Porta Pinciana is a gate of the Aurelian Walls in Rome .
45-522: The name derives from the gens Pincia, who owned the eponymous hill ( Pincian Hill ). In ancient times it was also called Porta Turata ("Plugged Gate", for it was partially closed) and Porta Salaria vetus , as the oldest Via Salaria passed under it (the Via Salaria nova passed under the Porta Salaria ). The gate was built under the emperor Honorius in the early 5th century. During
90-456: A gens and acquire its nomen. A libertus , or " freedman ", usually assumed the nomen (and sometimes also the praenomen) of the person who had manumitted him, and a naturalized citizen usually took the name of the patron who granted his citizenship . Freedmen and newly enfranchised citizens were not technically part of the gentes whose names they shared, but within a few generations it often became impossible to distinguish their descendants from
135-578: A gens being admitted to the patriciate prior to the first century BC was when the Claudii were added to the ranks of the patricians after coming to Rome in 504 BC, five years after the establishment of the Republic. Numerous sources describe two classes amongst the patrician gentes, known as the gentes maiores , or major gentes, and the gentes minores , or minor gentes. No definite information has survived concerning which families were numbered amongst
180-471: A gens voluntarily left or were expelled from the patriciate, along with their descendants. In some cases, gentes that must originally have been patrician, or which were so regarded during the early Republic, were later known only by their plebeian descendants. By the first century BC, the practical distinction between the patricians and the plebeians was largely symbolic, with only a few priesthoods and ceremonial offices restricted to patricians. However, such
225-618: A law stating that sick slaves abandoned by their owners became freedmen if they recovered. The emperor was criticized for using freedmen in the Imperial Courts. Some freedmen enjoyed enormous success and became quite wealthy. The brothers who owned House of the Vettii , one of the biggest and most magnificent houses in Pompeii , are thought to have been freedmen. A freedman who became rich and influential might still be looked down on by
270-419: A limited number of personal names , or praenomina , the selection of which helped to distinguish members of one gens from another. Sometimes different branches of a gens would vary in their names of choice. The most conservative gentes would sometimes limit themselves to three or four praenomina, while others made regular use of six or seven. There were two main reasons for this limited selection: first, it
315-536: A single family, or could include hundreds of individuals. According to tradition, in 479 BC the Fabia gens alone were able to field a militia consisting of three hundred and six men of fighting age. The concept of the gens was not uniquely Roman, but was shared with communities throughout Italy, including those who spoke Italic languages such as Latin , Oscan , and Umbrian as well as the Etruscans , whose language
360-410: A state within a state, governed by its own elders and assemblies, following its own customs, and carrying out its own religious rites. Certain cults were traditionally associated with specific gentes. The gentile assemblies had the responsibility of adoption and guardianship for their members. If a member of a gens died intestate and without immediate family, his property was distributed to the rest of
405-474: Is a person who escaped enslavement by fleeing. Rome differed from Greek city-states in allowing freed slaves to become plebeian citizens . The act of freeing a slave was called manumissio , from manus , "hand" (in the sense of holding or possessing something), and missio , the act of releasing. After manumission , a slave who had belonged to a Roman citizen enjoyed not only passive freedom from ownership, but active political freedom (libertas) , including
450-580: The American Civil War . They supported the Confederacy during the war, supplying some warriors in the West, as they were promised their own state if the Confederacy won. After the end of the war, the U.S. required these tribes to make new peace treaties, and to emancipate their African slaves. They were required to offer full citizenship in their tribes to those freedmen who wanted to stay with
495-868: The Caucasus , and the Indian subcontinent , and were imported by the Arab-Muslim slave traders into the Middle East and North Africa , the Horn of Africa , and the islands of the Indian Ocean . For centuries, Arab-Muslim slave traders took and transported an estimated 10 to 15 million native Africans to slavery throughout the Arab - Muslim world . They also enslaved Europeans (known as Saqaliba ), as well as Caucasian and Turkic peoples, from coastal areas of
