Slavery

**__ Slavery in the Roman Empire __**
The social structure of the Roman Empire was separated mainly into three categories: the emperors on top, the free people of Rome as the middle class and at the bottom were the slaves. Slaves at this time were the base of most of the Empire’s wealth and provided structure for the social stature. “ Slaves in Rome might include prisoners of war, sailors captured and sold by pirates, or slaves bought outside Roman territory. ”1 (Slaves and Freedmen, 2006) These slaves most likely would have been in the same social standing in their city as the family that they would then work for, but that didn’t matter to the Romans. __Daily Life__ Life as a slave was dependent on their owner’s generosity, kindness, wealth and humanity. These slaves, along with their families, could be sold, rented or bought by landowners of the Roman Empire. Slaves were treated very cruelly such as being whipped, branded or even put to death with no second thought or punishment. The jobs that slaves could participate in included city-bound jobs – building roads, aqueducts, buildings – for the Roman government or working in mines, factories, farms or private households. __Slave Revolts__ This is a sculpture of a slave boy of the ancient Roman Empire. [1]    Slave revolts were the beginning of rebellion in the Roman Empire and created a mass hysteria.2   The man who most of the credit for this freedom and influence was Spartacus. “The real Spartacus was a freeborn provincial from Thrace, who may have served as an auxiliary in the Roman army in Macedonia. He deserted the army, was outlawed, captured, sold into slavery, and trained at the gladiatorial school of Batiatus in Capua.”3  In 73 B.C., he escaped from slavery with over 70 gladiators and led them to Vesuvius, where they were met by other rural slaves. Those men soon took over the villages and raided the towns with their stolen weaponry. The senators soon received word of all of the brutality and sent about 3,000 untrained soldiers to Vesuvius to try to reconvene their former slaves and gladiators. This then just caused a ruckus of revolts and war. Spartacus led his army over the Alps and into Italy, leaving behind the soldiers from Gaul to fight. In the process, Spartacus accumulated over 70,000 rural slaves to later fight the two consul’s legions. After the consuls were killed in battle, Spartacus returned to southern Italy and gathered over 120,000 slaves. This brought the slave revolts to its peak in about 72 B.C. and then a major decline with the battles against Crassus, the wealthiest man in Rome. Crassus defeated Spartacus in Italy several times and was defeated as well, but the fall of the rebel armies, and Spartacus, occurred in Southern Italy, near the ‘headwaters’ of the Siler River.  This is an illustration of the wars of the rebels, led by Spartacus.[5] __Freedom__ The fate of being a freedman was rested upon the owner’s shoulders. Some owners freed their slaves outright, but others made their laborers work for their freedom.4 This kept a tight rein on the slaves because the cloud of freedom was over their heads at all times, which enforced diligence and obedience. Freed slaves were able to become full Roman citizens with the exception of holding public office; although the children of these people would obtain the right to hold office as a Roman citizen. Even though the people were free at last, the title of former slave was still referred to in the social world of Rome.

With their regular Plebeian jobs still came ridicule and degradation. Slaves had a tough life in the ancient Roman Empire. Even though the racial aspect was not a factor, discrimination of the slaves existed to a maximum. ‘Once a slave, always a slave.’ Some of those people were treated like the dirt below the Roman’s feet, but some were even better //people// than their masters. Being a slave was the lowest of low in Rome and the tradition lived on into later cultures, such as our past. home

[1] Obinson, Bruce. "Slaves and Freemen." __PBS: The Roman Empire; In The First Century__. 2006. Lion Interactive. 2 Dec 2008 http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/slaves_freemen.html. [2] Barghusen, Joan. __Daily Life in Ancient and Modern Rome__. 1st. Minneapolis: The Learner Publishing Group, 1999. [3] McManus, Barbara. "Revolt of Spartacus." __Spartacus: Historical Background__. June 1999. The College of New Rochelle. 3 Dec 2008 http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/spartacus.html. [4]Hope, Valerie. "Social Pecking Order in the Roman World." __BBC - History__. 08 Aug 2003. BBC. 3 Dec 2008 . [5] Palmer, Brian. "Sartacus." __The Slave Revolts - 71 B.C.__. 2000. Millitary Art Gallery. 4 Dec 2008 <[|http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.militaryartgallery.com/Images_b/b_spartacus_the_slaves_revolt.jpg&imgrefurl]>.