The Late Roman Colonate
A New Status between Slave and Free
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23408992 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Noel Lenski (Classics and History, Yale University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Publication date | 2022-10-20 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | CHAPTER |
| Venue | The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Slaveries (SOURCE_BOOK) |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199575251.013.24 |
| OpenAlex | W4307855944 |
| ISBN | 9780199575251 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 11 |
The ‘bound colonate’ is a subject of controversy among scholars, some of whom argue that it existed as a new status between free and slave, while others feel it was merely a fiscal concern that has been exaggerated into a historiographic myth. A survey of the evidence confirms that the bound colonate grew out of fiscal registration in the late third century but then took on a life of its own as a third status of semi-servility in the following century. It had become fully articulated by the early fifth century such that the many peasants enmeshed in it were compelled to live as permanent tenants bound to the land on which they were born and burdened with numerous impediments to their freedom. The bound colonate survived intact in the eastern empire through the sixth century but was modified in various forms in the post-Roman successor states of the West.
Ancient history · Economic history · Empire · Mythology · Political science · Roman Empire · Subject (documents) · Successor cardinal · Classical Antiquity Studies · Classics · History
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |