Slaves and freedmen played an important yet understudied role in the literary culture of the Roman Republic. Though their work went largely uncredited, they fulfilled vital roles as editors, researchers, and collaborators in the service of Rome’s literary and political elite.
During this public lecture, Prof. Flower (Princeton University) — Rome-SPQR Society Choice Lecturer – – will illustrate the stories of these gifted and highly educated young men, from Licinius the flute-player, who shaped the rhetorical style of the orator Gaius Gracchus, to the grammarian and teacher Tyrannio of Amisus, who was brought to Rome as a war captive.
Highlighting the unique social prestige of literary production and intellectual performance in a society pervaded by slave labor, Prof. Flower will show how the exorbitant prices paid for the highly educated encouraged a complex system of training young boys for the marketplace or acquiring educated captives as booty. Enslaved and manumitted intellectuals, far from being menial workers, shared close relationships with leading Romans of the day, and were relied on as coauthors and collaborators in a range of genres, with some gaining fame as authors themselves.
With lively case studies and insightful new interpretations of the ancient sources, this lecture will paint a more nuanced picture of enslaved labor in ancient Rome, revealing how the contributions of enslaved intellectuals were closely linked to the ambitious development of Latin literary culture and the dissemination of knowledge.