Thermal baths of Sidi Ghrib, Tunisia, 4th century, via Īnother major source of the Roman slave supply was reproduction among the existing slave population. This meant they were sophisticated and knowledgeable, and had a higher rate of gaining freedom. They would teach various skills and had to be educated themselves. These educators were male and took care of the master’s children from an early age.

Male slaves who were favored and trusted, named vilici, were given the responsibility to overlook the work of other slaves on the rural estates.Īnother important function was held by slave educators. A large number of slaves per household led to a division among the slave class. The goal was to prevent any kind of deal between fellow slaves, which could lead to a riot. A household that kept more than one slave aimed to have slaves of different origins. As an urban prefect, this may have been symbolic, but owning a high number of slaves demonstrated wealth and social importance in urban areas ( Tac. Tacitus had 400 slaves in his household at Pedanius. Some could gain true affection or start a relationship with their masters.Įlite households in Rome and the provinces had numerous members, both enslaved and free. They could become those who controlled other slaves, or they could be manumitted - freed - quicker. Some slaves, because of their skills, hard work, or good looks, could climb up the hierarchical ladder of slaves in the familia. Hierarchy Among Roman Slaves Marble statue of a slave boy with a lantern, 1st or 2nd century, via Jstor We cannot neglect the numerous, but forever unknown, lionhearted escape attempts that were made by individual slaves, led by their desire for freedom. The Servile Wars were repressed and they were the only occasions in which major slave revolts shook the institution of Roman slavery. The enormous influx of slaves from different tribes, cultures, and backgrounds led to tension that resulted in three slave rebellions. For example, in the three wars against Carthage, more than 75,000 captives were imprisoned and sold into Roman slavery.Ī denarius of Manius Aquilius, coined after the slave revolts, BCE 71, via Together with so-called slave-breeding, by the second century, Roman slavery played a much larger role and numbers grew rapidly. At that time, women and children were not used as slaves, but after the end of the Republic, the diversity of slaves began to grow. In the late Roman Republic, continuous wars, foreign and civil, provided a supply of slaves that circulated the markets of the Mediterranean. The Roman custom of mass enslavement came with conquest and the expansion of territory. In Res Rustica, a book that discusses agriculture in the form of an academic dialogue, Varro defined slaves as instrumentum vocale or “talking tools”. 1.119–120), they belonged to the category of valuable goods, like land and large animals. Roman law regarded them as res mancipi (Gaius Inst. Slaves were goods that could be bought, sold, tortured, or killed. Prisoners and products of piracy, they could be purchased on the market like any other product. Roman slaves, servi, were war captives and survivors from conquered tribes. Contrasting Roles in Roman Slavery Marble relief of the Roman collared slaves, from Smyrna (Turkey), 200 CE, via

Rome slave market