The Family and the Imperial City

Abstract

AbstractA freedwoman, Vetilia Egloge, was married to a member of the city council of Mutina. Her son was, however, a freedman with a name identical to that of his mother’s husband, adecurio. This son was appointed asaugustalisandapollinaris. As is made clear in the first and second part of the paper, this means that the homonymous male characters mentioned in this inscription (ae2008, 535) were connected both on a local institutional and a familial level—asdecurioandaugustalis(andapollinaris) and as adoptive father and adoptive son respectively. The third part investigates how these familial and institutional connections may have interacted. The sociological concept of ‘transgenerational mobility’ provides a link between the family and the city. This inscription offers exceptional insight into the complexity of social situations, and shows how family strategies influence the workings of local institutions.