Slavery in Ancient Rome

“Rome was a slave society.” 1 : Examining the Societal, Economic, and Political Impacts of Slavery throughout the Roman Empire Allison Brown HIST 2130: Ancient Rome Professor Nickerson Kestner 11 December, 2020 1 Joshel, S. R. (2013).Slavery “ in the Roman World.” New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. 1 “Rome was a slave society. Beyond the thousands of slaves who worked and lived in the 2 heartland of the Roman empire, slavery fundamentally shaped Roman society and culture”. Throughout the history of the Roman Empire, whether that be the during the Punic Wars, the construction of the Colosseum, or even during the Byzantine Empire, slavery was always at the epicenter of all things social, economical, and political in the Roman Empire. Slavery was fundamental to all things Roman and led to a series of events, such as an overreliance on slave labor and economic issues, that set the fall of Rome into motion. Slavery in Rome is not tied to the same demographics that we today equate with slavery, such as African populations being enslaved throughout the Americas, but stretched across all different ethnicities, religions, and ages. Slaves were inherited, bought, and presented as gifts. They were sometimes born and raised into their masters’ households, they could be victims of piracy, abandoned children, or those enslaved in punishments of crimes or debts that could not be repaid. However, most slaves throughout the Empire’s history were mainly enslaved as prisoners of war. This was the result of a series of military campaigns that started as early as the Samnite Wars. Evidence suggests that “... slavery had already reached considerable proportions 3 long before the beginning of the Punic Wars”. Historians and researchers cannot pinpoint exactly when Rome became a society that used slave labor. However, Lawthe of Twelve Tables notes the existence of slavery as early as the fifth century4.BCE Given this established finding, slavery predates the emergence of the Italian villa system and the urbanization that occurs in the late second and third centuries BCE. Throughout Roman centuries of existence, slavery has 2 Joshel, S. R. (2013).Slavery “ in the Roman World.” New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. 3 Libourel, Jan. Galley Slaves in the Second Punic War Classical Philology Volume 68, Number 2 (1973). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1086/365946. 4 Steinberg, Michael."The Twelve Tables and Their Origins: An Eighteenth-Century Debate." Journal of the History of Ideas 43, no. 3 (1982): 379-96. Accessed December 6, 2020. doi:10.2307/2709429. 2 substantial evidence, from the late Republic to late antiquity, slavery is thoroughly documented and present across the different periods. This documentation of slavery shows that slavery was essential to both the Roman economy and general society. Although slavery is sometimes complex to understand and quantify at its scale across the history of the empire, the substantial presence of slave labor can be understood more easily than the quantification of their exact numbers, origins, and spatial distribution. The only clear statistical evidence comes from results from a census in Roman Egypt in the first three centuries of the common era. Close to 15% of urban residents and over 8% of villagers, mostly in Middle Egypt were slaves, but only 7% 5 percent of the residents of a town in Upper Egypt. These findings are significant given that they show variation within a homogenous region, this information also confirms the knowledge that roughly between five to ten percent of the population of Roman Egypt comprised slaves. Now that the proportions of slavery within the Roman Empire are understood, its impact on Roman society can be examined. To begin, the societal effects of slavery in the Empire are impassable. One may assume that similar to other more modern examples of slavery that owning Roman slaves was only available to the upper classes in society, however, in reality it stretched across different classes in society, “... slave-owning was not confined … to the wealthiest members of society, the socially and politically elite, but that many people of less rank and fortune, perhaps even those of 6 minimal wealth, could also own at least some slaves.” Given that slavery was not limited to those in the higher upper classes, both its benefits and consequences could be felt throughout the empire. The average paterfamilia had no limits or regulations on what they could do to those 5 Bagnall, Frier and Rutherford (1997)Biezunska-Malowist “ 1977 Discusses Slavery in Roman Egypt” 6 Bradley, Keith R. (2010) Slavery “ and Society at Rome”. