THE ROMAN INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY

By

Moses Maka Ndimukika

Sahmyook University

Seoul, Korea

Introduction

Slavery was a basic socio-economic enterprise in ancient

society.1 Michael Grant defines slavery as “an institution of the

common law of peoples by which a person is put into the ownership

of somebody else, contrary to the natural order.”2 Slavery was

commonly practiced throughout all ancient history, but history

affirms that no other people in history owned so many slaves and

depended upon them so much as the Romans.3 Slavery was accepted

1 M. I. Finley, Slavery in Classical Antiquity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968), 2.

2 Michael Grant, The World of Rome (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1968), 118.

3 William L. Westermann, The Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1955), 11-54; S. Scott Bartchy,“Slavery, Greco-Roman,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 6:65-73; R. H. Barrow, Slavery in the Roman Empire (London: Methuen, 1928); Keith R. Bradley, Slavery and Society at Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge, University Press, 1994); Keith R. Bradley, Slavery and Masters in the Roman Empire: A Study in Social Control (New York: Oxford University Press), 1987; Moses I. Finley, The Ancient Economy (Berkley: University of California Press, 1973), 883-910; Carlin A. Barton, The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993), pp. 176–177; Keith Hopkins, Conquerors and Slaves: Sociological Studies in Roman History (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 4-15;

as part of life in ancient Rome by the slaves themselves and by

the society. Slavery in ancient Rome played an important role in

society and the economy. Besides manual labor in mines and mills,

slaves performed many domestic services, and were involved in the

skilled jobs and professions. Teachers, accountants, and

physicians of the ancient Rome were predominantly slaves.

This paper examines the institution of slavery in ancient Rome

between the first centuries of B.C. and A.D. from a socio-

economic point of view with the aim of determining how the

institution of slavery contributed and affected the Roman Empire

economically. It is worth noting that the Roman institution of

slavery flourishes at a time when the Christian Church was also

taking its genesis and expansion.

In order to lay a plausible basis for the understanding of the

institution of slavery, the paper first establishes that slavery

as an institution was an inherent socio-economic institution of

the ancient Near East from antiquity, and that it blossomed and

reached its heights during the Greco-Roman periods. The common

sources of slaves and the laws that regulated the institution of

2

slavery in the larger ancient Near East are explored in the first

section of the paper. A brief contextual exploration of slavery

in the early Christian Church is also undertaken for Christianity

happens to make its appearance and expansion during the period of

the Roman Empire. The paper then proceeds to examine the socio-

economic dynamics of slavery in the Roman Empire, its prevalence,

indulgence and the impact it had upon the empire. The paper is

argued upon the premise that the Roman Empire was heavily

dependent upon the institution of slavery for its functioning and

survival.

SLAVERY IN THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

Slavery was a well established institution in the entire ancient

Near Eastern society with well laid out social stratifications.

The social structure of the ancient Near East had different

classes of people which could easily be summed up into two broad

categories, the “free” and the “slaves.”4 The terms, “free” and4 For a detailed discussion on social stratification in the ancient Near

East, see Eric L. Cripps, Land Tenure and Social Stratification in Ancient Mesopotamia: Third Millennium Sumer before the UR III Dynasty (Oxford: Archeo Press, 2007); Raymond Westbrook, “The Character of Ancient Near Eastern Law,” in A History of Near Ancient Eastern Law, vol. 1, edited by Raymond Westbrook (Leiden Brill, 2003), 1-92; I. M. Diakonoff, “Slave-Labour Vs. Non-Salve Labour: The Problem of Definition,” in Labour in Ancient Near East, edited by Marvin A. Powell (New Haven: American Oriental Society, 1987), 1-3; David Lorton, “Legal and Social Institutions of Pharaonic Egypt,” in Civilization of the Ancient Near East, vol. 1, edited by Jack M.

3

“slave” had relative meanings since no one was absolutely free

and some slaves had some considerable degrees of freedom. For

instance, the ordinary slave was a subject of his master, the

master was a subject of the king, the king was a subject of the

emperor, the emperor was also a subject of some god, and some

gods were subjects of other superior gods.5 Never the less, in

the strict sense of ancient Near Eastern social stratification,

society consisted of two broad groups: freemen and slaves.6

Although there were various shades of slavery and kinds of

slaves, these can be summed up into two broad types: the chattel

slave, who was a slave for life; and a temporary slave, who may

have been born as a free citizen but fell into slavery because of

various reasons, but still had a privilege of being free again.7

Sasson (New York: Scribner’s, 1995), 345-62; Harry A. Hoffner, “Legal and Social Institutions of Hittite Anatolia,” in Civilization of the Ancient Near East, vol.1, edited by Jack M. Sasson (New York: Scribner’s 1995), 555-69; Karen Radner,“Mesopotamia: Neo-Assyrian Period,” in A History of Near Ancient Eastern Law, vol. 2, edited by Raymond Westbrook (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 883-910; Finley, The Ancient Economy, 883-910.

