
By Kassandra J. Miller (Colby College)
By the Roman Imperial period, tools for hourly timekeeping, such as sundials and water clocks, had become so widespread that monumental versions could be found in many urban squares, sanctuaries, and gymnasia; and private clocks had become common sights in the gardens (and even on the persons—see Talbert 2017) of the sociocultural elite.
Saturnalia at Pliny’s Laurentine Villa and Trajanic Hierarchism
By Ryan Pasco (Boston University)
In his Laurentine villa letter, Pliny the Younger describes a chamber where he avoids the Saturnalian celebrations of the enslaved people in his household (Plin. Ep. 2.17.22-4). In this paper, I consider this account of the Saturnalia, a festival that notionally relaxes everyday hierarchies, alongside his praise of Trajan in the Panegyricus for restoring normative social distinctions that his predecessors distorted or inverted.
Revisiting Conditional Freedom in the Delphic Manumission Inscriptions
By Deborah Kamen (University of Washington)
Of the inscriptions from Hellenistic Delphi that record enslaved people sold to Apollo “on the condition of freedom,” about a quarter include an obligation to remain by (paramenein) their former owner, usually until the latter’s death.
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Pastores: Suetonius on Caesar’s Reforms
By Selena Ross (Rutgers University)
In the list of Caesar’s actions as dictator provided by Suetonius in his Divus Iulius, one item stands out: the requirement that "neve ii, qui pecuariam facerent, minus tertia parte puberum ingenuorum inter pastores haberent" (Suet. Iul. 42). This reference raises far more questions than it answers, from the identities of the people who would be involved to the motives and potential effects of such a policy. The Latin used does not offer much clarity, leaving room for debate around the intended meaning of puberum ingenuorum.
Devalued Differences in Roman Imperial Slavery
By Emily Ann Lamond (University of Michigan)
By the turn of the first century CE in Rome, the slave market divided people with disabilities into two broad categories. From literature, we are best informed about those who were chosen for their unusual physical attributes or behaviours which made them exotic luxury items (e.g., Martial Ep. 6.39, 8.13, SHA, Comm. 11.1, and Pliny HN 34.6; Dench 2005: 279-292, Garland 2010, Trentin 2011).