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press 3 they owned, this included physical abuse and the slaughter of their slaves if so they chose. Slavery in Roman society was not only limited to positions of manual labor. Slaves also performed many domestic services and were employed at highly skilled professions, including even accountants and physicians. An example of slaves existing in positions other than that of traditional labor was philosopher Seneca's young slave Pharius (who was estimated to be aged between five and six). For his master, Pharius performed various services from being a personal 7 physical trainer of sorts to provide assistance with his master’s philosophical works. In Seneca’s workOn Anger, a work that was written shortly after his exile on Corsica, he builds on the idea that anger is the leading cause of bloodshed, poison, and slavery of those in the upper Roman classes. The tie of slavery to the upper classes in Roman society is associated with the economy. Slavery unarguably had a prolific influence on Roman economies throughout the Empire’s existence. Historians have found that there are three basic preconditions in the Roman Empire for the employment of slave labor. Two of them relate to the supply of the “service/good”, slavery must be institutionally acceptable and slaves must be effectively available. Slavery was acceptable in Roman Society, no clear philosophical works regarding the practice were present at its start and the need for labor in the Roman Empire always existed from the construction of amphitheatres to Roman aqueducts. Third, there must be a demand for slave 8 labor because alternative sources of labor are considered to be insufficient or inadequate. With Rome, alternative sources of labor were required for the substantial want and need for services throughout the Empire’s existence, ranging from construction works to tutors. Another crucial 7 Wilson, Emily. “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”. Oxford Univ. Press US, 2018. (pg.186) 8 Scheidel, Walter,“In Search of Roman Economic Growth” (2008). Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics Paper No. 060808, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1214732 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1214732 4 sector where slavery was implemented in Ancient Rome was in the agricultural sector, on farms and plantations. The Roman conquests of Carthage, Macedonia, and Greece in the third and second centuries BCE allowed for slavery to exist throughout the socio-economic classes in Roman society. Although this first influx of slave labor during this period resulted in an economic boost, it later destabilized an already fragile class system in Rome. Farms lower-class paterfamilias originally ran throughout the region were bought and replaced with slave run plantations owned by the patricians of society. Cheap slave labor replaced work for the average Roman citizen, and led to massive levels of unemployment throughout the Empire, and across time periods outside of the third and second centuries BCE. These issues with unemployment and cheap labor had a massive destabilizing effect on the social system of the Empire, which would later have a role in the Republic's fall. As the differences between the Senatorial elite and social reformers grew, the use of the unemployed, landless, groups of Roman citizens led to a 9 lack of authority for the Senate to govern. These economic issues led directly to political issues that plagued the Empire and ultimately led to its fall. As previously alluded to, the rise of cheap labor of slaves in the third and second centuries BCE led to the demise of local plebeian farmers. Which then in turn resulted in crippling levels of unemployment throughout the Empire, leading to a lack of authority and legitimacy for the Roman senate to govern effectively. The political influence of slavery in the Roman Empire can later be tied to the growth of Christianity throughout the region in the first and second centuries CE. This contention exists because of the problem that accepting Christianity presented to Emperors, “… to defy Roman religio also meant rejecting the power of 9 Yeo, Cedric A."The Economics of Roman and American Slavery."FinanzArchiv / Public Finance Analysis 13, no. 3 (1951): 445-85. Accessed December 6, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40908759. 