Quaeritur an servus sit. Casi di schiavitù per debiti nella declamazione latina

This paper focuses on the extant roman declamations featuring characters of ad-dicti, i.e. free-born roman citizens, who are not able to pay back a debt and consequently are “assigned” to their creditors. a comparison with the extant legal texts governing the debt bondage of roman citizens suggests that the addictus, as representedin roman declamation, may be the outcome of a rhetorical creation; therefore, caution is needed in assuming de-clamatory sources as witnesses to the actual condition of addicti in the roman imperial age.