5 David L. Baker, Tight Fists or Open Hands?: Wealth and Poverty in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2009), 111; Guenther H. Haas, “Slave, Slavery,” in Dictionary of the Old Testament: Pentateuch, edited by T. Desmond Alexanderand David W. Baker (Grand Rapids: IVP, 2003), 778-83.

6 For a detailed explanation on the three types of slaves from a socioeconomic perspective, see Muhammad A. Dandama[y]ev, “Slavery,” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 6, edited by David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992).

7 Baker categorizes slaves into various kinds under which he puts the concubines and bonded laborers which I think is over stretching the parameters

4

The exact condition of slaves in the ancient Near East varied

greatly. Some slaves were allowed to marry; others were not. Some

were grossly exploited and treated as animals; others were

treated with dignity and owned some property. Some slaves served

in private households; others served in temples, palaces, farms,

orchards and in construction.8 Their real condition varied from

time to time, and from place to place.

Sources of Slaves:

There were various sources of slaves in the ancient Near East.9

The main source for slaves in the ancient Near East was war.

People captured as prisoners of war were usually subjected to

slavery by the capturing nation.10 Children born to slaves also

became slaves of their parents’ masters. Children or wives could

of slavery. See Baker, Tight Fists or Opens Hands, 111-174.8 Muhammad A. Dandama[y]ev, Slavery in Babylonia: From Nabopolassar to Alexander the

Great (626-331 BC), (DeKalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 2008); Baker, Tight Fists or Opens Hands, 113; Haas, “Slave, Slavery,” 779.

9 For a further details on how people could become slaves in the ancientNear East, see Isaac Mendelsohn, Slavery in the Ancient Near East: A Comparative Study of Slavery in Babylonia, Assyria, Syria, and Palestine, from the Middle of the Third Millennium to the End of the First Millennium (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1949), 1-33; Julie Waters, “The Intersection of Law, Theology and Human Trafficking in the Narrative of Joseph: Linking the Past to the Present,” Second Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Trafficking (Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 2010); Roland de Vaux, Ancient Israel, Its Life and Institutions (New York: McGraw-Hill Book, 1961), 40-46; Dandama[y]ev, Slavery in Babylonia, 103-11; Baker, Tight Fists or Opens Hands, 113.

10 Igance J. Gelb, “Prisoners of War in Mesopotamia,” in Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 32 (1973) 70-98; Mendelsohn, Slavery in the Ancient Near East,” 5-7.

5

be sold by their parents or husbands, respectively, into slavery.

Some children could be abandoned by their parents and thus end up

into slavery. 11 Rather than starve to death, some people, in

dire circumstances, surrendered themselves into servitude in

exchange for food, shelter, and clothing. There were people who

found themselves forced into slavery to their creditors because

of bankruptcy after failing to pay their debts to them.12 In

early Mesopotamian periods, debt slavery had become so rampant

that an edict had to be later issued by King Amemisaduqa to

release all inhabitants that had been forced into slavery due to

debts.13 Others were kidnapped into slavery, as seen in many of

the ancient Near Eastern codes legislations against the practice

(CH 14: [ca. 1750 B.C.]), and the Hittite Laws (HL 19-21: [ca.

1650-1500 B.C.]).14 Slaves, like property could also be

11 The sale of children of free persons into slavery was legal and far widespread in Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria. See S. Scott. Bartchy, “Slavery: New Testament,” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, vol. 6, edited by David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 65-73; Dandama[y]ev, “Slavery,” 58-65.

12 Interest rates in the ancient Near East are said to have so exorbitant with average rates of 20-25% on silver and 33.3% on grain in Babylonia. If a debtor defaulted, his creditor had the right to seize him andsell him into slavery, which resulted in large numbers of free-born people being reduced to slavery. See Dandama[y]ev, “Slavery: Ancient Near East,” 59-60; Bartchy, “Slavery: New Testament,” 66-68; Waters, “The Intersection of Law,” 2-3.

13 Dandama[y]ev, “Slavery: Ancient Near East,” 59.14 Baker, Tight Fists or Opens Hands, 113.

6

transferred between owners by means of trade or as a courtesy

gift.15 Laws-breakers could also be subjected to slavery for

violating certain precepts of the law. For instance, in Sumer,

thieves were handed over to the ones they had stolen from as

slaves; the family members of a murderer were turned into slaves

upon his conviction and death; a son who renounced his father, a

wife caught in adultery or in dishonesty, and many others were

condemned to slavery.16 Therefore, although war comprised the

main means through which most people became slaves, there were

very many ways in which one would get into slavery.

Legislation Concerning Slaves in ANE

Because slavery was so widespread and the value of a slave

equated to a mere property of its master,17 there were gross

violations and abuse of slaves in the ancient Near East which

15 Dandama[y]ev, Slavery in Babylonia, 207-14.16 See G. R. Driver and J. C. Miles, The Babylonian Laws: Legal Commentary,

vol. 1 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1968), 306; Dandama[y]ev, “Slavery: Ancient Near East,” 59.

