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Introduction

Freed Persons in the Roman World: Status, Diversity, and Representation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

By
Sinclair W. Bell ,
Dorian Borbonus  and
Rose MacLean
Edited by
Sinclair W. Bell ,
Dorian Borbonus  and
Rose MacLean
Sinclair W. Bell
Affiliation:
Northern Illinois University
Dorian Borbonus
Affiliation:
University of Dayton, Ohio
Rose MacLean
Affiliation:
University of California, Santa Barbara
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Summary

This introductory chapter places the volume within its wider academic context through discussion of its method, background, and content. First, the chapter frames the debates that gave rise to the collection and sets out the central research questions that the chapters address. Second, it summarizes the current state of the literature, including a discussion of how similar lines of inquiry have developed in different disciplines (archaeology, legal history, epigraphy, and ancient history). Third, it discusses the contents and significant conclusions of the volume by summarizing the chapters and then by highlighting the major commonalities between them. Fourth, it outlines the volume’s unique contributions to the debate and sketches avenues for future research.

Keywords

social historyRoman slaverymanumissionsocial statusethnic diversityvisual and literary representation
Type
Chapter
Information
Freed Persons in the Roman World
Status, Diversity, and Representation
 , pp. 1 - 29
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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