Roman Slave Revolts

Once in power, Crassus and Pompey extended Caesar's time as governor of Gaul, and then chose for themselves long-term governorships, (Crassus in Syria and Pompey in Spain). However, at the end of 55BC, Pompey did not leave for Spain, instead remaining as the only Triumvir in Rome, while Caesar and Crassus took the heads of powerful armies.

Roman slavery must be approached as a social institution in which the economic aspect, though important, was subsidiary, in order to appreciate the vast degree of significance which Romans themselves attributed to the presence of slavery among them, as well as its distinct cultural impact (Bradley 1998, p.18). The large presence of slaves and renewable population of skilled freedmen allowed the Roman Empire to achieve the economic and infrastructural achievements for which they are remembered, the degree of their contributions rendering Roman Italy, a ‘slave society.’ It has been estimated that, during the reign of Augustus, the servile population of Italy could have been as high as thirty-five percent (1998, pp.12-13). This high reliance on and large population of slaves was reflected throughout the empire, rendering society one in which the status of individuals - free, freedman or slave, was exceedingly salient and consequential. The strict societal hierarchy of the Roman Empire was built upon and directly contributed to the deep social divides between classes which defined social experience in the Roman Empire. Manumission, increased presence of freedmen and substantial base of slave population factored strongly into the increased significance levied upon social status, division between social groups and definition of position in society.

The experiences of enslaved women differed from the experience of enslaved men in ancient Rome; slavery within ancient Rome can be traced back to the first century BCE and was based primarily on the chattel slave system. Slavery within the ancient roman society was highly normalised as it was considered a part of roman culture. Slavery within ancient Rome was so heavily normalised that it is considered to be described as a “slave society” Joshel (2010, p. 6) states that “For slaves living in the Roman world, there was no outside – no place without slavery and no movement that declared slavery wrong. Slavery was a normal part of life, and this was true not only for the Romans but for every neighbouring ancient culture”. Not only was

Description: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Roman_collared_slaves_-_Ashmolean_Museum.jpg/220px-Roman_collared_slaves_-_Ashmolean_Museum.jpgAncient Rome was fundamentally a slave society, built up from the slaves. As the lowest tier of the Roman hierachy they were by defnition without human rights. As Aristotle wrote, slaves were considered; ‘a slave is a live article of propert.y’ (Aristotle, Politics, Section 1253b. 4) Providing usually unpaid labour and considered the property and under complete control of their master, slaves were an integral part of Ancient Rome’s economy and way of life. Slaves had

One significant event within classical history that occurred within and had an impact on how Roman society functioned was the slave revolt of Spartacus. This war was the third in a cycle of three - named the servile wars. These wars began away from Rome, in Sicily, but later directly threatened the senate when Spartacus began the third servile war that lasted from 73-71BC and involved many slaves who escaped their punishment to fight, although none were recorded to have survived after the final battle where Spartacus died in battle.

The other two triumvirs agreed to grant Julius Caesar the office of consul in 59 BC. He was appointed the governor of Roman Gaul in 58 BC and built up an army there. Caesar marched north into Gaul and defeated the Helvetii. Caesar's military contributions to the empire were significant, but he destroyed the Republic with his civil wars. His march on Rome exploited the precedent of Sulla, whose own march was due to far more legitimate political issues. Caesar simply didn't want to be prosecuted for the innumerable laws he broke during his consulship, and so refused to lay down his arms when ordered by the Senate and People of

A hero of his time, Spartacus led one of the greatest slave rebellions in Roman history. The rebellion ended on the day many believe Spartacus died. He is believed to have died in battle with Crassus in 71 BC. This was shortly before Crassus joined the First Triumvirate. The slave revolt happened after Spartacus and the other slaves fought or left their master for the way they were being treated or forced to do things they did not want to. The beginning of the third servile war with Spartacus and his fellow gladiator slave fighting their master at the gladiator training school and escaping to mount Vesuvius, where they met up with other escaping slaves.