17 On the value of a slave, see James Lindgren, “Measuring the Value of Slaves and Free Persons in Ancient Law,” in Chicago-Kent Law Review 71 (1995) 149-215.

7

explain the extensive coverage of laws concerning slaves in

almost all the ancient Near Eastern law codes and societies.18

There were a number of laws dealing with the selling and buying

of slaves in the ancient Near East. The laws of Hammurabi (CH

278-81) as well as other law codes {Neo-Babylonian Laws (NBL 6:

[ca. 700 B.B.]); Laws of Ur-Namma (LU 17: [ca. 2100 B.C.]); Laws

of Eshnunna (LE 40: [ca. 1770 B.C.]); Middle Assyrian Laws (MAL

2-3: [ca. 1450-1250 B.C.]); and HL 22-23a} contain several

clauses that deal with the buying and selling of slaves.19

There were a number of regulations concerning the marriage of

slaves, the status of children born to slave parents, and those

born between a slave and a free person (LU 5; CH 175-76; HL 31-

33, 35-36; LE 33-35).20 Slave women were distinguished from

18 Haas, “Slave, Slavery,” 779; Mendelsohn, Slavery in the Ancient Near East, 1-33; William L. Westermann, The Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity, 11-54.

19 For a discussion of buying and selling of slaves in the ancient Near East, see Samuel Greengus, “The Selling of Slaves: Laws Missing from the Hebrew Bible?” ZABR 3 (1997) 1-11; Baker Tight Fists or Open Hands, 113-14; Driver and Miles, The Babylonian Laws, 1:482-90.

20 For a discussion of the marriage laws regarding slaves, see Ephraim Neufeld, The Hittite Laws: Translated into English and Hebrew with Commentary (London: Luzac, 1951), 10-11; Raymond Westbrook, “Female Slave,” in Gender and Law in the Hebrew Bible and the Ancient Near East, edited by Victor H. Matthews, Bernard M. Levinson, and Tikva Frymer-Kensky, JSOTSup. 26 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1998), 225-26.

8

ordinary ones by their lack of a veil, and so were the

prostitutes (MAL 40-41).21

Regarding the laws of a slave owner granting freedom to his or

her slave (manumission), the ancient Near Eastern laws generally

have relatively little to offer, as the right of manumission

appears to have been an exclusive right of the slave owner (Edict

of Ammi-Saduqa [EAS 20-21: ca.1646 B.C.]; LU 4).22 For instance,

the Hammurabi code stipulated that debt slavery was not to exceed

three years (CH 14), in Nuzi, the one could be enslaved for up to

50 years in service of a loan debt.23

Although there were some laws enacted to deter and restrain the

fury and excessive abuse of slaves by their masters, the guiding

ideology in many of the codes of the ancient Near East was not to

safeguard the slave, but to propagate the continuity of the

institution and to preserve the master-slave status-quo, thus

21 For a detailed discussion on the “veil” in the ancient Near East, seeGodfrey R. Driver and John C. Miles, (eds.), The Assyrian Laws: Ancient Laws and Lawsof the Near East (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1935), 126-34.

22 For a discussion of manumission procedures, see Dandama[y]ev, “Slavery: Ancient Near East,” 61; Driver and Miles, The Assyrian Laws, 126-34; Mendelsohn, Slavery in the Ancient Near East, 78-84; Baker, Tight Fists or Open Hands, 115.

23 Dandama[y]ev, “Slavery: Ancient Near East,”59.

9

protecting the interests of the masters (HL 2-17; LE, 31; CH 116,

199, 214-213, 220, 252).24

Because of the inhumane treatment that the slaves were subjected

to, they were always on the lookout for any slight opportunity of

escape to far-lands away from their masters. To curb this trend,

almost all the ancient Near Eastern law codes devoted various

clauses to deal fugitives slaves. In order to make it more

difficult for slaves to run away, they were often made to bear

fetters, various slaves marks or labels (LE 51-52; CH 146) for

quick identification; and it was considered a serious offense to

remove or disguise the slave mark without the consent of the

slave’s master (CH 226-27).25

24 On a detailed discussion about slave abuse, see Baker, Tights Fists or OpenHands, 121-22; Gregory C. Chrichigno, Debt-Slavery in Israel and the Ancient Near East. JSOTSup 141 (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1993), 145-46; Raymond Westbrook, “Mesopotamia; Old Babylonian Period,” in A History of Ancient Near Eastern Law, vol. 1,edited by Raymond Westbrook (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 383.

25 For a discussion of the various slaves marks put upon slaves and their meaning, see Muhammad A. Dandama[y]ev, Slavery in Babylonia: From Nabopolassar to Alexander the Great (626-331 BC) (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1984), 235-38; Reuven Yaron, The Laws of Eshnunna (Leiden: Brill, 1988), 162-65, 349-50;Raymond Westbrook, “Mesopotamia: Old Babylonian Period,” in A History of the Ancient Near Eastern Law: A Handbook of Oriental Studies, vol. 1, edited by Raymond Westbrook (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 382-83; Ignatius M. Rowe, “Anatolia and the Levant: Alalakah,” in A History of the Ancient Near Eastern Law: A Handbook of Oriental Studies, vol. 1 (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 707.

