Roman Slaves: Slavery In Ancient Rome

The number of slaves in Rome grew at a very rapid rate. In 225 B.C. There were an estimated 600,000 slaves in Roman society and within 200 years the number went up to an estimated two million slaves (Burks 9); the proportion of slaves grew from an estimated 15% to 35% of the population (Ibid.). To provide for Rome 's hunger of slaves, the Roman government relied on an ever-consistent income of available slaves. The government 's reliance on slavery cannot be overstated since the slaves were needed to work a majority of jobs in the empire. All of the Roman soldiers lived civilian lives away from battle but they could be called away at a moment’s notice, which left hundreds of jobs stripped of workers. Since the soldier/citizens could be

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

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

A slave up to this point in history was considered to be unfortunate and not inferior. In the ancient world,

According to the book Chains it states, “‘I recall an auction not twenty yards from here,’ Mr. Robert said. ‘One of Brown’s ships brought up a load of rum and slaves from the islands. They must have sold thirty-five, forty people in two-hours’ time” (Robert 15-16). This shows that small farm living for slaves have a lot of auctions, they usually auction the slaves off on the small farm, itself. Finally the city life for slaves were much more different than small farm and plantation slaves.

In addition, Germans treated slaves with much more respect than Romans did. In Rome, the upper class were able to purchase numerous slaves to work in their house, and on their land. Slave owners in Rome treated their slaves harshly and with much disrespect, not providing them with necessities needed to survive. Their reason for this was

Slaves worked many different jobs and were used for many different things. The most common for men slaves were field hands who worked the tobacco fields in the southern colonies and were known for working extremely hard and in return were often treated badly. Other slaves were house servants. These slaves did chores around the house or helped out in the master's trade shop.

The people of rome wanted to move out of there farm homes in the countryside so the decided to move into the city. After some people moved into the city, they would become homeless because there were a shortage of jobs in the city. Slaves worked most of the jobs as well as many of the professions such as teachers, doctors, surgeons, and architects. Most of the freedmen worked at other jobs, for example, as bakers, fishmongers, or carpenters. But as you can see the slaves got the most jobs and this caused

Despite harsh stereotypes of the institution of slavery there were not overwhelming reports of harsh conditions for slaves during the time of the Republic. Eventually, the Roman slaves were treated as members of the family unit in the earlier days of slavery. Their punishments were mild, and they were given holidays from their regular duties on certain occasions and festivals.

Slaves had no rights at all in the south. Many worked as servants and farm laborers. Some practiced skill trade as shoemaking and others worked on cotton plantations as field hands. Men and women did harsh backbreaking labor in the fields. They cleared new land, planted seeds, and harvested crops in all weather. Teenagers worked alongside the adults pulling weeds, picking insects off the crops and carrying water to the other workers. Some slaves became skilled workers such as blacksmiths and carpenters. Some slaves worked in cities but their earnings belonged to their owners. Planters often hired these skilled workers to work on their plantations. Older slaves like women worked as servants in the planter’s house. They cooked, cleaned and did other chores under the supervision of the planter’s wife.

Slaves often lived in condition similar to that of which their owner lives and though there were owners who would treat their slaves unreasonably, they soon gave some rights to slaves so they could file a complaint on their master, as stated before. You’ve got to realize that the citizens of Rome had to work on things other than basic labor and the only way to continue being a progressive empire, they needed slaves to do things that they didn’t have time to do. Things like farming and providing entertainment with gladiator fights. Slaves that did important jobs, like doctors and teachers, were cared for well because they did important things for the society, so the slaves’ good actions weren’t overlooked as much as it seems. Overall, I would say that slaves and citizens were not treated as equal as they could have been, but they weren’t treated so differently

Previous Roman actions have raised the question whether they recognized their slaves as things or people. Of course, there are economic advantages in support of slavery. However, when human lives are under constant danger and torture, the economic advantages must be forgotten. Although the slaves of Ancient Rome played a pivotal role in the society, their actions were never approved. After careful consideration, it is evident that the Romans recognized slaves as things rather than people. This conception is mainly due to three factors. They include: slaves being put on the market, the physical cruelty towards the slaves, and the slaves being mistreated to the point of revolt.

The most common use of a slave was to have the around the house to do common tasks

As a result, they often did public service. Aristocrats had it much better than the poor and they also received advantaged treatment from the imperial representatives and the courts. There were also local elites, located in other cities of the Empire, which would execute the duties of managing office, sponsoring games, erecting public buildings, and making charitable contributions. Then came the lower classes which included poor citizens, non-citizens, slaves, and former slaves called freedmen. "The working masses who toiled with their hands in the fields and towns represented the largest segment of the population during the empire, but not all of the lower classes were manual laborers ." Doctors, musicians, actors, teachers, and even philosophers fell into the lower classes, and so did craftspeople. Then finally came the lowest class which was made up of slaves. When the Romans conquered the Mediterranean, they enslaved millions of people and brought them to Italy. These slaves labored on the large plantations or in the houses and workplaces of wealthy citizens. Roman law was inconsistent on slavery. Slaves were considered property; they had no rights and they were submitted to the demands of their owners. However, they had legal standing as witnesses in courtroom proceedings, and they could eventually gain freedom and citizenship. Slaves could also save money to purchase their freedom. Frequently, masters would free loyal slaves in appreciation for