48, Caesar transported his troops from Brundisium across the Adriatic to meet the army of Pompey, with the few ships he had obtained. There were two battles between the armies of Caesar and Pompey. In the first at Dyrrhachium (Pronounced: Dyratium), Caesar was defeated. Caesar then retreated across the peninsula in the direction of Pharsalus, as to draw Pompey and his army away from their seacoast supplies. In the second and final battle, the two armies led by their generals met in Pharsalus. With about twenty thousand men, Caesar defeated the army of Pompey, whose army consisted over forty thousand men. Fleeing to Egypt, Pompey was murdered. Caesar now accomplished the first part of his plan to rule Rome by taking possession of Italy and defeating the two armies of Pompey in Spain and Greece. He had established his title to supremacy, and honors were paid to him in Rome. He was made a consul for five year, a tribune for life, and a dictator for one year. But his ambition had only just

Slavery in the ancient world and in Rome was vital to both the economy and even the social fabric of the society. While it was commonplace throughout the Mediterranean region, and the Hellenistic regions in the east, it was not nearly so vital to others as it was to the dominance of Rome. As the Romans consolidated their hegemony of Italy and Sicily followed by the systematic conquest of western Europe, countless millions of slaves were transported to Rome the Italian countryside and Latin colonies all over Europe. Though slavery was prevalent in households throughout the city itself, it was on the farms and plantations where it had its greatest effect. The Roman conquests of Carthage, Macedonia and

Throughout the history of Ancient Rome, there were only three major slave uprisings recorded all of which failed and resulted in a roman victory. However the number of slave revolts seems disproportionate to the injustice against the slaves over the centuries. There were reasons for this. Foremost is likely that most Romans did not see anything wrong with having slaves or treating them harshly, even slaves themselves saw this as common practice. Another reason is that the master might employ either the carrot or the stick. The carrot would be the kind treatment of their slaves, giving them hope to perhaps earn their freedom, or make life nice enough for the slave to choose it over an attempted escape (if the slave was caught escaping they would be charged with stealing their master's property and be punished accordingly, which could be a whipping or branding with the letter 'F' for fugitive.). The stick (which

On January 10 to 11, 49 BC, Caesar led troops across the river Rubicon. As Pompey further aligned himself with nobility, who increasingly saw Caesar as a national threat, civil war between the two leaders proved to be inevitable. In the end, however, Pompey and his troops were no match for Caesar’s military campaign. By late 48 BC, Caesar had pushed his enemies out of Italy and pursued Pompey into Egypt. There Pompey was killed, and Caesar aligned himself with the Egyptian queen

During the late Roman Republic, Ancient Rome was at its early stages and a civilization was being shaped. The Ancient Romans used the establishment of slavery to help endorse their civilization and became a major factor in the economy of the Roman Republic. The Romans treated many of their slaves bad. Under Roman authority, the slaves were trained to fight against each other to their death. They made them train and do labor work whether the sun was shining, or it was pouring down raining. If the slaves obeyed their orders, they were rewarded with a young lady. The slaves were kept in a basement like chamber and they were locked in their rooms at night. Sometimes they were even chained together with shackles. Spartacus, a Thracian, was sent into slavery to the Romans at the young age of thirteen, and to gladiator school. According to Plutarch, Spartacus possessed “great spirit and bodily strength”, and he was more “Greek than his Thracian background might indicate” (131,132). Spartacus, slaves, and some gladiators joined together and escaped from gladiator school, so they could create a slave army. Spartacus was their leader and he made a training camp, so the slaves could learn how to fight without killing each other. The 1960 film, Spartacus, reflects on the issue of slavery and the Spartacus slave war. The Spartacus Slave War, written as three separate documents by Plutarch, Appian, and Sallust, is also a reflection of slavery in the Roman Republic and Spartacus’ war, and

Slavery in ancient Rome during the Imperial was crucial during the Roman’s expansion. Unlike modern slavery, the Romans did not base slavery on particular races instead conquered lands became opportunities to find slaves to be used in Roman society. There were also other forms for Rome to acquire slaves via trade, piracy, and breeding. The Roman slavery institution was vital for the expansion of Roman borders and the lavish lifestyle the elite of Rome had sustained. Within Roman society there were also freedmen and women called manumitted slaves, which have been released by their master. The Roman Empire embedded slavery into its culture. Across the empire slaves played a critical role in establishing Rome integrated its slave society into

During the Roman Republic, Ancient Rome was at its very beginnings and a civilization was just being created. Like any other civilization there were different levels of status between classes and several positions of power in which people could obtain. Subsequently, just as there were people of power and wealth, there were also people of little to no power and poverty. The Ancient Romans utilized the institution of slavery to help promote their civilization and became a major factor in the economy of the Roman Republic. In a way slaves helped shape Rome into what it is today. Without slavery in Ancient Rome, history could have been written differently when considering Rome as a powerful city and civilization.

The Romans partially met the common good. Some examples of a few things the did well was making pipes and aqueducts to bring water to their cities. The problem was the pipes were made with lead, so a lot of the people would get lead poisoning.