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#1732790245852540-579: The Mediterranean Region , the Balkans , Central Asia , and the Eurasian steppes . The offspring of Mamluks were regarded as Muslim freedmen, and hence excluded from the Arab-Muslim slave trade; they were known as the awlād al-nās ("sons of respectable people"), who either fulfilled scribal and administrative functions or served as commanders of the non-Mamluk ḥalqa troops, serving
585-498: The gentilicium continued to define the origins and dynasties of the ancient Romans, including the emperors. The word gens is sometimes translated as "race", or "nation", meaning a people descended from a common ancestor (rather than sharing a common physical trait). It can also be translated as "clan", "kin", or "tribe", although the word tribus has a separate and distinct meaning in Roman culture. A gens could be as small as
630-539: The "Civil War Amendments" or the " Reconstruction Amendments ". To help freedmen transition from slavery to freedom, including a free labor market, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln created the Freedmen's Bureau , which assigned agents throughout the former Confederate states. The Bureau also founded schools to educate freedmen, both adults and children; helped freedmen negotiate labor contracts; and tried to minimize violence against freedmen. The era of Reconstruction
675-676: The Arab-Muslim slave trade, is symmetrical with the term "Western slave trade", which refers to the triangular trade on the Western coasts of Africa that supplied the European colonization of the Americas , and which includes the Atlantic slave trade . The slaves of the Eastern slave trade came mainly from Sub-Saharan Africa , Northwestern Africa , Southern Europe , Slavic countries ,
720-539: The Confederacy —states in rebellion and not under the control of the Union —to be permanently free. It did not end slavery in the four border states that had stayed in the Union. African slavery elsewhere was abolished by state action or with the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in December 1865. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 , passed over the veto of U.S. President Andrew Johnson , gave
765-631: The Middle Ages a legend told that the Byzantine general Belisarius , who here had defended Rome against the Ostrogoths in the siege of 537–538 , was refused admission by the Romans. The two side passages are a modern addition. The gate remained closed until the early 20th century. This article contains text from Platner and Ashby's A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome , a text now in
810-555: The Republic, it is not entirely certain which gentes were considered patrician and which plebeian. However, a series of laws promulgated in 451 and 450 BC as the Twelve Tables attempted to codify a rigid distinction between the classes, formally excluding the plebeians from holding any of the major magistracies from that time until the passage of the Lex Licinia Sextia in 367 BC. Another law promulgated as part of
855-550: The South via military districts enacted by the Reconstruction Acts ; they protected freedmen in voting polls and public facilities from violence and intimidation by white Southerners, which were common throughout the region. The Cherokee Nation , Choctaw Nation , Chickasaw Nation , Seminole Nation of Oklahoma , and Creek Nation were among those Native American tribes that held enslaved Africans before and during
900-521: The United Kingdom and Europe voluntarily, planning to settle in Australia, some as pastors and missionaries, others seeking to make a living by trade or farming. When convicts finished their sentence, they were freed and referred to as "freedmen" or "freed men". However, many of these who were freed wanted to claim the label "free men". But those who had come freely to Australia wanted to reserve
945-434: The early Empire, however, freedmen held key positions in the government bureaucracy, so much so that Hadrian limited their participation by law. Any future children of a freedman would be born free, with full rights of citizenship. The Claudian Civil Service set a precedent whereby freedmen could be used as civil servants in the Roman bureaucracy . In addition, Claudius passed legislation concerning slaves, including
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#1732790245852990-467: The formerly enslaved peoples full citizenship in the United States , though this did not guarantee them voting rights. The 14th Amendment made "All persons born or naturalized in the United States" citizens of the United States. The 15th Amendment gave voting rights to all adult males; only adult males had the franchise among White Americans . The 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments are known as
1035-468: The gens. The decisions of a gens were theoretically binding on all of its members. However, no public enactment is recorded as having been passed by the assembly of a gens. As a group, the gentes had considerable influence on the development of Roman law and religious practices, but comparatively little influence on the political and constitutional history of Rome. Certain gentes were considered patrician, and others plebeian. According to tradition,
