Status Libertatis: Causes and Extinction of Slavery in Rome
Legal Capacity and Slave Status
In ancient Rome, individuals could be either free or enslaved. Only free persons possessed full legal capacity. Who were considered slaves? Individuals could be born into slavery, or they could fall into slavery after birth. Children born to enslaved mothers inherited their status. Only the mother’s status was considered, as slaves could not legally marry, and the father was deemed unknown. Later, however, it was accepted that a child would be free if the mother had been free at any point during the pregnancy.
Causes of Slavery
The causes of slavery were diverse:
- Iure Gentium (Accepted by all people): Captives of war, any enemy taken prisoner whose life was spared, became slaves. Rome had two measures that mitigated this rule: Ius Postliminii (freed captives regained their previous status as if they had never been enslaved) and Lex Fictio Cornelia (if liberation didn’t occur, a legal fiction considered the captive dead at the moment of capture).
- Iure Civile (Specific to Roman people): In classical Roman law, causes of slavery included:
- Enslavement by another person (e.g., children by their parents).
- Revocatio: Condemnation to capital punishment or work in mines, resulting in slave status without a master.
- Selling a free person into slavery under false pretenses.
- Sexual contact with slaves (in certain circumstances).
- Ingratitude of a freed slave towards their former master.
- Selling a child three times across the Tiber River.
Condition of a Slave
A slave was not considered a person under Roman law. Slaves could not:
- Marry or have a legally recognized family.
- Own property or be a creditor or debtor.
- Appear in court, either as plaintiff or defendant.
- Make a will or inherit property.
Liability for damages caused by a slave fell upon the owner. If a slave was abandoned, they did not become free but rather a Servus Sine Domino (slave without a master). The owner retained certain rights, and the slave could be claimed by anyone. The owner had absolute power over the slave and could even hand them over to an injured party as compensation.
Extinction of Slavery
Slavery could end through Manumissio (formal emancipation) or without formal manumission, by operation of law.
Manumissio (Formal Emancipation)
Manumissio was the act by which an owner freed a slave. There were solemn and non-solemn forms:
Solemn Forms:
- Manumissio Vindicta: A mock trial where a third party (adsertor libertatis) claimed the slave’s freedom before a magistrate.
- Manumissio Testamento: Granting freedom in a will, either directly or by instructing the heir to emancipate the slave.
- Manumissio in Ecclesia: Introduced later, the owner declared the slave’s freedom before church authorities.
Slaves freed through solemn forms became Roman citizens.
Non-Solemn Forms:
- Informal methods like a letter or inviting the slave to dine at the owner’s table. These lacked initial legal validity, but the praetor offered protection, and the Lex Iunia Norbana later recognized them. Freed slaves became Latini Iuniani, not Roman citizens. Upon their death, their property reverted to their former master. Justinian later formalized these methods.
Restrictions on Manumission
- Lex Caninia Fufia: Limited the number of slaves that could be freed in a will.
- Lex Aelia Sentia: Imposed conditions on manumission, such as minimum age requirements for both the owner and the slave.
Effects of Manumission
- Libertus: A freed slave.
- Ingenuus: A person born free.
- Patronus: The former master.
The freedman had certain obligations to their former master (patronus), such as providing services (operae). The patronus also retained certain rights, including inheritance rights. However, there were limitations on both sides to prevent abuse.
Liberalis Causa
Disputes over a person’s status as free or enslaved were resolved through a special trial called Liberalis Causa.