Slavery





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Slaves were someone who’s owned by another and known as property that can be bought and sold. Slavery was the lowest class. There were three groups of people in Rome and slaves were one of them. In Rome, slavery wasn’t known as a bad thing. It was actually quite common. Slave labor was the [|foundation] of the state. Many of the slaves came from the east. Most were Syrian, Jewish, Greek or Egyptian. There were two major slave [|revolts] in Sicily during 135-132 B.C. and 104-100 B.C. These were the only two periods were there were [|uprisings] from the slaves.

Romans captured many people during the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C. of conquests of other lands. During that time, Rome also had its rise as the most powerful state in the Mediterranean. Romans soon realized that the [|captives] could be put to work on farms and be personal servants in cities. Slavery may have started when communities based on [|agriculture] formed. As farms grew in size, more people were needed so they used slaves.

Slaves appeared in great amounts, only after 2nd century B.C. because that was the period where Rome got a lot of wealth. They were available all throughout the republic and were used in Rome until the 4th century A.D.

There were many different reasons that people became slaves. Some were forced into slavery when their land was conquered by Rome. Others became slaves from doing piracy, being bought from barbarian lands, caught from war, or because they couldn’t pay a debt. Some people were even sold into slavery by parents, relatives or spouses. Children of slaves were automatically put into slavery.

Most slaves worked as farmers since agricultural slavery was introduced a lot. Some even oared the war boats or worked on public works such as [|aqueducts], docks, roads or temples. All the books in public and private libraries were copied by hand by a group of slaves. Productive slaves were the unluckiest because they had to do construction or dig mines, which were the hardest jobs. Other productive slaves worked on plantations to get goods that were later sold in the market. Some slaves were [|domestic] or household which means that they did the cooking and cleaning. A few slaves got to serve officials, perform as [|lectors] or perform executions and sentences to criminals.

Some slaves that were brought back from war replaced the jobs of the [|plebeians], which made it hard for plebeians to find another job. Other captives were made into [|gladiators]. When firsts caught in war, they were brought to a wealthy Roman. The Roman would send them to gladiatorial school where they would learn how to use weapons. Once they had learned, the gladiator would now either fight to entertain people or be rented to guard a place when an emperor or a private citizen had an exhibition.

There were two types of slaves in Rome. The public slaves were luckier than the private slaves because they had more personal freedom. The public slaves were rarely sold and could own some property. (Owning property was very unique in slaving history.) Public slaves were the ones who took care of public buildings, served officials and performed as lectors or executioners.

Private slavery can be pleasant or brutal. There were two types of private slaves. One belonged to a “familia urbana.” They worked in the owner’s house and traveled with their masters to country [|villas]. The other type of slaves belonged to a “familia rustica.” They were slaves who worked outside the house as herdsmen, farm hands or gatherers in fields. Private slaves who belonged to the “familia rustica” were seen more often in the republic days because more care was needed of the farmlands.

Slaves didn’t have many rights but neither did they have very few. They were allowed to participate in every event open for free people except political affairs. Some slaves owned property and others even operated their own businesses. In 41 A.D., which was during the reign of Claudius, slaves were given government charity and got to go to circuses and theatres for free.

Slaves were usually different nationality, religion or race than their owner. The way slaves were treated depended on the society and the individual owner. Generally, the more different the slave was from the owner, the worst the slave was treated. There was no way to stop [|abusing] but Romans did try their best to draw up strict laws to make sure that slaves were treated pretty fairly.

In some [|societies] in ancient Rome, if a slave gained enough wealth from work outside, they could buy their own freedom. Some places, such as many Islamic societies, follow guidelines where slaves must be released after a specific number of years. Other slaves worked, got no money and little food until they were too sick to work and then [|abandoned]. A freed man can get [|citizenship] but cannot serve the army or hold public office. The unluckiest of all slaves were many who had to be slaves forever.

Basically, slaves were the unluckiest of all people in Rome. They were treated the worst and they had to do whatever they were told. Most, hardly got any sleep and had to work all day. Luckily, slaves are hardly used today and people are treated a lot better than they used to be.

By Devyani

__**Works Cited**__


 * //Bunson, Matthew. A Dictionary of the Roman Empire. New York: Oxford UP, 1991.//


 * //Mehta-Jones, Shilpa. Life in Ancient Rome. Canada: Crabtree Company, 2005.//


 * //“Rome, ancient.” Britannica Online School Edition. 2007. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 29 Oct. 2007 <[|http://www.britannicaschool.eb.com/all/elementary/article?articleId=353728>.]//


 * //“slavery.” Britannica Online School Edition. 2007. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 29 Oct. 2007 <[|http://www.britannicaschool.eb.com/elementary/article?articleId=353782>.]//


 * //“slavery and serfdom.” Britannica Online School Edition. 2007. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 29 Oct. 2007 <[|http://www.britannicaschool.eb.com/comptons/article-208114>.//]//