This article is about the quasi-marital relationship. For the military unit, see Contubernium (Roman army unit).
Not to be confused with Concubinatus.
In ancient Rome, contubernium was a quasi-marital relationship[2] between two slaves or between a slave (servus) and a free person who was usually a former slave or the child of a former slave. A slave involved in such a relationship was called contubernalis,[2] the basic and general meaning of which was "companion".[a]
Under Roman law, the slave was treated as property (res) and lacked the legal personhood to enter into legitimate forms of marriage. Although not codified as marriage (conubium) in Roman law, contubernium had legal implications that were addressed by Roman jurists in case law[3] and was intended to be a lasting, ideally permanent union modelled on marital affection (affectio maritalis)[4] that was approved and recognized by the slave's owner.[5] Inscriptions indicate that contubernium with the intentions it expressed was primarily a concern for "upwardly mobile" slaves and former slaves who served the imperial house (familia Caesaris) and bureaucracy or who belonged to houses of senatorial or equestrian rank.[6] In contubernium when only one partner remained enslaved, most often the free person was a freedwoman (liberta).
Contubernium institutionalized[7] the slave's honorable intention to form an enduring heterosexual union with economic, emotional, and parental benefits—an acknowledgment of the inherent contradictions between the status of the slave as property and "tool" (instrumentum) and the individual's evident humanity and desire to participate in what Romans regarded as normal family life.
^AE 1947, 77 = SEG 21, 1058
^ abcTreggiari 1981, p. 43.
^Martin Schermaier, "Neither Fish nor Fowl: Some Grey Areas of Roman Slave Law", The Position of Roman Slaves: Social Realities and Legal Differences, Dependency and Slavery Studies, vol. 6 (De Gruyter, 2023), p. 252.
^Susan Treggiari, "Concubinae," Papers of the British School at Rome 49 (1981), p. 59.
^Schermaier, "Neither Fish nor Fowl", p. 252.
^Treggiari 1981, p. 59.
^Schermaier, "Neither Fish nor Fowl", p. 252.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
In ancient Rome, contubernium was a quasi-marital relationship between two slaves or between a slave (servus) and a free person who was usually a former...
cavalry (14-30 men). Often confused with decanus. Decanus – Leader of a contubernium (a legionary tent group of 8 men). Discens – Miles in training for an...
cited verses from the Tanakh to the first Roman contubernium, who then converted. The second contubernium was also converted, after he juxtaposed God's...
was in an unofficial type of relationship with Vespasian, known as contubernium, before his marriage. According to Suetonius, after the death of Vespasian's...
contubernium, which consisted of the squad of eight legionaries who lived in the same tent, plus the two support units/servants of the contubernium....
contubernia, with support staff making up the remainder of the 100 men. Each contubernium (the minimal unit in the Roman legion) consisted of eight soldiers who...
fought first and foremost with his contubernium, the basic eight man unit of the Roman army. The men of the same contubernium fought, slept, ate, and trained...
some rather loosely defined, along with quasi-marital unions such as contubernium among slaves and monogamous concubinage (concubinatus). Birth outside...
slept with heads to the aisle. The single tent with its men was called contubernium, also used for "squad". A squad during some periods was 8 men or fewer...
have soldiered in the Hird or royal guard, since Sven used the word contubernium in reference to them. There is also a Saxo to be found on a list of clergy...
cavalry unit (turma) of 10 to 30 eques legionis. Decanus: commanded a contubernium or ten men tent party, eight soldiers and two non-combatants. A group...
historical record. Concubinatus was distinguished in Roman law from contubernium, a de facto marriage in which the partners were both slaves or one was...
(local church) Decurio Roman Executive Appointed Divisional (command of a contubernium of 8 soldiers) Desai Indo-Aryan Administrative Appointed/ hereditary...
us that each carroballista was carried by mules and operated by one contubernium (i.e., eight soldiers commanded by one decanus). Surviving representation...
status that permitted them to do so. In this quasi-marital union, called contubernium, chidren seem often to have been desired, in contrast to concubinatus...
ancillae like other household slaves might form a heterosexual union (contubernium) that expressed an intention to marry if both partners were manumitted...
Slavery in ancient Egypt Slavery in ancient Greece Slavery in ancient Rome Contubernium Ancillae Black Sea slave trade Red Sea slave trade Trans-Saharan slave...
arranged or approved and recognized by the slave's owner, was called contubernium. Though not technically a marriage, it had legal implications that were...
theology taught at the university. He became a conventor (repentant) in the contubernium and instructed younger scholars. He also lectured on oratory, on Virgil...
of tools and equipment was carried distributed among the members of a contubernium. They may also have carried baskets and one or more sudes (stakes). There...
Kaiserreich. Eine sozialgeschichtliche Untersuchung, Sigmaringen 1996 (Contubernium - Tübinger Beiträge zur Universitäts- und Wissenschaftsgeschichte Bd...
Commons has media related to Military units and formations by size. Contubernium Death squad Execution by firing squad Military organizations Military...
the role of the Optio. It is possible that the Biarchus commanded a contubernium, which was a Roman military unit consisting of ten men. Historian Michael...
Below is a very basic summary of the legion's structure and ranks. Contubernium: "tent unit" of eight men. Centuria: 80 men commanded by a centurion...
Ancient Greek wedding customs Sexuality in ancient Rome Concubinatus Contubernium Weddings in ancient Rome Powerful men can have one wife and many other...