10

The laws stipulated various motivational rewards for anyone who

returned a fugitive slave from another place back to their

masters (LU 17; HL, 22-23; CH 17). There were also preventive

penalties, including capital punishments, against those who

harbored run-away slaves without surrendering them (Law of Lipit-

Ishtar [LL 12-13, ca. 1930 B.C.]; HL 24; CH, 16), or for

assisting them to escape (CH 15).26 Slaves who attempted to run

away and were unfortunate to be captured and returned to their

masters suffered severe punishments of all sorts to the point of

even gouging their eyes out, or putting specialized shackles and

chains upon them.27

Therefore, slavery as an institution was not only widespread in

the ancient Near East, but was tightly preserved and its

26 For a discussion of clauses regarding rewards and penalties in regardto fugitive slaves, see Harry A. Hoffner, The Laws of the Hittites: A Critical Edition (Leiden: Brill, 1997), 180-81; Driver and Miles, The Babylonian Laws, 1: 105-08; Isaac Mendelsohn, Slavery in the Ancient Near East: A Comparative Study of Slavery in Babylonia, Assyria, Syria and Palestine, From the Middle of the Third Millennium to the End of the First Millennium, 62-63; Kathryn E. Slanski, “Babylonia: Middle Babylonian Period,” in A History of the Ancient Near Eastern Law: A Handbook of Oriental Studies, vol. 1, edited by Raymond Westbrook (Leiden: Brill, 2003), 517.

27 Gouging out the eyes of captured slaves is reported in several contracts and letters from Mari and Nuzi. See Westbrook, “Mesopotamia,” 1: 383; Carlo Zaccagnini, “Mesopotamia: Nuzi,” A History of Near Ancient Eastern Law, vol.1, edited by Raymond Westbrook (Leiden Brill, 2003), 586; James M. Lindenberger, Ancient Aramaic and Hebrew Letters: Society of Biblical Literature Writings from the Ancient World, 2nd ed., edited by Kent Harold Richards (Atlanta: SBL, 2003), 88; Dandama[y]ev, Slavery in Babylonia, 1984), 220-28.

11

continuity clearly legislated upon. As earlier on observed, there

were lots of ways in which one could find himself or herself in

slavery; and the fact that war, which was the chief source of

slavery, was a rampant phenomenon in the ancient Near East,

anyone could easily find himself or herself into slavery upon the

invasion of their territory. The extensive legislation in almost

all the ancient Near Eastern law codes and societies were enacted

in favor of the masters and the safeguard of their interests. The

plight of a slave was deplorable and despicable as they were

reduced to the status of a mere property or “thing” and their

life lay in the hands and at mercy of their masters.

Slavery and the Christian Church

The Christian Church was born at a time when the institution of

slavery had already taken root in the ancient Near Eastern

societies. In the early years of Christianity, slavery was a

normal feature of the socio-economic set-up of the Roman society.

During the expansion of Christianity, slavery was well rooted and

12

the New Testament is not devoid of references to the long

practiced institution.28

Although early Christians opposed the ill-treatment of slaves and

advocated for their fair treatment, fair pay and equal status in

religion by allowing them to participate in the liturgy, they

never opposed nor attempted to overthrow the entrenched

institution.29 Instead, slaves were advised to obey their earthly

masters and lawfully obtain freedom from their masters, if

possible (Eph. 6:5–9; Col. 4:1; 1Cor. 7:21-22). In

several Pauline epistles, and the first epistle of Peter, slaves

are admonished to obey their masters, “as to the Lord, and not to

men” (Eph.6:5-7; Col. 3:22-25; 1 Tim. 6:1; Titus 2:9-10; 1 Peter

2:18). Although many early church leaders did not condone

slavery, still some figures, such as Augustine, explicitly

supported the continuity of the institution.30 Kevin Giles

argues that Jesus often encountered slavery, “but not one word of

28 C. Verlinden, “Slavery, III (History of),” in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed. (Washington D.C.: Thomson Gale, 2003), 13:209-214; S. Scott Bartchy, “Slavery, Greco-Roman,” The Anchor Bible Dictionary, edited by David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 6:65-73.

29 Morton Smith, and Joseph R. Hoffman, What the Bible Really Says (Buffalo, New York: Prometheus, 1989), 142-43.

30 Herb Vander Lugt, What Does the Bible Really Say about Slavery? (Grand Rapids, MI: RBC Ministries, 1999), 5.

13

criticism did the Lord utter against slavery.” Giles points to

this fact as being used as an argument that Jesus approved of

slavery.31

However, whereas the New Testament does not come out with

explicit attacks on slavery nor call for its abolition, the

spirit of the New Testament writers was one of humane treatment

within the slavery institution.32 As slaves were encouraged to

show Christian virtues and bear their burden as in Christ,

masters were also called upon to treat their slaves civically and

as brothers in Christ (Eph. 6:9; 1 Tim. 6:2; Col. 4:1). The

letter of Paul to Philemon (vv. 1-25) concerning the run-away

slave Onesimus is one of the masterpieces that express the New

Testament spirit concerning the institution of slavery. In it,

Paul states the master’s obligation as well as that of the slave.

