The Epigraphic Habits of the Slaves and Freed Slaves of the Julio-Claudian Households
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University of Calgary PRISM: University of Calgary's Digital Repository Graduate Studies The Vault: Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2013-10-02 The Epigraphic Habits of the Slaves and Freed Slaves of the Julio-Claudian Households Penner, Lindsay Rae Penner, L. R. (2013). The Epigraphic Habits of the Slaves and Freed Slaves of the Julio-Claudian Households (Unpublished doctoral thesis). University of Calgary, Calgary, AB. doi:10.11575/PRISM/28131 http://hdl.handle.net/11023/1081 doctoral thesis University of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission. Downloaded from PRISM: https://prism.ucalgary.ca UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY The Epigraphic Habits of the Slaves and Freed Slaves of the Julio-Claudian Households by Lindsay Rae Penner A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY DEPARTMENT OF GREEK AND ROMAN STUDIES CALGARY, ALBERTA SEPTEMBER, 2013 © Lindsay Rae Penner 2013 i Abstract This study examines the epigraphic evidence and literary texts relating to the slaves, freed slaves, and staff of the households of the Julio-Claudians. Rather than focusing on the Julio-Claudian emperors alone, the integration of their relatives places the Imperial household in its full domestic context, without separating it from other households which shared the same physical space and social situation. While the literary sources provide important context and details, the bulk of the information concerning the Julio-Claudian household comes from the epigraphic material, with nearly 1,800 names surviving. Through the use of rigorous statistical analysis, it becomes possible to achieve a thorough, multifaceted understanding of the Imperial household itself, its early development, and its interactions with other households with which it was closely associated. The epigraphic evidence plainly illustrates the shift from senatorial household to Imperial household, the development of separate domestic and civil service components, and the gradual formation of a new social class of Imperial slaves and freed slaves. Those belonging to the emperors themselves as well as to their relatives shared similar commemorative patterns, particularly with regard to the importance of occupation as a marker of Imperial identity and a way of recording one’s position in the complex occupational hierarchy. Their marriage patterns and the epigraphic habits of their own households illustrated their high social status relative to their peers of equivalent legal status. As for the Julio-Claudian households themselves, there was a great deal of overlap between them, in terms of the transfer of slaves, the sharing of staff, the creation of familial units across household boundaries, and the development of a functional ii system for running joint households. These Julio-Claudian households tended to specialize in particular areas, strongly delineated by gender: male-owned households had very different gender and occupational distributions of household staff than did female- owned households. This would have prevented occupational redundancy and enabled the smooth and regular integration and dissolution of joint households, emphasizing that elite households – and even the Imperial household – were not intended to function entirely self-sufficiently, but instead within the larger domestic context of the extended family. iii Acknowledgements First, my sincerest thanks go to the University of Calgary and to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Without such generous academic and financial support, I would never have been able give so much of my time and energy to my research. Among other funding, the Choquette Family Foundation Global Experience Graduate Scholarship and the Faculty of Humanities Graduate Scholarship enabled me to work on my dissertation at a great distance, gaining invaluable experience working and attending conferences while I was living in the Netherlands. In addition, I am extremely grateful to the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The doctoral Canada Graduate Scholarship I received enabled me to concentrate on the early stages of my research, and this work would not be what it is without that support. Next, I have called the Department of Greek and Roman Studies home for more years than I care to remember, and the academic and personal support and encouragement that I have received here have made me the scholar I am today. In particular, my supervisor, Dr. Hanne Sigismund Nielsen: she inspired me to start down this path twelve years ago when I wandered into her course about Roman women and family, and then stayed permanently. Hanne’s useful comments and helpful pushes were invaluable in writing this dissertation. The members of my committee, Dr. Lisa Hughes and Dr. Peter Toohey, have given me years of support and advice, and their comments on earlier drafts of this dissertation were an enormous help. My external examiners, Dr. Francine Michaud and Dr. Ray Laurence, provided valuable comments on my writing and a great deal of encouragement in the final stage of revisions and during the defense. Finally, my graduate experience wouldn’t have been the same without my fellow graduate students. iv To those who went before me and to those who are coming after me, thank you for hours of discussion, for endless encouragement, and for more laughs than I can count. The path is so much easier when you don’t have to walk it alone, and I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather have walked it with than all of you. To my family, I’m so thankful for your love and support. My parents, John and Eileen Penner, and my brother, Matt Penner, have given me so much more than I can ever put into words, and without them, I wouldn’t have the determination and the confidence that I needed to complete this dissertation. To my in-laws, the Mendritzkis, thank you so much for your encouragement and your support. Last, but certainly not least, I’m eternally grateful for my husband, Stefan Mendritzki. I could never have finished this dissertation without your love, your endless support, and your assistance (and your reminders that I needed to stop writing and remember to eat). Thank you from the bottom of my heart. v Dedication Anton Penner, avo amantissimo, vixit annis LXXVII, mensibus V, diebus VII. vi Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ i Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ iii Dedication ............................................................................................................................v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures and Illustrations ....................................................................................... xvi List of Symbols, Abbreviations and Nomenclature ......................................................... xix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................1 CHAPTER TWO: BACKGROUND ...................................................................................7 Definitions .......................................................................................................................7 Dynasty .......................................................................................................................7 Civil Service ...............................................................................................................9 Domus and Familia: Household and Family? ..........................................................10 Epigraphic Evidence ......................................................................................................13 Challenges ................................................................................................................14 Methodological Possibilities ....................................................................................17 Demographics of Ethnicity and Status ...............................................................17 The Epigraphic Habit .........................................................................................20 Households of the Elite ......................................................................................22 Families of the Non-Elite ...................................................................................28 Statistical Analyses ............................................................................................32 Legislating Slaves, Freed Slaves, and the Household ...................................................34 Slavery ......................................................................................................................34 Manumission ............................................................................................................37 Lex Fufia Caninia: 2 B.C.E. ..............................................................................38