1080-508: The gentes maiores, or even how many there were. However, they almost certainly included the Aemilii , Claudii , Cornelii , Fabii , Manlii , and Valerii . Nor is it certain whether this distinction was of any practical importance, although it has been suggested that the princeps senatus , or speaker of the Senate , was usually chosen from their number. For the first several decades of
1125-720: The north of the island. Some went first to Spanish-ruled Cuba , from where they immigrated to New Orleans in 1808 and 1809 after being expelled when Napoleon invaded Spanish territories in Western Europe . Many brought slaves with them. Their numbers strengthened the French-speaking community of enslaved African peoples, as well as the free people of color. Other refugees from Saint-Domingue settled in Charleston , Savannah , and New York . The Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 declared all enslaved peoples in
1170-409: The orders over the next two centuries. Certain patrician families regularly opposed the sharing of power with the plebeians, while others favoured it, and some were divided. Many gentes included both patrician and plebeian branches. These may have arisen through adoption or manumission, or when two unrelated families bearing the same nomen became confused. It may also be that individual members of
1215-685: The original group). In addition to arguing that the post-Civil War treaties gave them citizenship, the freedmen have argued that the Dawes Rolls were often inaccurate, recording as freedmen even those individuals who had partial Cherokee ancestry and were considered Cherokee by blood. The Choctaw freedmen and Creek freedmen have similarly struggled with their respective tribes over the terms of citizenship in contemporary times. The tribes have wanted to limit those who can benefit from tribal citizenship, in an era in which gaming casinos are yielding considerable revenues for members. The majority of members of
1260-479: The original members. In practice this meant that a gens could acquire new members and even new branches, either by design or by accident. Different branches or stirpes of a gens were usually distinguished by their cognomina , additional surnames following the nomen, which could be either personal or hereditary. Some particularly large stirpes themselves became divided into multiple branches, distinguished by additional cognomina. Most gentes regularly employed
1305-409: The patricians were descended from the "city fathers", or patres ; that is, the heads of the family at the time of its foundation by Romulus , the first King of Rome . Other noble families which came to Rome during the time of the kings were also admitted to the patriciate, including several who emigrated from Alba Longa after that city was destroyed by Tullus Hostilius . The last known instance of
1350-431: The public domain. Gens In ancient Rome , a gens ( / ɡ ɛ n s / or / dʒ ɛ n z / , Latin: [gẽːs] ; pl. : gentes [ˈgɛnteːs] ) was a family consisting of individuals who shared the same nomen gentilicium and who claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of gens, sometimes identified by a distinct cognomen , was called a stirps ( pl. : stirpes ). The gens
1395-476: The right to vote. A slave who had acquired libertas was known as a libertus ("freed person", feminine liberta ) in relation to his former master, who was called his or her patron ( patronus ) . As a social class, freed slaves were liberti , though later Latin texts used the terms libertus and libertini interchangeably. Libertini were not entitled to hold public office or state priesthoods , nor could they achieve legitimate senatorial rank . During
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1440-629: The ruling Arab and Ottoman dynasties in the Muslim world . In the history of the United States , the terms "freedmen" and "freedwomen" refer chiefly to former African slaves emancipated during and after the American Civil War by the Emancipation Proclamation and the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . African slaves freed before the war (usually by individual manumissions , often in wills ) were generally referred to as "free Negroes" or "free Blacks". In addition, there
1485-468: The tables forbade the intermarriage of patricians and plebeians, but this was repealed after only a few years, by the Lex Canuleia in 445 BC. Despite the formal reconciliation of the orders in 367, the patrician houses, which as time passed represented a smaller and smaller percentage of the Roman populace, continued to hold on to as much power as possible, resulting in frequent conflict between
1530-419: The title as a mark of distinction granted to individuals, rather than a class to which an entire family belonged. Freedman A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery , usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self-purchase. A fugitive slave
