About: Ancient Roman freedmen

The Roman practice of slavery utilized slaves for both production and domestic labour, overseen by their wealthy masters. Urban and domestic slaves especially could achieve high levels of education, acting as agents and representatives of their masters' affairs and finances. Within Roman law there was a set of practices for freeing trusted slaves, granting them a limited form of Roman Citizenship or Latin Rights. These freed slaves were known in Latin as liberti (freedmen), and formed a class set apart from freeborn Romans. While freedmen were barred from most forms of social mobility in Roman society, many achieved high levels of wealth and status. The legal and social status of freedmen remained a point of cultural and legal contention throughout the Republic and Empire.