Work in Life and Death: Corduban Common Workers and Coppersmiths

During the Roman empire many occupational workers chose to represent themselves and others by their trade on Latin inscriptions in a variety of contexts. This practice is present not only in Italy, but, notably, also in the western provinces of Hispania and North Africa. It is important to analyse these provincial examples in order to gain a better understanding of both the social and the economic roles of working-class traders in the Roman provinces. This paper will discuss a selection of occupational inscriptions from the Hispanic city of Corduba, including three inscriptions that preserve the title aerarius (‘coppersmith’). Corduba was an important city that became the capital of Hispania Baetica under Augustus. The success of Corduba stems largely from the activities of working-class individuals and groups. It is therefore important to gain a better understanding of the ethnic, gender and class identities of these workers, and to consider why they chose to use Latin epigraphy to represent themselves and others.

Presenter: Jacqueline Webber (The University of Queensland)