“Operae liberales”: social consideration and relevant legal aspects of liberal professions in ancient Rome

Abstract

In classical Greece and Rome, where the foundations of our present civilization were laid, they regarded most highly human beings dedicated to developing their intellect, with an otium intended for the cultivation of the mind and dedicated to an occupation associated with a field of knowledge that requires the use of expertise and the mastery of a lex artis —although the cultivation of the body also acquires importance for the purpose of correct military instruction to serve in defense of the community or society if needed—. Classical Rome, which absorbed Greek philosophy —especially the rhetorical art of eloquence—, like Greece itself, made a distinction between manual, dependent and servile labor, which Cicero considered base, which require physical force as a general rule and which in some cases also require the mastery of an art, but in other do not even demand prior knowledge of a technique —and if they do it would be merely a modus operandi—, and other activities where it is indispensable for their correct practice to possess rigorous theoretical and practical knowledge. The latter entaila considerable intellectual onus, and their practice is characterized by autonomy, which implies a high degree of freedom and independence. These features, which have continued throughout history, currently continue to function as elements which, if taken as a group, set apart in the present day the liberal professions from the rest of professions, trades or occupations.