The Slave and Freedman Personnel of Public Libraries in Ancient Rome

Abstract

The lower-level personnel in Roman public libraries of the early Empire were part of the emperor's domestic staff, just as they had been household slaves in late Republican libraries. This observation carries important implications. The book collections, at least in origin, were the emperor's private possessions, not public services like the roads, and he might closely control their use. His slave vilici, not equestrian procurators, ordinarily directed the daily work of the staff, and the commissioners of all the libraries (originally Greek intellectuals, and not always procurators) may have served primarily as scholarly advisers. No evidence supports the idea of a centralized library administration.