5 10 the Roman Emperor and the empire itself”. Christianity and Roman Government had a tenuous relationship that started with Jesus Christ’s crucifixion at the start of Christianity during Pionius Pilate’s rule. By the year 200 CE, “... Christians as a whole [would] have represented only the 11 tiniest fraction of the empire’s population”. From the start of the religion, Rome with its leaders and citizens alike suspected Christianity, “... from the mid-third century to the early fourth, the Roman State actively persecuted Christians … they were labelled a menace to society, 12 an officially sponsored efforts were made to extirpate their cult”. However, the new religion attracted slaves. Christianity was a driving factor that enticed these marginalized groups on the fringes of Roman society because, “... Christianity appealed to slaves [and others] alike because it taught that all were equals in the Christian church. The new religion’s growth with martyrdom, instability was also present in the Empire from the persecutions. The cohesiveness of Christianity meant that slaves could attend meetings in-house churches along with their owners, and the socioeconomic differences between them would not exist in the new religion. All would be equal in death”13. This attracted individuals to Christianity, the notion that in this culture, their gender or wealth or freedom would be irrelevant, and that Christianity promises an even judgment and afterlife regardless of their wealth or status on Earth. In terms of their masters and slaves, “... Christianity could promise salvation to slaves that did not privilege the slave owners over their lives”. 14 This sense of equality under Christianity enabled those enslaved to feel some sort of 10 Rea, Jennifer A., and Liz Clarke (2008). “Perpetua's Journey: Faith, Gender, & Power in the Roman Empire” . Oxford University Press. (pg.130) 11 Boatwright, Mary T., Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J. A. Talbert. (2004) “The Romans: From Village to Empire” , Second ed., Oxford University Press. (pg. 423) 12 Boatwright, Mary T., Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J. A. Talbert. (2004) The Romans: “ From Village to Empire”, Second ed., Oxford University Press. 13 Rea, Jennifer A., and Liz Clarke. (2008) Perpetua's “ Journey: Faith, Gender, & Power in the Roman Empire .” Oxford University Press (pg.129) 14 Rea, Jennifer A., and Liz Clarke (2008). Perpetua's “ Journey: Faith, Gender, & Power in the Roman Empire .” Oxford University Press. (pg.129) 6 control of their lives and religion in the grander scheme, their owners could not control their fate and lives as Christians. Even with the legalization of the religion allowed under the Edict of Toleration by Galerius in 311 CE, religious contentions grew and the future path for the religion seemed to be one of disagreement and violence. The rise of Christianity fundamentally changed the politics of the Roman Empire and ultimately in-part led to its demise. A fall that was brought on by economic issues and an overreliance on slave labor. All factors considered, the impact of slavery throughout the Roman Empire had a significant influence on its social, economical, and political spheres. Although the exact numbers are undeterminable currently, its impact and scale are clear and impressive. Slavery was implemented in the Roman Empire as early as the publication Twelve of the Tables in the fifth century BCE, and continued to grow in the Empire with its expansion in the region. Slavery led to massive levels of unemployment throughout the empire, which led to issues of governance in the Empire from Rome. The spread of Christianity further receded the control that Emperors had on the population, devaluing their rule and removing power. Christianity offered the chance for slaves on the fringe of society to feel as though they could have control over the course of their own lives. This feeling of autonomy for slaves, economic issues, with the combination of the Empire’s overreliance on slave labor in part led to the fall of the Roman Empire. 7 Bibliography Bagnall, Frier and Rutherford (1997) “ Biezunska-Malowist 1977 Discusses Slavery in Roman Egypt” Boatwright, Mary T., Daniel J. Gargola, and Richard J. A. Talbert. (2004) “ The Romans: From Village to Empire”, Second ed., Oxford University Press. Bradley, Keith R. (2010)Slavery “ and Society at Rome”. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press Joshel, S. R. (2013).Slavery “ in the Roman World.” New York, NY: Cambridge University Press. Libourel, Jan. Galley Slaves in the Second Punic War Classical Philology Volume 68, Number 2 (1973). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1086/365946. Rea, Jennifer A., and Liz Clarke. “Perpetua's Journey: Faith, Gender, & Power in the Roman Empire” . Oxford University Press, 2018. Scheidel, Walter,“In Search of Roman Economic Growth” (2008). Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics Paper No. 060808, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1214732 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1214732 Steinberg, Michael."The Twelve Tables and Their Origins: An Eighteenth-Century Debate." Journal of the History of Ideas 43, no. 3 (1982): 379-96. Accessed December 6, 2020. doi:10.2307/2709429. Wilson, Emily. “The Greatest Empire: A Life of Seneca”. Oxford Univ. Press US, 2018. (pg.186) 8 Yeo, Cedric A."The Economics of Roman and American Slavery."FinanzArchiv / Public Finance Analysis 13, no. 3 (1951): 445-85. Accessed December 6, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40908759.