Social class in ancient Rome: Encyclopedia II - Social class in ancient Rome - Freedmen

Social class in ancient Rome - Freedmen

Freedmen (libertii) were freed slaves. Their status varied from generation to generation through the Republic; Livy states that freedmen in the Early Republic mainly joined the lower sub-classes of the plebeians, while Juvenal, writing during the Empire when financial considerations alone dictated economic class, describes freedmen who had been accepted into the equestrian class.

Freedmen made up the bulk of the civil service during the early Empire. Many became enormously wealthy as the result of bribes, fraud, or other forms of corruption, or were gifted large estates by the Emperor they served. Other freedmen engaged in commerce, amassing vast fortunes often only rivalled by those of the wealthiest patricians. The majority of freedmen, however, joined the plebeian classes, and often worked as farmers or tradesman.

Although freedmen were not allowed to vote during the Republic and the early Empire, children of freedmen were automatically granted the status of citizen. The Augustan poet Horace was himself the child of a freedman from Venusia in southern Italy.

Many of Juvenal's satires contain angry denouncements of the pretensions of wealthy freedmen, some 'with the chalk of the slave market still on their heel'. Although himself the son of a freedman, Juvenal saw these successful men as nouveaux riches who were far too ready to show off their (often ill-gotten) wealth.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Freedmen", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki