Structuring Subjects: Weaving the Web of Work/Life

In the wake of important work done in social history and critical theory, readings of Roman laboring are often decidedly negative, associating it with violence, oppression, and the imposition of social hierarchies on workers. But as today, people also found meaning in their working lives, as jobs shaped the subjectivity of workers across the Roman world. This acknowledgment of the subjective value of work does not negate the innate violence and power imbalances associated with ancient laboring, but rather enables us to offer fresh and, in some cases, reparative readings of how they operate in Roman literature, art, and society. In addition to outlining the structure of the volume, this introductory chapter offers a framework for understanding the relationship between labor and subjectivity in the Roman world, concentrating especially on the capacity of individuals to shape their own working lives.