Slavery In The Roman Republic Essay

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

The roman republic came into existence at the termination of the Roman kingship in 507 B.C.E. The last king of Rome, Tarquin the Proud, was expelled by Collatinus and Brutus, as a result of his arrogance involving the matter of one of his relations raping the wholesome Roman matron Lucretia and her subsequent suicide. The rape of Lucretia was really a representation of the frustration that the roman citizens felt regarding the kingship. The later kings had little regard for roman values and the roman populus, which they used as something of a slave labor force. Brutus and Collatinus became the first Roman Consuls, elected by popular vote.

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.

During this time period, the treatment of slaves improved because they were treated more like humans rather than farm animal. Some slave owners even allowed their slaves to purchase their freedom by working for them for a certain amount of time. Some African American slaves were not as lucky for their masters forbid them to do so (Doc F). As the North finally gets rid of all slave activity, the South becomes more and more dependent on slave labor and more embedded into the system.

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.

After they conquered a foreign land, the Romans became responsible for maintaining the area. If the Romans failed to maintain their new territory, they would eventually lose it to foreign invaders. Workers would be needed to secure the area and repair any structural damage that may have resulted from the initial conquest of the area. But, workers are not cheap, and the Romans would want to save their money for future conquests. That’s where slavery comes in. The Romans enslaved all of the people they conquered in order to meet the demand for affordable

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

People would offer themselves up to work the land and do other miscellaneous work in exchange for a passage to America. Although it is generally believed that indentured servants, as a whole, were treated better and more fairly than slaves, that is not completely true. Some indentured servants were treated kindly by their “owners”, while others were physically abused and had no rights in the eyes of whoever had control over them. Just like regular slaves, these servants were treated like property and were passed down through the family. If the primary owner of a servant died while they still had time to serve, then they were passed on to someone else in their family to allow them to finish their sentence. Frequently, indentured servants were beaten so badly that they would die, in which the master beating them would face little to no

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

In American history, every event and person plays a part in the future. For example, rich plantation owners helped America advance their economy. However, that would not have been at all possible without the help of their slaves. The time and institution of slavery is a time of historical remembrance. It played a primary role during the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. The treatment, labor conditions, and personal stories of these slaves’ treatment and labor conditions are all widely discussed around the world to this day.

The sheer volume of violence in the ancient world also tells the story of its inequality. If all was equal in the ancient world, then it would not have been as violent as it was. A government that takes care of the people it rules does not have to worry about them robbing and killing one another, and yet it continued to happen over and over again. In a society built on dominance and conquest, it is no wonder that slavery was a prevalent as it was. Though slaves were often treated as human beings and, in some cases, could even hold public office, slaves could still be subjected to abuse and unlivable conditions. Though slaves were often treated fairly and with dignity, they were still under the direct control of people who could do virtually anything they wanted to them. A servant could cheat on his wife and face a far more severe punishment than if the same crime was committed by an aristocrat (161-162). The ancient world was made up of winners and losers—the winners were the conquerors and the losers were the conquered. It seems as though slavery was unavoidable as it was the only real way to keep these two groups apart in terms of social stature. Slavery also reflects the perceived dominance that a more powerful civilization had over another. In civilizations so concerned with how powerful and dominant they were, slavery almost had to be instituted in order for ancient civilizations to keep both their values and empires intact. The only reason for some

There were a number of Roman laws regarding slavery, and these too, changed over time. In the Republican period, slaves had no rights and were always subject to the whims of their owners. They did have some legal standing, however. They were allowed to act as witnesses in trials, and could gain freedom either through their owner's gratitude after loyal service or by buying it through the meager earnings they might collect over a lifetime of service. For example, owners in the Republic had the right to kill or mutilate slaves at a whim, but later imperial laws took this right away, though in practice this law could be largely ignored. This represents how valued slaves were to the Roman people.

Adding onto the point where slaves were put on the market like things, slaves were also discriminated due to their previous nationality. Both of these actions illustrate inhuman behaviour by the Ancient Romans. In addition to buying and selling slaves, there is one more option which tops off these poor choices. In Ancient Rome, one was also able to rent a slave. This is renting a human being. Renting tools or horses was ordinary but renting another person just exemplifies how Romans treated slaves as things, rather than people.

A historian once wrote that the rise of liberty and equality in America was accompanied by slavery. There is truth in that statement to great effect. The rise of America in general was accompanied by slavery and the settlers learned early on that slavery would be an effective way to build a country and create free labor. There was a definite accompaniment of slavery with the rising of liberty and equality in America.

As already stated in previous sections, public slaves were responsible for manning libraries, run the daily affairs of some prominent offices and were very loyal. However, there was always the possibility that a slave would get tortured and whatever the public slave owned belonged to the state (Buckland, 1908, p. 66). Our public servants of today do own their properties, are free citizens and do not live in fear of being tortured. Could the lives of the educated slaves of ancient Rome have been made any better? Were they really treated fairly?