6. The Legal Status of Christians in the Roman World

Vicarius and Vicarianus in the Familia Caesaris

The Journal of Roman Studies ◽

10.2307/298657 ◽

1964 ◽

Vol 54 (1-2) ◽

pp. 117-128 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

P. R. C. Weaver

Keyword(s):

Social Structure ◽

Rural Areas ◽

Legal Status ◽

Occupational Status ◽

High Mobility ◽

High Rate ◽

Social Differentiation ◽

Reasonable Expectation ◽

Roman World ◽

Imperial Period

In the study of social structure in the Roman world of the first and second centuries A.D. nothing is more important or more complex than the slave and freed-slave classes. Their numbers are indeterminately large and predominant in many urban and some rural areas. Most have a reasonable expectation of early manumission and enjoy a high rate of social advancement. But it is important to distinguish between the different social levels of the slave classes in general in order to isolate, if possible, those elements of exceptionally high mobility which are an example and incentive to the rest. Among the most important of these in the early Imperial period are the slaves and freedmen of the Emperor, the Familia Caesaris, itself comprising groups of differing legal and occupational status. By comparing different groups of Imperial slaves both with each other and with those of equivalent legal status outside the Familia Caesaris it is possible to illustrate the extent of social differentiation within the slave classes.

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Marriage, Divorce, and Widowhood

10.1093/oso/9780190237578.003.0004 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Susan E. Hylen

Keyword(s):

Legal Status ◽

Economic Status ◽

Roman Law ◽

Civic Life ◽

Property Ownership ◽

Social Patterns ◽

Roman World ◽

The New Testament ◽

Women's Lives ◽

Status Of Women

This chapter addresses the legal, social, and economic status of women in marriage, divorce, and widowhood. Modern readers often imagine ancient women’s lives as being tightly circumscribed by the authority of their fathers or husbands. This portrait may be applicable to women in many places or times, but it is inaccurate in many respects for the Roman world of the first and second centuries. Although Roman law assumed women’s inferiority to men, it also created legal pathways for women’s independent legal status, property ownership, and participation in civic life. Similar social patterns are reflected in the New Testament.

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