Nicolas Tran

Le «procès des foulons» : l 'occupation litigieuse d'un espace vicinal par des artisans romains

Le dossier que la tradition historiographique designe sous le nom de «proces des foulons» est constitue, pour l’essentiel, d’un texte decrivant de maniere synthetique une procedure judiciaire. Liee a l’occupation d’un lieu public, celle-ci met en jeu l’histoire d’un college de devots du dieu Fons, en fait forme de foulons installes sur l’Esquilin. Au cours du «proces», toute l’argumentation de la defense parait fondee sur l’ambiguite. Les fullones / fontani jouent sur l’ambiguite de leur identite, a la fois professionnelle, collegiale et vicinale, mais aussi sur le retentissement de celle-ci sur la nature du locus incrimine. Ils mettent en avant une legitimite collegiale, face a des accusations d’ordre professionnel, pour s’abriter derriere des privileges reconnus d’ordinaire aux collectivites de riverains de la Ville.

The Work Statuses of Slaves and Freedmen in the Great Ports of the Roman World (First Century BCE-Second Century CE)

This article investigates the working identities of slaves and freedmen involved in the economies of Roman ports between the first century BCE and the second century CE. Textual evidence (from manuscripts to more diverse epigraphic productions) reveals the great diversity that predominated within these social categories. This heterogeneity was related to the level of technical difficulty involved in the tasks that were performed and thus to workers’ professional skills, as was the case in other urban economies. Nevertheless, factors specific to port economies, particularly with regard to long-distance trade, were also important. The opposition between unskilled workers and trusted agents represents only a part of this broad spectrum. The complexity that can be observed lies in the lack of correspondence—or even the dissonance—between the legal, social, and work statuses of individuals.