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Social Classes In Ancient Rome

Decent Essays

Ancient Rome - History

Ancient Rome was a hierarchical civilization, which existed from 753BCE to 476 CE. The civilisation had a number of social classes each of which had its own responsibilities and characteristics. The classes included Senators, slaves, soldiers, women and freedmen. There were major differences between the three social classes and the lives and experiences of the members of each class were influenced by their interactions with members of the same social class, and others.

Ancient Roman slaves lives and how they were treated depended on their owners and the jobs that they were assigned. For example, a slave with a mean owner would have a miserable life, whereas a slave with a kind owner would have a happier life. Men, …show more content…

Crucifixion was a punishment ordered for any capital offence, although Roman law could order the crucifixion of slaves for almost any reason. Emperor Constantine banned the crucifixion of slaves and in 319 AD a law was passed to make it illegal to kill slaves. Because they were treated so poorly, many slaves were driven to assault or murder their owners. Punishment for killing their master was a major crime, as Romans were terrified of slave rebellions. The punishment for slaves murdering their owners would be to torture and kill the slaves inside the owner’s house. If a slave was caught stealing, the punishment would be branding or tattooing, this was to permanently mark the slave for his or her crime. The slave would be branded with the letters “FUR”, the Latin word for theft “fure”. Many bodily remains and tools from these punishments have been found in Rome in places such as the Emperor’s palace and in the city and many of these can now be found in museums in Rome. The punishments for slaves in Rome were major and it would be a very large mistake to step out of line and be caught committing a felony . The harsh punishments were put in place so that the slaves of Rome would not rebel against the Masters and upper …show more content…

Slaves were mainly prisoners captured in battle, mostly captured from Spain and Greece. Slaves were sold at a market in the city. The price of a slave depended on what they could achieve for their masters, a slave with talent, skill or trade was generally worth more, especially if they could cook. Slaves were sold with a slate around their neck stating where they were from, how much they cost and what their professions were. Slaves were not treated in the most humane ways and were most often tied to the ground or had a heavy weight to stop them from running away from the slave markets. So we can see that from the way slaves were treated, how they live their lives, the types punishments that were issued , and the manner in which people became slaves in Ancient Rome and the restrictions upon their freedom, that the lives of slaves in Ancient Rome where to a large extent shaped by their interactions with their own class and members of other

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