From our perspective, slavery is one of the most controversial institutions of the past. We see slavery as an inhumane, immoral, and intolerable business, an unacceptable human flesh for cash type of business that none of us could tolerate. For the ancients, however, slavery was part of the everyday landscape, a completely recognized social institution smoothly integrated into the overall social fabric.
What follows is a list of 10
interesting facts about slavery in ancient Rome, including several firsthand
accounts so we can hear the voices and views of the ancients on this
controversial matter.
10Slave Population
Ancient Roman society had a high
proportion of slave population. Some have estimated that 90 percent of the free
population living in Italy by the end of the first century BC had ancestors who
had been slaves (McKeown 2013: 115).
The proportion of slaves was so
significant that some Romans left written accounts on the dangers of this
situation: “It was once proposed in the Senate that slaves should be
distinguished from free people by their dress, but then it was realized how
great a danger this would be, if our slaves began to count us” [Seneca, On
Mercy: 1.24].
Modern estimations on slave
population in Italy give us a figure of about 2 million by the end of the
Republican period, a slave-to-free ratio of about 1:3 (Hornblower and Spawforth
2014: 736).
9Slave Revolts
There are many slave uprisings
recorded in Roman history. A Syrian slave named Eunus was the leader of one of
these revolts during the 135–132 BC period, which took place in Sicily. It is
said that Eunus presented himself as a prophet and claimed to have a number of
mystical visions.
According to Diodorus Siculus [The
Library: 35.2], Eunus managed to persuade his followers with a trick that made
sparks and flames come out of his mouth. The Romans defeated Eunus and crushed the revolt, but
this example might have inspired another slave rebellion in Sicily in 104–103
BC.
The most famous slave uprising in
ancient Rome is the one led by Spartacus.
The Roman army fought Spartacus’s force for two years (73–71 BC) before they
could put the rebellion down.
8Versatile
Lifestyles
The living conditions and
expectations of slaves in ancient Rome were versatile, strongly linked to their
occupations. Slaves involved in exhausting activities such as agriculture and
mining did not enjoy promising prospects. Mining, in particular, had a reputation
of being a brutal activity.
Pliny [Natural History 33.70] reports
the arduous conditions of this activity: “Mountains are hollowed out by the
digging of long tunnels by the light of torches. The miners work in shifts as
long as the torches last and do not see daylight for months at a time.
[ . . . ] Sudden cracks appear and crush the miners so that
it now seems less perilous to dive for pearls and purple mollusks in the depths
of the sea. We have made dry land so much more dangerous!”
Household slaves, on the other hand,
could expect a more or less humane treatment, and in some cases, they had
opportunities to keep and manage some money and other forms of property for
themselves. This property, known as “peculium,” would legally be owned by the
slave’s master, but in practical terms, the slave would be allowed to use the
money for his or her own purposes.
Eventually, if the slave had enough
property, he could try buying his own
freedom and becoming a “freedman,” a social class in between
the slaves and the freemen. As a freedman, the slave would still be legally
part of his or her master’s household.
7The Most Famous
Roman Slave?
Spartacus is the name of a Roman
slave of Thracian origin, arguably the most renowned Roman slave of all time.
He escaped from a gladiator training camp located in Capua in 73 BC, taking
about 78 other slaves with him. Spartacus and his men took full advantage of
the pathological inequalities of Roman society by recruiting thousands of other
slaves and destitute country folks.
Spartacus and his men defied the
Roman authorities and military machine for two years. Frontinus [Stratagems:
1.5.22] reported that Spartacus’s army employed dead bodies attached to stakes
outside their camp and equipped with weapons. From a distance, this gave the
impression that the army was larger and better organized than it actually was.
The revolt was finally crushed by the
Roman General Crassus. Spartacus was killed, but his name and deeds became
immortal and were kept alive in the memory of Rome. Even today, his story has
inspired countless books, TV series, and movies. After Spartacus’s army was
defeated, more than 6,000 slaves who took part in the revolt were crucified along the road between
Rome and Capua, the Via Appia.
