Glebæ Adscripti

Glebæ Adscripti (Lat., 'attached to the soil') from the 4th century onwards were in the Roman empire the cultivators of the soil, who, though personally free, were inseparably attached to the land they cultivated. They paid a fixed rent in kind to the owner of the domain, and, when he retained any land in his own hands, they were generally under the obligation to render him free a determinate amount of labour to till it. If the land was sold, they still remained attached to it. The Helots (q.v.) of Sparta were also glebæ adscripti.