Slavery in the Roman Empire

Slavery in the Roman Empire Chattel slavery, in which the slave owner had absolute or nearly absolute control over the slave, was widespread in the Roman Empire. The slave was considered property and as such could be sold, branded, and beaten. Although some, especially Stoics (e.g. Epictetus, Diatr. 1.13) wrote of the fundamental humanity of the slaves and advocated that slaves be treated humanely, none rejected the institution. Roman slavery was not race based: individuals were enslaved primarily through captivity in war or by birth to a slave mother. Well educated slaves served as estate managers, scribes, and physicians, and some of these slaves had both status and honor; others worked the fields or the brothels, risked their lives as gladiators, or served on galleys or in the mines. Slaves could be manumitted, and thus become Roman citizens. Little information informs us about slavery in Jewish communities. We are uncertain, for example, how widespread slavery was among Jews and in Judea or Galilee or the number of Jewish and non Jewish slaves they owned. The sources clarify more about the views and concerns of the writers than about slavery itself. Philo and Josephus as well as early rabinic literature take it for granted, even as they advocate human treatment and posit common humanity. Both Philo and Josephus claim that Essenes do not practice slavery; Josephus says that the Essenes believe the ownership of slaves contributes to injustice, and Philo states that the Essenes view slave ownership as unjust and destroying nature's ordinances of Equality. However, mentions of slaves in the Cairo Damascus Document suggest some practice of slavery. Jews were themselves enslaved in the Roman-Jewish wars. The Mishnah integrates slaves, whom it mentions often, into its overall system. It is interested in the distractions between slaves and free Israelite males. Some passages distinguish between Israelite and non-Israelite slaves. The TaNaKh distinguishes between the two, the former having more protections from the power of the slave-owner and also a fixed period of six years of enslavement (see Ex 21.1-11; Lv 25.39-55; Dt 15.12-18). The Mishnah and later text write of Rabbi Gamaliel and his slave. Tabi, an ideal master-slave pair (their relationship is comparable in some ways to that of Cicero and Tiro). Gamaliel, the Torah sage, is kind, considerate, and respectful of Tabi. Tabi embodies Gamaliel's values and follows the teachings of the Torah. Overall, Rabbinic law and Roman law reflect common concerns about the regulation of slaves ranging from their punishment to their manumission. Rabbinic law, however, placed greater restraints on the power of the slave-owner over the slave then did Roman law. Paul, while not seeking the abolition of slavery, envision slaves is having an equal status to free people in relation to salvation; once “ in Christ,” all people are both “free” from the power of sin and death “in the present evil age” (see Gal 1.4) and “slaves” now to God. As he states in 1 Corinthians 7:22, “for whoever was called in the Lord as a slave is a freed person belonging to the Lord, just as whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ.” The gospels assume that slaves are part of the social order. Jesus heals a centurion slave Matthew 8:5-13 and the slave of a high priest in the crowd of those who arrest him (Mark 14:47), slaves figure in some of the parables echoing Roman stereotypes of the good and bad slave, and hinting at the violence to which a slave might be subject (see Matthew 25.14-30 Mark 12:1-11; see Luke 17:7-10). The household codes of Ephesians, Colossians, the Pastoral Epistles and 1 Peter mandate obedience of slaves to masters: Eph 6.5-8 provides a theological model for obedience: “slaves obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, in singleness of heart, as you obey Christ” (v.5). Neither the institutions of pagan Rome nor those of Judaism and Christianity offered a fundamental challenge to the practice of slavery.