Slavery In Rome

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.

When you hear the word slavery, the image of the horrendous deed that was the American enslavement of Africans most likely comes to mind. But, slavery goes much further back than the early 1800’s of agricultural America. The ancient Romans had slaves,but it differed fromAmerican enslavement. It can be a common idea that American slavery and Roman slavery werealmost the exact same, but that is not the case (Fragments). By comparing the two types of slavery,the ideacan bepresentedthat the two may have had similar ideas and goals,butthey were not the same thing.In ancient Rome, slaves were acquired through trade and slave markets and were often prisoners of war and piracy orthe children of men and women who were slaves themselves (Cartwrightand

Rome defeated a kingdom, and then allowed the slaves to rise in the social hierarchy.

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 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).

In Rome, there were people who worked as tutors, fieldworkers, and housemaids. Imagine having to work all day with no pay. In ancient Rome They used slaves similar to a lot of other places in the ancient world, Slavery had a long history in the ancient world and was practiced in Ancient Egypt and Greece, as well as Rome. All slaves and their families were the property of their owners similar to American slavery Slaves were often whipped, branded or cruelly mistreated. They had to work in private households, in mines and factories, and on farms. Some slave owners freed their slaves in considerable numbers Some freed them outright, while others allowed them to buy their own freedom (Cartwright). Life was very tough for slaves in ancient Rome, they had to do a lot of work with a lot of hardship. There were three types of slaves, household slaves, Field slaves and Tutor slaves.

Human beings have been in bondage for thousands of years. Slavery originated in early civilizations. It has not only affected our modern world, it has affected the advancement of the human being itself. In most civilizations, humans establish class systems and look upon other humans as if they are “lesser than” or “subhuman”. The process of dehumanization is a key psychological factor in why slavery has existed since the formation of civilizations.

Slavery, a word described as the state of one bound in servitude as the property of a household. This description, along with sadness and disbelief gets brought into peoples’ minds as the chilling sensation of the explanations begins to be sought out. The New Testament brings us many different views on how we percept our personal beliefs upon Slavery, and different problems arising as aspects on this topic are perceived by Paul the Apostle in Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon.

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.

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

Slavery was the practice of taking a human being and making them do the work of another by force. This was practiced through out the ancient world and especially in Rome and Greece. Slaves were nothing more than just property to the ancient peoples. They didn't have the rights of citizens nor were they able to do what they want in most cases. Slaves had many tasks that they had to do, many of which included taking care of the masters house and kids, cooking and cleaning that house, herding the cattle for the farming families, being guards for some prisons, fighting for entertainment of the masses, and more common was sexual activities with the slaves.

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.

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.

Slavery can be dated back to very early civilizations and were crucial in everyday activities, also to the economy. Some of these ancient civilizations include the India, Mesopotamian and Chinese and these had slaves work in their homes or their shops. Another early civilization who used slaves were the Egyptian who used the slaves to build their monuments, castles, palaces and statues. Hebrews also used slaves but were a little more moral on how they were identified. The Aztec, Inca and Mayan used slaves in many forms and most of these slaves were optained through war prisoners and were used in agriculture and warfare.

Comparable to some degree with the struggle of the early civilizations (i.e. Greek and Roman slavery) to break out their condition of being slaves, the classic animated movie "A Bug 's Life" depicted in a similar way, but in different causes to bring the system down. In the mentioned movie, various societal form and structures of interest are exposed in this paper.