In the epistle, Paul writes that he is returning Onesimus, a

fugitive slave, back to his master, Philemon. Paul also entreats

31 It is interesting to note that both advocates of slavery and those opposed to it use the same text material in their arguments for their respective propositions. Kevin Giles, “The Biblical Argument for Slavery: Can the Bible Mislead? A Case Study in Hermeneutics.” Evangelical Quarterly 66 (1994): 10.

32 G. E. M. Ste. Croix, “Early Christian Attitudes towards Property and Slavery,” in Studies in Church History, edited by Geoffrey Ernest Maurice (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1975), 12:28.

14

Philemon to regard Onesimus as a beloved brother in Christ.

Cardinal Dulles points out that, “while discreetly suggesting

that he manumit Onesimus, [Paul] does not say that Philemon is

morally obliged to free Onesimus and any other slaves he may have

had.”33  He does, however, encourage Philemon to welcome Onesimus

“not as a slave, but as more than a slave, as a beloved brother”

(v. 16). Paul further asserts that, “there is neither Jew nor

Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in

Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

As Herb Vander Lugt accurately observed, “Jesus and the apostles

didn’t go on an anti-slavery crusade, because doing so would have

been futile and a hindrance to their primary mission.”34 He goes

on to say that the priority of Jesus was the provision of

salvation. For the apostles it was the proclamation of the

gospel. But both Jesus and the apostles undermined the basis for

slavery by making it clear that God equally loves rich and poor,

free and slave, male and female.

33John R. McKivigan, Mitchell Snay, Religion and the Antebellum Debate over Slavery(Athens, Georgia: University of Georgia Press, 1998), 21.

34 Vander Lugt, What Does the Bible Really Say about Slavery, 26.

15

Therefore, the Christian Church recognized the existence of

slavery, and although the New Testament contains statements of

inclusion and accommodation of slaves and their mutual co-

existence with their masters and the general body of Christ, no

overt efforts were taken to attack or abolish the long cherished

and entrenched institution as doing so would have proved counter-

productive given the times they were in.

SLAVERY IN ANCIENT ROME

The Roman society was stratified and hierarchal. Ferguson points

out that “class or rank consciousness was very evident in the

snobbery of the upper classes and in the fawning deference shown

by the lower orders.”35 Ownership of land was the principal

source of wealth and social standing, although ancestry (birth),

education and attainment of honors could confer status and

influence. Among the distinct classes and ranks of the Roman

society were the senatorial and equestrian orders, the

aristocrats, the general citizenry, the freedmen,36 and last on35 Everett Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B.

Eerdmans, 1989), 42. 36 Freedmen (liberti) were freed slaves. Freedmen in the Early Republic mainly joined the lower classes of the plebeians, and often worked as farmers or tradesmen. See Koenraad Verboven, “The Associative Order: Status and Ethos among Roman Businessmen in Late Republic and Early Empire,” Athenaeum 95

16

the social strata were the slaves.37 Although there could be

found changes and movements within the social status of some

classes and ranks, the social strata of slavery was one of the

hardest to migrate from. Slaves were non-citizens who were

considered as property of their masters and had no legal rights

whatsoever, that they lacked even the legal standing accorded

free-born foreigners.38

Slavery as the Socio-economic Backbone of the Roman Empire

Although slavery for had long existed in the entire ancient Near

East, the Roman institution of slavery is said to have officially

commenced with its legendary founder Romulus39 who gave Roman

fathers the right to sell their own children into slavery, and

the institution kept growing with the expansion of the state.40

(2007), 861; Henrik Mouritsen, The Freedman in the Roman World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011).

37 For a discussion of the social classes and ranks in the ancient world, see R. MacMullen, Roman Social Relations, 50 B.C. to A.D. 284 (New Haven, 1974); E. A. Judge, Social Pattern of Christian Groups in the First Century (London: 1960); A. M. Duff, Freedmen in the Early Roman Empire (Cambridge: 1958).38 Carlin A. Barton, The Sorrows of the Ancient Romans: The Gladiator and the Monster (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 1993), pp. 176–177.

39 Romulus, a twin brother of Remus, is said to be the founder of Rome, around 758 and 728 B.C., in Rome’s Foundation myth. For details, see Earnest Cary, and Edward Spellman, The Roman Antiquities of Dionysus (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1937), 85.

