The Slave in Greece and Rome by Jean Andreau

Author:Jean Andreau [Jean Andreau, Raymond Descat]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Wisconsin Press

Familia Rustica and Familia Urbana

The life of the Roman slave and his relations with his masters prove to be very similar to those of Greek slaves. The Latin word familia refers to all the dependents of the paterfamilias, and in particular all his slaves. The Romans divided the latter into “urban slaves,” the familia urbana, and “country slaves,” slaves of the land, the familia rustica. “The rural slave and the urban slave can be told apart not by place, but by type of work,” wrote the jurist Paul (Digest, 33.10.12, Paul).16

For instance, the insularius, who looked after an apartment house for which he also collected the rent, belonged to his master’s urban slaves, no matter where he lived, because he took care of living quarters. Likewise for the servants of country residences. On the other hand, the treasurer (dispensator), who was in charge of the accounts of agricultural estates (rusticarum rerum rationes), was tied to the farm slaves, because his functions involved working the lands (Digest, 50.26.166 pr., Pomponius). If slaves who lived in town were engaged in rural tasks on a long-term basis, they too were considered to be farm slaves. Was this frequent? For the large domains, certainly not; farm slaves on large estates definitely lived in the countryside, on the master’s estate. But perhaps some farm slaves of small landowners lived in town with their masters; this arrangement was probably not exceptional in small cities, where the difference between town and country was less pronounced and the distance between the urban center and the lands very short.

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