freedman

freedman, former enslaved person set free. In ancient Athens, formerly enslaved people bore no stigma, and some rose to positions of political or economic power. During the later Hellenistic period, however, some Greek communities passed laws providing separate regulations and restrictions for formerly enslaved people. To the Greeks citizenship was a hereditary privilege and thus barred to freedmen, but under Roman law a manumitted enslaved person might become a citizen if the proper legal form...