40 Moya K. Mason, “Roman Slavery: The Social, Cultural, Political, and Demographic Consequences,” at http://www.moyak.com/papers/roman-slavery-

17

In the campaign against the Gauls (59 to 51 BC) it is reported

that Julius Caesar and his army captured over a million people

that were turned into slaves in Rome.41 At the time of Augustus

(31 B.C. – A.D. 14), as many as 35% of the people in Italy,

alone, were slaves,42 making Rome one of core historical “slave

societies” in which slaves constituted at least one-third of the

entire population and played a major role in the economy.43 It is

said that a proposal in the Roman Senate that slaves be required

to wear a distinctive garb was defeated “lest the slaves learn

how numerous they were.”44 Slavery was a complex institution that

supported traditional Roman social structures as well as

contributing economic utility.45  Agriculture, commerce and

war.html [accessed Nov. 26, 2013].41 W. L. Westermann, The Slave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity (Philadelphia:

The American Philosophical Society, 1955), 57.42 Estimates for the prevalence of slavery in the Roman Empire vary.

However, on the whole, estimates of the percentage of the population of Italy who were slaves range from 30% to 40% in the 1st century B.C. For details see Keith R. Bradley, Slavery and Society at Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994), 12.

43 Although the Roman economy was heavily dependent on slavery, Rome wasnot the only slave-dependent culture in history. Among the Spartans, for instance, it is said that the slave class of helots outnumbered the free by about seven to one. See Keith Hopkins, Conquerors and Slaves: Sociological Studies in Roman History (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 4-5.

44 Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 46.45 Bradley, Slavery and Society at Rome, 15.

18

industry, domestic sustainability, as well as milling and mining,

relied on the exploitation of slaves.46 Sustenance

Laws pertaining to slavery were “extremely intricate.”47 As in

the general ancient Near East, a slave in Rome had no legal

rights and was subject to the absolute power of his or her

master. Under Roman law, slaves were considered property and had

no legal personhood. Slaves could be subjected to corporal

punishment, sexual exploitation, torture, and summary executions,

where a person was accused of a crime and then immediately killed

without benefit of a full and fair trial. The testimony of a

slave could not be accepted in a court of law unless the slave

was physically and visibly tortured. Their living conditions were

brutal, and their lives short.48 Technically, a slave could not

own property because he himself was a property of his master.49

46 V. W. Harris, “Demography, Geography and the Sources of Roman Slaves,” in Journal of Roman Studies 89 (1999) 62-75.

47 William Warwick Buckland, The Roman Law of Slavery: The Condition of the Slave in Private Law from Augustus to Justinian (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1908); Frier and MacGinn, A Casebook of Family Law, 17.

48 R. H. Barrow, Slavery in the Roman Empire (London: Methuen, 1928); Keith R.Bradley, Slavery and Masters in the Roman Empire: A Study in Social Control (New York: Oxford University Press), 1987.

49 Frier and MacGinn, A Casebook of Family Law, 21; Bartchy, “Slavery, Greco-Roman,” ABD, 6:65-73.

19

Roman slavery was not based on race. War captives were a main

source of slaves in the ancient world. Like in the larger ancient

Near East, the conditions of slavery could result from piracy and

brigandage, sale of a child, self-enslavement especially in

payment of debts, or condemnation in the law courts. Another

category was of the “homegrown” slaves born to female slaves

within the urban household or on a country estate or farm. An

individual could acquire slaves by purchase from slave dealers,

by inheritance, or by home breeding.50 By and large, the slaves

were denationalized and simply became part of the Greco-Roman

civilization but without becoming citizens thereof.51

The work of slaves covered the entire gamut of activities in the

ancient world, with few exceptions. Slaves worked in a wide range

of occupations that can be roughly divided into five categories:

household or domestic, imperial or public enterprise, urban

crafts and services, agriculture, and mining. Their circumstances

varied all the way from the privileged imperial slaves, to the

convict slaves sentenced to work in the mines. For instance,50 Harris, “Demography, Geography and the Sources of Roman Slaves,” 62;

Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 46.51 Keith R. Bradley, Slavery and Society at Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press, 1994), 20.

20

slaves of the state, of the emperor and of the townships did the

work that can now be equated to the present day Civil Service.

But the miners, for instance, were at the extreme end of the

slave social scale, under harsh and incredible working conditions

with long hours. They spent long hours underground in hot and

cramped conditions. The mines were also unsafe and perilous as

many were either scotched or buried alive underneath. Their

lifespan was short-lived.52 In between the extremes of imperial

slaves and the mining slaves were the multitude of varied

functions: temple slaves who took care of sacred precincts and

religious ceremonial activities; agricultural slaves working on

the estates of the wealthy barons; domestic slaves who tended to

household chores and cared for the children of their

masters;53commissioned pedagogues and teachers who tended to the52 Slaves numbering in the tens of thousands were condemned to work in

the mines or quarries, where conditions were notoriously brutal. Those condemned to the mine were convicts who lost their freedom as citizens, forfeited their property to the state, and became slaves as a legal penalty. Their status under the law was different from that of other slaves; they couldnot buy their freedom, be sold, or be set free. They were expected to live anddie in the mines. See, P. Hunt, “Slavery in Rome,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 323; Alfred Michael Hirt, Imperial Mines and Quarries in the Roman World: Organizational Aspects 27 BC-AD 235 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 4.2.1

