Description

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This book treats the slavery problem in the Roman provinces in the Balkan-Danubian area (Dalmatia, Pannonia, Dacia, Moesia) which corresponds with territories of former communist countries (Hungary, former Yugoslavia, Romania and Bulgaria). This problem was partially treated before 1989, but from the perspective of class struggle between the slaves and their masters. The work is structured in two main parts: one deals with imperial freedmen and slaves, the other with private freedmen. The difference between these two categories is essential: the imperial freedmen and slaves are officially employed in important bureaus of the emperors' offices and their material and social status is often very high, while the private freedmen who could overcame their juridical status through wealth and municipal honours were only a few. In comparison with other western provinces of the Roman Empire, the social status of freedmen in the Illyrian provinces is not essentially different. The specific features of this social category in the studied area is given by the functions occupied by the imperial freedmen and slaves in administrations (especially in mining administration, which was a particularity for provinces like Dacia, Dalmatia or Moesia Superior). (Text in French language)