Vilicus et Vilica. Male and female stereotypes in the slave population through the reading of Greco-Latin agronomists

Abstract

This article aims to observe and construct masculine and feminine prototypes in the slavery, in Ancient Rome, in the works concerning the administration of rural properties at those times. Through the reading of Xenophon, Cato, Varro and Columella, I intend to value the differences that occur depending on whether we talk about a male or female slave, exemplified as vilicus and vilica. So this text is indeed, an analysis of the behaviour (functioning) of a legal and social system from the point of view of gender in Ancient Roman Society.