53 Epitaphs record at least 55 different jobs a household slave might have, including barber, butler, cook, hairdresser, handmaid (ancilla), wet nurse or nursery attendant, teacher, secretary, seamstress, accountant, and physician. See, AP. Hunt, “Slavery in Rome,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient

21

education and training of the children of their masters;

industrial slaves and craftsmen who had distinct skills and

worked in specialized enterprises; agents of their masters in

widespread business and commercial transactions; et-cetera.54 Slaves

who lacked skills or education performed agricultural or other

forms of manual labor. Those who were violent or disobedient, or

who for whatever reason were considered a danger to society,

might be sentenced to labor in the mines, where they suffered

under inhumane conditions. Slaves subjected to harsh labor

conditions also had few if any opportunities to obtain their

freedom. Slaves were not only performing the tasks but taking

control of everything for their masters and making them wealthy

which also helped the economy.55

Greece and Rome, p. 323; Moya K. Mason, “Roman Slavery: The Social, Cultural, Political, and Demographic Consequences,” 2-3.

54 For a detailed list and discussion of the various types of slaves andtheir specified functions, see Joseph Vogt, Ancient Slavery and the Ideal Man (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1975); William L. Westermann, TheSlave Systems of Greek and Roman Antiquity (Philadelphia: American Philosophical Society, 1955); T. Wiedemann, Greek and Roman Slavery: A Sourcebook (Baltimore: JohnsHopkins University Press, 1981); Keith R. Bradley, Slavery and Masters in the Roman Empire: A Study in Social Control (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987); Keith R. Bradley, Slavery and Society at Rome (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994); P. Hunt, “Slavery in Rome,” in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Greece and Rome (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 323.

55 Don Nardo, Life of a Roman Slave (California: Lucent Books, 1998), 52.

22

Incentives in form of wages or commissions were often given to

skilled slave laborers. The idea of “wages” or “commissions” paid

to slaves introduced a curious feature in ancient Roman slavery

that was an important means by which a slave could secure

freedom. In later periods of the Roman Empire, Rome, slaves

could, and did, save funds allotted to their use and purchase

freedom, as they could also gain their freedom in sacral

manumission.56

In regard to the primacy of slavery to the Roman economy,

historian Keith Hopkins observes that “during the period of Roman

imperial expansion, the increase in wealth amongst the Roman

elite and the substantial growth of slavery transformed the

economy,”57 Rome was one of the greatest slave-dependent56 Although manumission of slaves in ancient Israel was imbedded in the

institutions of the Sabbatical Year and Year of Jubilee, and in various legislations in the ANE, Ancient Rome’s idea of payment of slaves was an innovation in its own class. For a discussion of manumission procedures, see David L. Baker, Tight Fists or Open Hands?: Wealth and Poverty in the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2009), 115; Godfrey R. Driver, and John C. Miles, eds. The Assyrian Laws: Ancient Laws and Laws of the Near East (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1935), 126-34; Isaac Mendelsohn, Slavery in the Ancient Near East: A Comparative Study of Slavery in Babylonia, Assyria, Syria, and Palestine, from the Middle of the Third Millennium to the End of the First Millennium (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1949), 78-84; Ferguson, Backgrounds of Early Christianity, 47; Scott Bartchy, First-Century Slavery and First Corinthians 7:21. Vol 2. (Missoula, Mont.: Scholars Press, 1973), 121-25; Dennis P. Kehoe, “Law and Social Function in the Roman Empire,” n  The Oxford Handbook of Social Relations in the Roman World (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011), 147-48.

57 Keith Hopkins, Conquerors and Slaves: Sociological Studies in Roman History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987), 4.

23

economies in history. Hopkins further notes that it was land

investment and agricultural production which generated great

wealth in ancient Rome, and considered that Rome’s military

conquests and the subsequent introduction of vast wealth and

slaves in the empire had effects comparable to widespread and

rapid technological innovations.58

Slave trade was one of the greatest sources of revenue for the

empire. Great numbers of slaves for the Roman market were

acquired through warfare. The Roman military brought back

captives as the booty of war, and ancient sources cite anywhere

from hundreds to tens of thousands of such slaves captured

in each war.59 Slave markets seem to have existed in every city of

the empire, and outside Rome the major centers was Ephesus and

Delos in Greece.60 Augustus is said to have imposed a 2% tax on

the sale of slaves, estimated to generate annual revenues of

about 5 million Roman Sesterces – a figure that indicates some

250,000 annual sale of slaves.61 Within the empire, slaves were

58 Hopkins, Conquerors and Slaves: Sociological Studies in Roman History, 4-5.59 Richard Gamauf, (2009). “Slaves doing business: the role of Roman law

in the Economy of a Roman Household.” European Review of History 16 (2009): 331–46.60 W.V. Harris, “Trade,” in The Cambridge Ancient History: The High Empire A.D. 70–