1575-461: The traditional aristocracy as a vulgar nouveau riche . Trimalchio , a character in the Satyricon of Petronius , is a caricature of such a freedman. The term "Eastern slave trade" refers to the Arab slave trade that supplied the early Muslim conquests throughout the Arab - Muslim world from the 7th to the 20th centuries, peaking in the 18th and 19th centuries. This term, which covers
1620-455: The tribes have voted to limit membership. Descendants of freedmen, however, maintain that their rights to citizenship granted under the post-Civil War treaties should be restored. In 2017, the Cherokee freedmen were granted citizenship again in the tribe. Many convicted people from the United Kingdom were sentenced to be transported to Australia between 1788 and 1868. Also, many came from
1665-573: The tribes. Numerous families had intermarried by that time or had other personal ties. If freedmen left the tribes, they would become U.S. citizens. In the late 20th century, the Cherokee Nation voted for restrictions on membership to only those descendants of people listed as "Cherokee by blood" on the Dawes Rolls of the early 20th century, a decision that excluded most Cherokee Freedmen (by that time this term referred to descendants of
1710-562: Was a population of African Americans born free. In addition, there were sizable communities of free peoples of African descent in the French Caribbean colonies , such as Saint-Domingue (now Haiti) and Guadeloupe . Due to the violence of the Haitian Revolution , many free people of color, who were originally part of the revolution, fled the island as refugees after being attacked by slave rebels , particularly in
1755-583: Was an attempt to establish new governments in the former Confederacy and to bring freedmen into society as voting citizens. Northern church bodies, such as the American Missionary Association and the Free Will Baptists , sent teachers to the South to assist in educating freedmen and their children, and eventually established several colleges for higher education. U.S. Army occupation soldiers were stationed throughout
1800-474: Was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italia during the period of the Roman Republic . Much of individuals' social standing depended on the gens to which they belonged. Certain gentes were classified as patrician , others as plebeian ; some had both patrician and plebeian branches. The importance of the gens as a social structure declined considerably in imperial times , although
1845-595: Was because of traditions concerning disgraced or dishonoured members of the gens bearing a particular name. For example, the Junia gens avoided the praenomina Titus and Tiberius after two members with these names were executed for treason. A similar instance supposedly led the assembly of the Manlia gens to forbid its members from bearing the praenomen Marcus , although this prohibition does not seem to have been strictly observed. In theory, each gens functioned as
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1890-443: Was its distinguishing feature, for a Roman citizen's nomen indicated his membership in a gens. The nomen could be derived from any number of things, such as the name of an ancestor, a person's occupation, physical appearance, character, or town of origin. Because some of these things were fairly common, it was possible for unrelated families to bear the same nomen, and over time to become confused. Persons could be adopted into
1935-494: Was their prestige that, beginning with the administration of Caesar , and continuing into imperial times, a number of families were raised to the patriciate, replacing older families that had become extinct or faded into obscurity, and which were no longer represented in the Roman senate . By the third century, the distinction between patricians and plebeians had lost its relevance. The emperor Constantine and his successors revived
1980-552: Was traditional to pass down family names from one generation to the next; such names were always preferred. Second, most patrician families limited themselves to a small number of names as a way of distinguishing themselves from the plebeians, who often employed a wider variety of names, including some that were seldom used by the patricians. However, several of the oldest and most noble patrician houses frequently used rare and unusual praenomina. Certain families also deliberately avoided particular praenomina. In at least some cases, this
2025-529: Was unrelated. All of these peoples were eventually absorbed into the sphere of Roman culture. The oldest gentes were said to have originated before the foundation of Rome (traditionally 753 BC), and claimed descent from mythological personages as far back as the time of the Trojan War (traditionally ended 1184 BC ). However, the establishment of the gens cannot long predate the adoption of hereditary surnames. The nomen gentilicium , or "gentile name",
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