Cursus Servorum: Gendered Patterns in Owners Valuations

Enslavement is an essential element of Roman Comedy. Throughout the genre, both men and women attempt to appeal to their enslavers, in order to improve their status within a household or to convince their owners to manumit them. This thesis explores the distinct ways in which the owner classes of Roman Comedy assess enslaved men and women, how the enslavers assign tasks to their enslaved, and by what standards they determine who is promoted or freed and who is punished. In this genre, enslavers praise an enslaved man for his loyalty and ingenuity, also known as heroic malitia. A man can improve his status and gain freedom with these traits. Female ingenuity, however, has no value. The owner classes value an enslaved woman’s former civic status, beauty, exoticness, and ability to attract wealthy men. An enslaved woman’s status and labor within the home are based on a combination of these traits. However, her market price and her potential for revenue after purchase is an assessment that the owner classes in this genre reserve for a woman enslaved for sexual purposes. Women must rely on the favor these traits attract, either domestic or financial, to gain their freedom. Although enslaved men and women show the same desire for manumission and must appeal to a member of the owner class to gain their freedom, the paths to freedom are very different for men and women.Bachelor of Fine Art