How Did Slavery In Roman Slavery

Introduction

During the imperial age, slavery was prominent in Roman society. A large portion of the slave population were prisoners of war, men and women who were captured and brought to Rome where they were sold. However, most were born into slavery, many times due to sexual relations between slaves and their masters. Slaves were virtually invisible to society and horribly treated because they were given no legal rights. There were many different types of jobs a male or female slave would do depending on whether they lived in an urban or rural area or if they had a specific trait. Although the life of a slave was often unpleasant they did live with the hope that one day they would be set free by their masters.

About Slavery

Slavery was an established feature of Mediterranean life. The public and private lives of Romans and their slaves were very closely intertwined. Slaves were a form of visual wealth, the more slaves the more money you had “A rich man might own as many as 500 slaves and an emperor usually had more than 20,000 at his disposal” (History Learning Site). Unlike other forms of slavery that has occurred in history around the world Rome did not base their slavery around race or religion. Men, women and children who that captured were sold to slave markets. Children, especially young boys were more expensive to buy compared to adults. Fathers who were poor or in need of money could sell their children by law at these markets. also although rare people could even enslavement themselves. If a person had to pay off a debt they could offer themselves as slave to work off the money owed. Many of the slaves, especially from Greece were highly educated. If a slave was well educated or worked in a specific trade the...

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...tart a family, open a business to make money and a for freedmen, the right to vote. Many women who were liberta opened hair dressing shops in the downtown area. Although once a slave was freed he or she had to perform annual jobs for their master. Sometimes once the job was completed a reward of money was given. The only problem with this was if a slaves family was still owned by the master the freed person still had no right over or to them.

During the republic there was a slave revolution led by Spartacus. Spartacus was a famous Roman slave who did manage to escape from his captures. After his escaped he rallied other slaves who all formed together to defeat the Roman army. Although they were victorious this success did not last for long. The army managed to kill the slaves that survived the battle and other that were planning to join Spartacus for the revolt.