6Slave Ownership
Owning slaves was a widespread
practice among Roman citizens, no matter their social status. Even the poorest
Roman citizens could own a slave or two. In Roman Egypt, it is probable that
artisans had about two or three slaves each. The wealthiest could own a lot
more. We know that Nero owned about 400 slaves who worked at his urban
residence. It is recorded that a wealthy Roman named Gaius Caecilius Isidorus
had 4,166 slaves at the time of his death (Hornblower and Spawforth 2014: 736).
5Slave Demand
The slave demand in Rome was so high
for a number of reasons. With the sole exception of public office, slaves were
accepted in almost every activity. Mining and other exploitative occupations
also had a high demand for human labor that was fulfilled with slaves.
Domestic labor and farming were two
occupations where slaves were also in high demand. Moreover, slave management
is a topic included in many surviving Roman handbooks on farming. In his
treatise known as On Farming, Varro recommends
that free labor be used in unhealthy places. The logic behind this tip is that,
unlike the death of free farmers, the death of slaves has a negative financial
impact (Hornblower and Spawforth 2014: 736).
4Slave Procurement
Slaves were acquired in four main
ways: as war captives, as victims of pirate raids and brigandage, by trade, or
by breeding. During different stages of Roman history, some of these methods
were more relevant than others. During the early expansion of the Roman Empire,
for example, a significant number of war captives were turned into slaves.
The pirates from Cilicia in
present-day southern Turkey were expert suppliers of slaves, and the Romans were
used to doing business with them. Cilician pirates typically brought their
slaves to the island of Delos (Aegean Sea), which was considered to be the
international center of the slave trade.
It is recorded that on one occasion
during the course of a single day, at least 10,000 people were traded as slaves
and shipped to Italy. This would indicate that the borders were blurred
between piracy and trade as
a means of acquiring slaves.
3An Unquestioned
Institution
We tend to see slavery as an immoral
and inhumane institution. However, there is no evidence of serious questioning
of slavery in Roman society. All major economic, social, and legal forces in
ancient Rome conspired to make slavery a perpetuating system.
Slaves were considered to be the
reverse of free people, a necessary social counterbalance. Civic freedom and
slavery were two sides of the same coin. Even when more humane rules were introduced
that improved the living conditions of slaves, this did very little to reduce
slavery. It simply made it more tolerable (Hornblower and Spawforth 2014:
736-737).
2Fugitive Slaves
Slaves running away from their
masters was a common problem among slave owners. A way to deal with this was to
hire professional slave catchers known as fugitivarii, who would track
down, capture, and return the slave to his owner in exchange for a fee.
Sometimes, the owners would advertise rewards for the return of the fugitives,
and in other cases, they would try to locate the runaways themselves
(Hornblower and Spawforth 2014: 736-737).
Another curious method to combat
fugitive slaves was the use of slave collars with instructions on where to
return them. A surviving example reads:
I am
Asellus, slave of Praeiectus, who is an official in the Department of the Grain
Supply. I have escaped from my post. Detain me, for I have run away.Take me back to
the barber’s shops near the temple of Flora [Select Latin Inscriptions
8272] (McKeown 2013: 116).
1Slave Freedom
In Roman society, a slave owner had
the option of granting freedom to their slaves. This process was known as
manumission. This could be achieved in different ways: It could be granted by
the slave owner as a reward for the slave’s loyalty and service, it could be
earned by the slave by paying the master a sum of money and therefore buying
his freedom, or in some cases, the master would find it convenient to free a
slave.
An example of this last case were
merchants who needed someone to be able to sign contracts and conduct different
transactions on their behalf and needed someone legally entitled to do so. From
a legal standpoint, slaves were not entitled to represent their masters.
In some cases, the freedom of the
slave could be complete, and in other cases, the former slave would still have
a duty to provide services to his former master. Former slaves who were skilled
in some profession were expected to provide their professional services free of
charge to their former masters. Former slaves even had the possibility of
becoming Roman citizens, and sometimes, they would (ironically) become slave
owners.
Credit: Cristian Violatti
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