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ANCIENT HISTORY- SLAVERY IN THE ANCIENT WORLD

Rome was a slave-owning society that acquired their slave through joys of war

Slavery in Rome - Reached its peak in roman empire when the number of slaves grew to millions - Wealthy romans owned many slaves (sometimes hundreds) as a status symbol - Ordinary people had 1 or 2 slave How do we know about slaves in Rome ? - Few records have survived from Roman slaves to allow modern historians to deduce from them a slave's perception of his or her life of servitude - Instead the evidence available comes overwhelmingly from people such as Plutarch, who represented the slave-owning classes definition of a slave - Slave: an individual who is owned by another person and is deprived of most, if not all of his/ her rights Sources of slaves - Slaves came from many sources; 1. Warfare- captives from the enemy 2. Piracy 3. Kidnapping 4. Sale (of children) to reduce / pay off debt 5. Born into slavery (parents are slaves so therefore, their children are also slaves) 6. Serious crimes could be punishment by slavery Slave markets - Slaves stood (often naked) with a placard hung around their neck giving name, place of origin, abilities and defects - Slaves being sold for the first time had one foot painted white with chalk - major slave market on the island of Delos - could handle over 20 000 slaves a day Jobs of slaves - Performed hazardous but necessary work such as farming, mining and road maintenance. Most large-scale projects would not have been attempted (let alone completed) without slaves - Domestic slaves worked as nurses, tutors, cleaners, entertainers, gardeners and doctors treatment of slaves - Dependant upon who bought the slave ( whether they were treated bad or not) - Eg; slave gangs in mines, galley ships or field workers had the worst treatment and conditions - Domestic slaves were often well treated as they lived with their owners - Highly educated slaves (usually Greeks ) were highly prizes and would cost more and were often treated with respect - Girls often ended up in a brothel or as a maids - There were some instances of cruelty - the master had absolute rights over slave - Flogging was the most common punishment for disobedience or insolence - Torture was used if a slave was required to give evidence in court Why not rebel? - Open rebellion was the most dangerous form of resistance, because the stakes were enormously high - The greater the size of the rebellion, the greater the likelihood was of betrayal from within, and the greater the threat was of serious retaliation, re-enslavement or death. Rebellion? - In 73-71 BC the gladiator Spartacus famously led an uprising of thousands of slaves in central Italy, formed an army that defeated several Roman legions, and at one point threatened Rome itself.