Editing Manumission (section)

==Ancient Rome==
{{See also|Slavery in ancient Rome#Manumission|Ancient Roman Freedmen}}

Under [[Roman law]], a slave had no [[Person (law)|personhood]] and was protected under law mainly as his or her master's property. A slave who had been manumitted was a ''[[libertus]]'' ([[grammatical gender|feminine]] ''liberta'') and a citizen.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Beard & Crawford |title=Rome in the Late Republic |publisher=Duckworth |year=1999 |isbn=978-0715629284 |location=London |pages=41, 48 |orig-year=1985}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Hornblower & Spawforth |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726/page/334 |title=The Oxford Classical Dictionary |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1996 |isbn=978-0198661726 |location=Oxford |pages=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780198661726/page/334 334, 609]}}</ref> Manumissions were subject to a [[Vicesima libertatis|state tax]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Harrsch |first=Mary |date=2016-03-16 |title=Roman Slavery and the Rate of Manumission |url=https://ancientimes.blogspot.com/2016/03/roman-slavery-and-rate-of-manumission.html |access-date=2020-12-04 |website=Roman Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zelnick-Abramovitz |first=Rachel |url=https://brill.com/view/title/24276 |title=Taxing Freedom in Thessalian Manumission Inscriptions |date=2013-09-05 |publisher=Brill |isbn=978-90-04-25662-0 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Mariemont manumission relief 02.JPG|thumb|250 px|Relief depicting the manumission of two slaves, with ''[[Pileus (hat)|pileus]]'' hats (1st century BC, [[Musée royal de Mariemont]]).]]
The soft felt ''[[Pileus (hat)|pileus]]'' hat was a symbol of the freed slave and manumission; slaves were not allowed to wear them:<ref name="sacred">{{Cite book |last1=Tate |first1=Karen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b7KbLLjzuRgC |title=Sacred Places of Goddess: 108 Destinations |last2=Olson |first2=Brad |publisher=CCC Publishing |year=2005 |isbn=1-888729-11-2 |pages=360–361}}</ref>

{{blockquote|Among the Romans the cap of felt was the emblem of liberty. When a slave obtained his freedom he had his head shaved, and wore instead of his hair an undyed pileus (πίλεον λευκόν, [[Diodorus Siculus]] Exc. Leg. 22 p625, ed. Wess.; [[Plautus|Plaut.]] Amphit. I.1.306; [[Persius]], V.82). Hence the phrase ''servos ad pileum vocare'' is a summons to liberty, by which slaves were frequently called upon to take up arms with a promise of liberty ([[Livy|Liv.]] XXIV.32). "The figure of Liberty on some of the coins of [[Antoninus Pius]], struck A.D. 145, holds this cap in the right hand".<ref>Yates, James. Entry "Pileus" in William Smith's ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' ([[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]], London, 1875).</ref>}}

The cap was an attribute carried by [[Libertas]], the Roman goddess of freedom, who was also recognized by the rod (''vindicta'' or ''festuca''),<ref name="sacred" /> used ceremonially in the act of ''manumissio vindicta'', Latin for "freedom by the rod" (emphasis added):

{{blockquote|The master brought his slave before the ''[[magistratus]]'', and stated the grounds (''[[causa]]'') of the intended manumission. "The lictor of the magistratus laid a rod (''[[festuca]]'') on the head of the slave, accompanied with certain formal words, in which he declared that he was a free man ''ex Jure Quiritium''", that is, "''vindicavit in libertatem''". The master in the meantime held the slave, and after he had pronounced the words "''hunc hominem liberum volo''," he turned him round (momento turbinis exit Marcus Dama, Persius, Sat. V.78) and let him go (''emisit e manu'', or ''misit manu'', Plaut. Capt. II.3.48), whence the general name of the act of manumission. The ''magistratus'' then declared him to be free [...]<ref>Long, George. Entry "[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Manumissio.html Manumission]" in William Smith's ''A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities'' (John Murray, London, 1875).</ref>}}

A [[Freedman|freed slave]] customarily took the former owner's family name, which was the ''nomen'' (see [[Roman naming conventions]]) of the master's ''[[gens]]''. The former owner became the [[Patronage in ancient Rome|patron]] (''patronus'') and the freed slave became a client (''cliens'') and retained certain obligations to the former master, who owed certain obligations in return. A freed slave could also acquire multiple patrons.

A freed slave became a citizen. Not all citizens, however, held the same freedoms and privileges. In particular contrast, [[Women in Ancient Rome|women could become citizens]], but female [[Roman citizenship]] did not allow anywhere near the same protections, independence, or rights as men, either in the public or private spheres.  In reflection of unwritten, yet strictly enforced contemporary social codes, women were also legally prevented from participating in public and civic society. For example: through the illegality of women voting or holding public office.

The freed slaves' rights were limited or defined by particular [[Statutory law|statutes]]. A freed male slave could become a civil servant but not hold [[Roman magistrate|higher magistracies]] (see, for instance, ''[[apparitor]]'' and ''[[Scriba (ancient Rome)|scriba]]''), serve as [[Imperial cult (ancient Rome)|priests of the emperor]] or hold any of the other highly respected public positions.

If they were sharp at business, however, there were no social limits to the wealth that freedmen could amass. Their children held full legal rights, but [[Social class in ancient Rome|Roman society was stratified]]. Famous Romans who were the sons of freedmen include the [[Augustan literature (ancient Rome)|Augustan]] poet [[Horace]] and the 2nd century emperor, [[Pertinax]].

A notable freedman in [[Latin literature]] is [[Trimalchio]], the ostentatiously ''[[nouveau riche]]'' character in the ''[[Satyricon]]'', by [[Petronius]].