Freed Slaves and Roman Imperial Culture

Argues that freed slaves contributed to the transformation of Roman values under the Principate by modelling strategies for the negotiation of power that were appropriated by the aristocracy. Examines the profound impact that a marginal social group had on the development of elite culture.

---

During the transition from Republic to Empire, the Roman aristocracy adapted traditional values to accommodate the advent of monarchy. Freed Slaves and Roman Imperial Culture examines the ways in which members of the elite appropriated strategies from freed slaves to negotiate their relationship to the princeps and to redefine measures of individual progress. Primarily through the medium of inscribed burial monuments, Roman freedmen entered a broader conversation about power, honor, virtue, memory, and the nature of the human life course. Through this process, former slaves exerted a profound influence on the transformation of aristocratic values at a critical moment in Roman history.