Slavery in the Flavian Period

Representation Bias
Almost all of what we know about slavery comes from accounts of slave owners
o The only sources that give the point of view of slaves are epitaphs
Two literary exceptions:
o Plautus: though he was not a slave, some scholars believe he accurately
depicts the slave perspective
o Phaedrus: freed slave of Augustus who wrote fables in which he described
the perspectives of a slave
Numbers of Slaves
Impossible to know exactly how many scholars estimate that at least10% of the
empire was comprised of slaves
The number of slaves per master increased over time
o We can tell this from the nomenclature. In early Rome, a slave would be
named after his master.
Marcus slave would be called Marcipor: a syncopation of Marci
puer, Marcus boy
o As time passed, this custom was dropped because it became common for
masters to have more than one slave, and different names were needed to
distinguish them.
The total number of slaves dramatically increased following the Punic Wars
through the early empire as many POWs were sold into slavery.
o The Jewish historian Josephus states that under Vespasian, 100,000 Jews
were captured of these some were killed, and others were sold into
slavery.
This is a decrease from late Republic Pompey and Caesar are
said to have together enslaved more than a million Asiatics and
Gauls.
o Enslaving conquered people was a win-win for Rome: the general did not
have to worry about watching and feeding so many captives, and more
slaves entered the market.
Slave Sales
Sales were conducted by quaestors (magistrates who dealt with finances)
Wholesale traders of slaves known as mangones followed the army and bought
the slaves from the quaestor
o These sales were marked as official with the presence of a spear in the
ground and the captives would wear garlands on their hands.
Hence the expressions sub hast venire and sub corn venire
came to idiomatically mean to be sold as slaves.
Mangones often held slaves in depots and sold them all together together when a
sufficient number had been gathered
On the road, slaves were separated from their family members: natal alienation
Slaves were sold either directly to individuals or to local dealers

Slaves were considered plunder from war

o Titus had 700 slaves included in a triumphal procession for Vespasian
Mangones were mandated by law to inform buyers of a slaves origin, disease
history, criminal history, etc.
The value of a slave was often influenced on which natio they came from
o For the most part, slavery was regional, not racial construct in Rome.
Slavery was associated was barbarians
Roman citizens never became slaves
o Masters would take care not to buy too many slaves from one region, as
they believed this might cause domestic quarrels
o Stereotypes for various regions
Cicero says in a letter to Atticus that Britons are not learned in
literature or music
Martial in Book 4 of his epigrams chooses a boy from Egypt
because the region is known for its erotic nature
Purchasing young boys for sexual pleasure was not
uncommon in Rome
Most important market in Rome was behind the Temple of Castor in the Forum
o In Martials time, the Saepta Julia in the Campus Martial was a popular
location for rich men to purchase luxurious items, including young slaves
boys
Dealers prepared slaves for sale:
o Fed emaciated slaves more food
o Depilated boys to make them look younger and gave them herbal
concoctions to slow puberty
o Wounds and scars were covered up, often with jewelry
o Some boys were castrated
Domitian banned this, but the practice continued (two later
emperors had to also ban it)
The slave stood on a platform called a castata, with a sign around their neck
displaying relevant information
o New captives had their feet marked with chalk (captives fetched higher
prices than slaves being resold)
o Would often be asked to display physical fitness, were forced to stand bare
and be prodded and examined, etc.
Slaves were stripped of their identity, because one of the greatest qualities for a
slave was malleability
o After being purchased, slaves were often names like Eros, Fides, Felix,
that imprinted the owners hopes or fantasies on the slave

Social Status of Slaves

Slaves were at the bottom of the Roman social ladder, but there were a few
circumstances in which they could improve their standing:
o Becoming a freedman
o Being a slave of the emperor