192. Vol. 11 (Cambridge University Press, 2000), 721.61 Harris, “Trade,” The Cambridge Ancient History, 11:722.

24

sold at public auction or sometimes in shops, or by private sale

in the case of more valuable slaves. Slave dealing was overseen

by the Roman fiscal officials called quaestors. Sometimes slaves

stood on revolving stands, and around each slave for sale hung a

type of plaque describing his or her origin, health, character,

intelligence, education, and other information pertinent to

purchasers. Prices varied with age and quality, with the most

valuable slaves fetching prices. Because the Romans wanted to

know exactly what they were buying, slaves were usually presented

naked. The dealer was required to take a slave back within six

months if the slave had defects that were not manifest at the

sale, or make good the buyer's loss.62 Slaves were treated as

mere commercial products.

On the farms, slaves produced the food and other materials on

which the cities depended for survival and sustenance. Some of

the most important crops produced by slaves were wheat, olives,

vines and grapes some of which were eaten and used for making

wine and others exported. According to Casson, wines were drunk

62 Mary Johnston, Roman Life (Chicago: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1957),158-177.

25

before, after, between, it became their coffee, tea, and spirits.

The olive oil on the other hand, was their butter, soap, and

electricity. They cooked with it, put it on at the baths, and

burned it in their lamps, and the grains were ground into

flour.63 The slaves also worked as carpenters and blacksmiths who

repaired the farm tools and carts. Others looked after the

cattle, sheep and pigs. The wool from the sheep were spun and

made into various items which were used by the Roman army, navy

and the general population. The Roman farm products such as wine,

oil, tools, meat were exported to other counties. This gave Rome

its greatest source of economic wealth.

Besides working on the farms and businesses, the most famous task

performed by slaves in the public buildings was working on the

aqueduct systems, roads, and the arenas. Buildings were built for

public use by the slaves. The aqueducts supplied many Romans with

water outlets, including public fountains in the streets from

which most people fetched their water. Besides the aqueducts, the

slaves also built bridges and roads which were very important

63 Lionel Casson, Daily life in Ancient Rome (New York: American Heritage, 1975), 28.

26

because they were built mainly to allow soldiers to move quickly

in war time and for the caravan routes. However, it also

encouraged trading and helped the spread of Roman culture.

Therefore, slave labor became one of Rome’s greatest sources of

economic wealth.64

Even though slavery was advantageous and beneficial to Rome, it

was also disastrous in many ways. The manipulation, the

degradation, the cruel and inhuman treatment, and the dependency

on slaves played some role in the fall of Roman civilization.65

It was estimated that an average wealthy Roman such as Nero owned

400 slaves in his town house alone, and that some wealthy people

owned from 10,000-20,000 slaves.66 Grant states that the Romans

were so dependent on the slave labor that even the simplest task

such as getting dressed, holding a towel while going to the bath,

bathing, as well as washing of the feet and hands before the

meal, were all done by slaves.67 Because wealthy owners had

64 F. R. Cowell, Everyday Life In Ancient Rome (London: Batsford, 1961), 28.65 For the inhumane treatment of slaves by the Roman masters, see Sarah

Pomeroy, Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves (New York: Schocken, 1975), 190-93.66 Graham I. F. Tingay, and John Badcock, These Were The Romans (London:

Dufour, 1972), 128.67 Michael Grant, The World of Rome (New York: Cambridge University Press,

1968), 134.

27

slaves working on everything, the lower classes of society were

rendered idle, disorderly and indolent. Because of the

infiltration of slaves in every menial and skilled aspect of

Roman life, the Roman Empire populace became one of the laziest

lots in all human history. Therefore, upon the freedom of the

slaves, the Roman government suffered one of the greatest socio-

economic blows with the irreplaceable vacuum of economic labor

force. Rome’s dependency on slave labor contributed to the

decline of the greatest civilization in the history of mankind.68

Conclusion

Although slavery was a widely cherished institution in the entire

ancient Near East from since recorded history, it was during the

Roman Empire period that reached its zenith and notoriety.

Slavery was so prevalent in Rome that as many as 35%-40% of the

population of Rome at one time was made up of slaves. Although

history is replete with incidences of the plight of slavery, it

was in the ancient Roman Empire that their lot reached despicable

heights of human degradation and suffering. 68 For an argument of the contribution of slavery to the fall of Roman

civilization, see F. R. Cowell, Cicero And The Roman Republic (New York: Chanticleer, 1984), 12-55.

28

Slave trade was one of the greatest sources of revenue for the

empire. In the Roman system of slavery, the tasks of slaves, such

as farming, businesses, and public buildings all contributed to

the wealth of the Roman economy. Little credit has been given to

the important contributions the slave labor made to Roman

civilization. What today is referred to as the great Roman

civilization was based on the labor and skills of slaves. Never

the less, although slavery greatly contributed to sustenance of

the Roman commonwealth, it also immensely contributed to the

crippling and laziness of the people and sowed the seeds for the

eventual crumbling of Roman economy.

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