Definition: The Latin libertus or libertinus (pl. liberti; libertini) means a slave who has been manumitted (given his freedom). He was then a freedman. If his master was a Roman citizen who manumitted him formally, and he was of age, he then became a citizen; otherwise, he did not. His master became his patron. Upon gaining his freedom, the slave, who formerly had only one slave name, gained the name of his master's family as praenomen and nomen. The slave name remained as cognomen.
See Roman Nomenclature and the William Smith Dictionary entry on Libertus for more information on freedmen.
