Smiling slaves: figural dipictions of Classical comedy's 'clever slave' in a Roman social context

Quinn, A. (2015)

Article / Letter to editor

A paucity of identifiable archaeological material makes it difficult to locate slavery in the archaeological record, but the figurines of slave characters in Roman comedy represent a rich, untapped resource. One character in particular, the ‘clever slave’ (servus callidus), with his devious schemes and sharp wit, captured the imagination of Roman society. This clever slave’s popularity is attested archaeologically, with thousands of charming figurines spanning different time periods and geographical areas of the Classical world. Much discussed in the field of classics, no previous work has been undertaken to examine this character from an archaeological perspective in terms of its societal significance. Slave statuettes have been unearthed in homes, sanctuaries and tombs- diverse contexts that hint at their multitudinous purposes. By examining a representative sample of the material evidence alongside comedic texts I provide an in-depth look at servus callidus figurines: their form and iconography, their archaeological contexts and their po-tential agency for the society that produced and purchased them.

• servus callidus
• Roman comedy
• slavery archaeology
• slave figurine
• Plantus

• All authors: Quinn, A.
• Date: 2015
• Journal: Inter-Section
• Volume: 1
• Pages: 14 - 20