- For the category list, see Freed Slaves.
A Freedman or Freedwoman, or in Latin, Libertus (freedman) and Liberta (freedwoman), was a slave who had bought or been rewarded with their freedom.The technical term for freeing a slave is manumission, which comes from two Latin words: manus (‘hand') and emittere (‘to let go'). Even though he was now free, a freedman had a duty of obligation to his former master and that meant becoming his client and remaining tied to him in that mutually-advantageous relationship. Freedmen usually took their former master's name. Before the Principate era of Roman history, freedmen could never become equestrians or reach senatorial rank; they suffered the social stigma of having been slaves, and were looked down on as coarse and vulgar. Though enterprising and wealthy ex-slaves were paradoxically seen as an enhancement to the social status of the Patronus (former dominus), as they would usually become his Cliens (social clients) after their manumission.
Grave stone of a Freedman and his wife.