Known as the familia Caesaris, these slaves (and freedmen) had

privileges and often power
Roman law defined slaves as property, though it did distinguish them as human
No kinship relations
o In Rome, kinship relations determine familial ties as well as the powers of
each family member over others (e.g. patria potestas)
o Legally, no male slave could be or could have a father
The law did recognize slave mothers but only in order to say that
the child of a slave was the property of the mothers owner at the
time of birth
o Though slaves lived in the house of the master, they were often viewed as
outsiders
No physical protection
o Slaves could be beaten and raped
Many prostitutes were slaves
Traders who often illegally sold females into prostitution were
known as lenones
o Violent actions that hurt a slave were seen as damage to property, not
iniuria, or injury that freedmen could experience
o Martial, as well as Juvenal and Petronius, characterize freedmen who
aspire to respectability as shabby and shallow

Different Types of Slaves

Much of what we know about agricultural slaves in the early empire comes from
Columellas De Re Rustica
Slaves who worked on farms worked long and hard hours, similar to slaves in
America
o The vilicus was the slave who oversaw all other slaves on the farm
His wife, the vilica, would often help
o
Slaves also worked horrible jobs in mines and as gladiator
In urban areas, slaves were not only laborers but also servants, administrators,
financial agents, etc.
o Domestic slaves were a luxury and owning them was a status symbol
o Some examples of domestic slaves with very specific roles include:
Atriensis: butler-type slave, managed the household
Procurator: ran errands and fetched goods for the atriensis
Dispensator: helped the atriensis keep accounts
Ostiarius/Ianitor: watchmen who guarded the door
Calceator: cared for the masters feet
Cinerarii: dressed the mistress hair
Anteambulones: cleared the way for the master to walk
Nomenclator: prompted names for the master
Paedogogus: accompanied a boy to school
Slave Life & Rights

Violence was a large part of slave life

Slaves often wore chains while working (especially slaves who worked outdoors
on farms or vineyards)
Troublesome slaves were branded or tattooed to warn everyone of their volatile
nature
The testimony of a slave could not be accepted in a court of law unless the slave
was tortureda practice based on the belief that slaves in a position to be privy to
their masters' affairs would be too virtuously loyal to reveal damaging evidence
unless coerced.
In the 1st century CE some slaveholders began to advocate a fatherly kindness in
master-slave relations paternalism
o Seneca Letters 47: encourages friendly treatment of slaves as opposed to
treating them as animals and using the whip
o Stoics loosened slave laws, but only because they believed it would
benefit the masters
Peculium: property granted specifically by the owner for the slaves uses: cash,
real estate, tools, livestock, clothing, food, and even slaves
o Slaves in commerce were expected to use their peculium to generate
revenue for their master
o It was also a kind of allowance, but the master could withdraw it at any
point.
Literature says slaves lived in cramped quarters (cella), although archaeologists
have trouble differentiating between storage rooms and slave quarters
Slaves generally married slaves or freed slaves within the same household this
marriage had no legal effect and was known as contubernia
o Some wives were vicariae (slaves of slaves) of their husbands
If a master was murdered, all the slaves in the house could be tortured to figure
out who committed the crime
Slaves did try to run away, but unlike in America, there was no safe north to run
to.
o The largest slave revolts occurred during the Republic, not the Empire
o Women were especially tethered to their households when they had small
children.
Children born to slave mothers (vernae) were slaves
Vernae were more highly valued than captured slaves since they
did not have to be assimilated into the Roman culture
o More common than slaves running away would be them loitering about,
gambling or wasting time, and coming home late.

Manumission
Upon manumission, slaves wore the pileus
Freeing slaves was a common practice, when compared to New World slavery
o However, most rural slaves and low-level urban slaves lived without a
prospect of freedom
o For slaves who expected manumission, the master could use this power to
his advantage

Freedmen were Roman citizens, but they did face some setback
o The social stigma of being an ex-slave followed them
o If they were from a different nation, they could not practice the cultural
customs of their fathers without being perceived as aliens
o Ridiculed for having no birthdays and fathers
Even after being manumitted, slaves would often be dependent on their masters as
clients and were not allowed to be rude to them (obsequium)