There were several career paths available for female slaves within the Ottoman imperial harem. Only a small group was linked directly to the sultan, serving as his concubines or consorts. Some slaves rose within the harem service and were, eventually, promoted to one of its administrative offices. The majority of women were manumitted after serving for a period of time and then left the imperial harem. Chapter 2 examines the process of manumission of female palace slaves and their departure from the palace from various angles. It also explores the extent of their later relationship with the imperial court. The chapter demonstrates how their departure from the palace did not mean an end to their relationship with the imperial court, but rather signaled the creation of a new kind of relationship between the two parties that continued in various ways throughout their lives. The chapter examines the various ways and factors that enabled manumitted female palace slaves to continue their bonds with the imperial court. It argues that the continuation of the women’s relationship with the imperial court paved the way for the continuity of the patronage relationships throughout their lives and this situation was loaded with various implications for both the palace women and the imperial court.

In this chapter I provide a sketch of rhetorical performance practice as it emerges from the rich, complex, and contradictory texts of the Greco-Roman world. A visual conception of ancient rhetoric: John Bulwer’s representation of rhetorical stage acting, which contrasts the stage actor with the dialectician. Greece and Rome: Greece developed the art of rhetoric, accepting the centrality of acting or ‘hypokrisis’, while Roman orators placed more emphasis on the constant persona of the orator. Cicero and Roscius: a case study of how Cicero used performance skills to defend the celebrity stage actor in court. Cicero’s ‘De Oratore’: Cicero’s masterpiece, couched as a dialogue to make it clear there is no single set of rules for being an orator. Quintilian: who codified Cicero, and made rhetoric the foundation of an educational programme. Tacitus: who dissented from Quintilian’s political conformism. Augustine: who tried to adapt his rhetorical training to serve the needs of Christian preaching, anticipating the dilemmas faced by rhetorical performers in the Renaissance.