ABSTRACT
The right of ownership over a slave was not always vested in a single household. Chattel slaves could be shared between several persons, or owned by publicani (companies carrying out contracts on behalf of Roman state), or by a whole political community. Some positions of responsibility are political, whether the super-intendence is over the whole body of citizens, or limited to a particular activity or section of the population (like the controller of women or children). A number of Greek communities owned slaves to do work of this kind; Xenophon had suggested that Athens should buy slaves to work the mines. In Italy, as in Greece, public slaves, as outsiders without obligations towards any particular citizen, were employed to keep reliable accounts. One of the few systematic treatments of a particular sector of public administration in antiquity is Frontinus’ work on Rome’s aqueducts. The advantages of being a dependant of imperial household were such that people might join it voluntarily.
