Breaking the Bond: Forced Marriage and Cursed Freedom in Ancient Rome with Katharine Huemoeller

Peopling the Past

What does it mean to be free? In our Season 2 finale episode, archaeologist and historian Dr. Katharine Huemoeller joins the podcast to tell us all about her research on the female, forced, and reproductive aspects of ancient Roman slavery and how manumission and marriage can become intertwined. Join us as we dive into the story of woman named Acte and a cursed grave monument from Rome whose inscriptions reveal some dark secrets about the reality of living as an enslaved - and freed - person in antiquity.