Slavery In Ancient Rome

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Prisoners of war were quite common as Rome was almost always at war somewhere in her territory or at the borders. The defeated army would likely be slaughtered or the survivors would be sold into slavery. Caesar did so in his 9 year Gallic wars, enslaving an estimated a million prisoners to pay his troops. Plutarch (Caes. 15). Being sold into slavery was mostly the cause of piracy. In the years before 167 BC the people on the island of Rhodes ensured safe passage through the eastern Mediterranean, however once the Romans destroyed the Rhodian fleet, pirates were given the opportunity to attack whoever they chose, resulting in a plentiful supply of cheap slaves to be sold. As stated in Cicero- ‘Who sailed the seas without exposing himself to the risk either of death or of slavery?’ People born to a slave were automatically a slave themselves. They were called vernae. Vernae were likely to be the result of a liason between a free person in the household and a slave. This was likely as no female slave could refuse her master or free males in the house. Slaves being born into slavery profited their masters greatly as they were not paid for and then later on could be sold for more money. As military service was mandatory to all in Rome except for slaves, numbers of vernae could grow rapidly and without restriction. Some

Some Romans acquired their slaves from inheriting them or from the slaves having children. Slave markets had a huge impact on Roman culture and where people got the majority of slaves were captives of war. How wealthy a Roman was determined how many slaves that person owned. Some of the wealthiest Romans had hundreds of slaves while ones with little wealth might have had one or two slaves. In the article, “Slavery in the Roman world” by Mark Cartwright talks about roman slavery and Romans viewpoint on slavery.

The Roman Empire was a slave owning society, one fourth of their population was made up of slaves. The Romans accrued slaves through piracy, trade, and warfare. Accounting for most of the labor force, slaves performed household tasks, and the grueling and tiresome work of mining and farming. Slavery in Rome was a way for them to assimilate new people into their society. Individuals could be released from slavery by either being bought out or after paying their debt to their owner (Ivanovitch, 1957: 26).

References: 1. Slavery in Ancient Civilization: Rome (n.d). Retrieved on August 7 2017 from

Romans were lazy and thought of all manual work as only fit for slaves. Slaves themselves expressed servile behaviour, always submissive and constantly in fear of the punishments there masters could give them. Slaves had no way of protecting themselves or their loved ones, and couldn't stop their masters ripping apart their families by selling slaves. Freedmen treated slaves with extreme cruelty, with anxiousness to distance themselves from their origins and succeed as a freeman of Rome. The freeborn Romans became resentful towards the freedmen who made a life for themselves and became wealthy and powerful.

The Roman Republic began in 509BC when the Romans overthrew the Etruscans and established a republic government.1 After this the Roman Empire began to take control of the Mediterranean Sea and eventually dominated it.3 The Republic began to decline in 133BC with the wealthy Romans gaining in wealth and the poor continuing to lose money; with this more people became enslaved causing increased slave revolts.1 This meant people like Crassus and Caesar could build armies loyal only to them and gain power.2

Slaves were very important to the Romans. Without slaves, the wealthy of Rome would not have been able to lead the lifestyles that they wanted to.Who were slaves? They were people who were frequently captured in battle and sent back to Rome to be sold.If a slave married and had children, the children would automatically become slaves.No-one is sure how many slaves existed in the Roman Empire. it is thought that 25% of all people in Rome were slaves. A rich man might own as many as 500 slaves and an emperor usually had more than 20,000 at his disposal. This shows how big slaves

The owners could do with the slaves what they wished, be it sexual favors or they could beat them at will. Beating a slave though was not usually the best thing that an owner of slaves could do because they didn't want to damage their property. To get a slave to work hard wasn't that difficult most of the time, all the owner had to do was refrain from beating and instead be nice to them. In Rome some slaves were offered freedom if they met certain criteria of the owner. After earning their freedom they were given citizenship in the city. This gave the slaves a reason to work hard, something to look forward to.

Roman slavery was much different then the American practice of slavery in that it was not racially based, nor was ownership reserved for the wealthy, but was also popular among the lower class. Slaves were considered a sign of wealth and boosted one's standings in society. The extremely wealthy, including elite members of the empire, often owned upwards of 500 slaves, while many lower class members were known to

Macbeth Essay "The desire to reach for the stars is ambitious. " The desire to reach hearts is wise"- Maya Angelou. Ambition was Macbeth's tragic flaw throughout the play and he needed to be wiser with this quote. In the play Macbeth, Macbeth’s strong desire for power illustrates that ambition requires restriction by good judgment because it can sabotage an individual's existence.

Slaves in Rome were often men who were captured in war, even small children were brought to rome to be slaves. If you were a teenager in Rome your parents could sell you off to be a slave if they needed money, and if you were the teenager being sold you were bought for life you would most likely never see your parents ever again. It is thought that 25% of people in Rome were slaves thats ¼ of the population! Rich people could own as many as 500 slaves just to work for him/her. If you think 500 is a lot of slaves well the king had about 20,000 slaves at his disposal at any given time. Sometimes slaves were treated as good family members or they were treated like crap working all day. A slave worked all day from the bright of day till the dark of

Slavery was culturally accepted by the upper class Romans who thought it to be a necessity that allowed the class structure that kept aristocrats in power (Scheidel, 2010). The great agricultural estates of Italy used slave labor almost exclusively, and this may have at first offered an economic boost, but would eventually cause destabilization of local economies as the smaller farmers were forced out. Most of the labor intensive jobs were assigned to slaves who may perish at a young age if sent to the mines. Slaves took all types of occupations. House slaves were given freedom if their owners died or they may be able to buy their freedom.

Slavery was an important part of the ancient world, and it was an integral piece of Roman daily life and the economy. Though slavery was practiced all over the Mediterranean, and was abundant in the east, its impact in other places was not felt nearly as much as it was in Rome and her Empire. As the Romans consolidated their position on the Italian peninsula and began the systematic conquest of the Mediterranean region, millions of slaves were incorporated into Rome and the Italian countryside.

Slaves who had been taken as prisoners of war would never be allowed to become citizens which meant that a great deal of the enslaved population had no hope of advancing beyond a peasant position within their society. “(13) It is provided by the Lex Aelia Sentia that slaves who have been placed in chains by their masters, or have been branded, or have been subjected to torture for some offence and convicted, or have been delivered up to fight with others or with wild beasts, or to contend with gladiators, or have been thrown into prison and have afterwards been manumitted by the same, or by another master, shall become free, and belong to the same class as that of enemies who have surrendered at discretion.” (D). Slaves that were freed were still going to have to deal with being second-class citizens. Many of the slaves in Rome had come from other countries where they would have been citizens and now were forced into a life of servitude.