Junian Latinity in the Roman Empire Volume 1 - (Edinburgh Studies in Ancient Slavery) by Pedro López Barja & Carla Masi Doria & Ulrike Roth

Book Synopsis

This book offers new historical, legal and literary explorations of a status held by uncountable formerly enslaved persons in the Roman Empire: Junian Latinity.
It is the first book in any language to provide comprehensive multi-disciplinary study of this status. Divided in two parts, the book sets the scene with six chapters that discuss the legal innovations that created Junian Latinity, as well as the historical contexts in which the status was conceived and in which it developed - from the late republican period to the early medieval world. Four chapters in the second book part offer then new research on key Latin literary texts to provide fresh insights into the role of Junian Latinity in Roman imperial society. The book makes a strong case for the centrality of Junian Latinity in the Roman Empire and the importance of its modern study.

Review Quotes

The project behind this book is truly fascinating and can serve as an example for successful cooperation in a multi-disciplinary approach to a complex phenomenon. Our understanding of the legal backgrounds, the historical development, but also the economic, social and cultural framework that the freedmen and -women without Roman citizenship encountered will clearly be enriched through the presented interdisciplinary research into all of the available source types.--Kaja Harter-Uibopuu, Universität Hamburg

This excellent book offers fresh insights into the so-called 'black hole' of Junian Latinity in Roman society created by Augustus' social legislation, with due attention to its history and survival down to late antiquity, based on a review of the legal and literary evidence and some fascinating case-studies.--Jean-Jacques Aubert, University of Neuchâtel