In ancient Rome, the ''vilicus'' (, ''epitropos'', or ''

oikonomos ''Oikonomos'' (, from - 'house' and - 'rule, law'), Latinization of names, Latinized œconomus, oeconomus, or economos, was an Ancient Greek word meaning "household manager." In Byzantine Empire, Byzantine times, the term was used as a title of ...

'') was a manager, supervisor, or overseer.

Ausonius Decimius Magnus Ausonius (; ) was a Latin literature, Roman poet and Education in ancient Rome, teacher of classical rhetoric, rhetoric from Burdigala, Gallia Aquitania, Aquitaine (now Bordeaux, France). For a time, he was tutor to the future E ...

in 4th-century

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

writes that his "pretentious" ''vilicus'' preferred to be called by the Greek title ''epitropos''. In the rural economy of early Rome, the ''vilicus'' was a

bailiff A bailiff is a manager, overseer or custodian – a legal officer to whom some degree of authority or jurisdiction is given. There are different kinds, and their offices and scope of duties vary. Another official sometimes referred to as a '' ...

or farm manager who directly oversaw

agricultural labor Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food ...

on the ''

villa rustica Villa rustica () was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a farmhouse or villa set in the countryside and with an agricultural section, which applies to the vast majority of Roman villas. In some cases they were at the centre of a large ...

''. As the Roman economy diversified, the title might be specified as ''vilicus rusticus'' for the traditional agricultural role. The ''vilicus hortorum'' ("of the gardens"), a foreman over the crews that maintained private or imperial gardens or parks in and around the city of Rome, may be seen as a transitional figure showing how the role would have evolved in an urban setting. By the turn of the 1st to the 2nd century AD, the ''vilicus urbanus'' can be found in various supervisory capacities; for example,

building superintendent A building superintendent or building supervisor (often shortened to super) is a term used in the United States and Canada to refer to a manager responsible for repair and maintenance in a residential building. They are the first point of contac ...

or rent-collector for a landlord, similar to an '' insularius'', an apartment manager. The ''vilicus'' managed

slave labor Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

and was most often a slave himself. As a slave, the ''vilicus'' would not have the right to a legal marriage, but it was thought appropriate and beneficial for him to enter into an enduring heterosexual union ''( contubernia)'' and raise a family. The duties of the ''vilicus'' and those of his female counterpart (the ''vilica'', only sometimes his wife) are described by

Columella Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire. His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...

(''Res rustica'', I.8, XI.1, and XII.1), and by Cato (''De Agri Cultura'', cxlii–cxliii, focusing on the ''vilica''; v on the ''vilicus''). The ''vilica'' who supervised food preparation and textile production for the estate held her position on her own merit and only infrequently was the woman who lived with the ''vilicus'' as his wife.Roth, "Thinking Tools," p. 49, citing Cato, ''De agricultura'' 143.1. The original duties of the ''vilicus'' were to follow the estate owner's instructions, and to govern the slaves with moderation, not to leave the villa except to go to market, to have no dealings with soothsayers, to take care of the cattle and the implements of husbandry, and to manage all the operations of the farm.

References

{{Reflist Ancient Roman titles Roman agriculture Slavery in ancient Rome

See also

References