Cum servis nullum est conubium

“You cannot marry slaves!” – This simple rule set up by Roman jurists was explicit, but everyday life was different and complex. Cohabitations of slaves were illegitimate; nevertheless they existed as a social fact. This ambivalence caused a distinguished handling of these relationships, partly on the part of the slaves themselves, in some instances on the part of their masters and partly on the part of official regulations. On the basis of epigraphic, juridical and literary sources this book analyses cohabitations of slaves in the Western Mediterranean world from 200 BC to 300 AD and takes a closer look at the hopes, interests and reservations connected with their relationships. In doing so, it becomes obvious that it were not just the slaves who were interested in their own partnership.