One of the reasons why I’m interested in looking at how the Greeks and Romans practiced manumission differently in the Hellenistic and Republican Periods is because eventually manumission becomes homogenized. Obviously when Rome is the central power across the Mediterranean, the legal and political aspects of manumission are going to be quite similar anywhere in the Empire. However, as Kyle Harper points out, around 300 CE, both Latin and Greek texts describe a similar kind of ritual as part of manumission. This ritual is called the alapa, which is simply the Latin word a blow or strike. This ritual takes its name from how a slave was hit by his or her master during manumission.
Also during the Late Empire, manumission began to be practiced in churches and church leaders got special permission from the government in order to be able to officially oversee manumission, similar, (I assume, though this would be an interesting comparison to research) how they had official permission to oversee weddings.
Also during the Late Empire, manumission began to be practiced in churches and church leaders got special permission from the government in order to be able to officially oversee manumission, similar, (I assume, though this would be an interesting comparison to research) how they had official permission to oversee weddings.