The Role of Slavery in Roman Comedy

The stock character of the leno, or brothel-keeper or pimp, is a character that many, if not all, Romans would have immediately recognized. The leno is represented in Plautus’ Pseudolus by a character named Ballio. He owns the love interest of Calidorus, master of Pseudolus, and is known for his greed and physical harshness towards his slaves. He is seen in the play constantly beating his slaves, and he calls them names such as “whip-spoilers” (139), which indicates that Ballio beats them so much that his whip becomes spoiled. Ballio fits the classic definition of a leno, as he is extremely greedy and only cares about money. He compromises his morals constantly in order to make more money, and he almost seems proud to accept his bad character. The most important example of this is when he sells Phoenicium, Calidorus’ love interest, to a

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.

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.

The Slave Wars were a series of three slave revolts that took place within the Roman Republic between 135 BC to 71 BC. Spartacus led the third of these slave revolts that occurred from 73 BC to 71 BC. This third slave revolt was sparked by an incident that occurred when a group of slave gladiators escaped from their school (Spartacus pg. 130). Although some may say that Roman slaves may have had it moderately easy, In fact politically and socially slaves were treated poorly.

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

During the end of the 3rd Century, the Playwright Plautus wrote many of the first Roman comedies. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum is a musical comedy film adaptation of Plautus's comedies.Set in ancient Rome, many aspects of Roman theatre, including stock characters, were included in the film’s production. While the film is based off of multiple comedies, Plautus's Pseudolus character Calidorus is nearly identical to the film’s Hero. During the time Pseudolus was written, the Crisis of the Third Century led to up to 25% of Roman population being comprised of slaves(Southern). Of the many stock characters Platus included in his comedies, Calidorus/Hero, the son of Pseudolus’s owner and the stock character adulescens, best

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

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.

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.

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.

Terence in his plays was attempting to bring the “New Comedy” of Greece to a Roman audience. “Old Comedy” was usually more blatant with sexual humor. The phallus was typically over displayed, with a protagonist obtaining the woman of his desires, with a finale of uninhibited party and celebration. This was not what Terence was introduced to his audience. Although women of “Old Comedy” were a reward. The “New Comedy” was developing women as characters, not just a sexual prize. Erich Segal emphasizes, “Terence has put a few new wrinkles on… traditional figures, often adding touches of originality and realism, creating such novelties as… an honest prostitute.” Yet these were still the stock characters who defined comedy in plays, and did not represent women well.

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.

Madam shall we go to the theatre now so that we can get good seats?"

Historic playwrights such as Sophocles, Euripides, Aeschylus, and Seneca were described as prolific philosophers and geniuses of their times. These men actively participated in the politics surrounding them, and were respected and revered in their society. Each had their own individual style and portrayed their personalities through each of their noted works. Nevertheless, as with a majority of playwrights throughout history, most fodder for their plays have been adaptations of previous plays written by their predecessors or based off mythological events. Unfortunately, this had lead to many speculative accusations and criticisms, as is the case with Senecan tragedies versus their Greek counterparts. Senecan and Greek interpretations of

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.