Servus publicus and servus privatus in Ancient Rome: Legal Status and Social Status

Abstract

Public slaves were a special group of slaves. As a rule, their legal situation was analogous to private slaves. Hence, there are relatively few preserved sources of law regarding this slave group. There are relatively few Romanist studies regarding the legal situation of public slaves. A larger number of these studies appeared only in the second half of the 20th century. The subject of this study is to compare the legal and social status of both groups of slaves. The purpose is to show a different application of legal provisions depending on their suitability for public matters and the education of public slaves.

Keywords

• legal status
• social status
• private slaves
• public slaves