Slavery in the Roman Republic

Harshly treated, often to the point of death, the slaves of the Roman Republic led a less

than envious life. The slaves were such a repressed and overwrought people, that their

only relief came from rebellion or death. The character of slavery under the early Romans

was especially brutal in Sicily. Greek historian Diodorus Siculus details the treatment and

impact of slavery on the moral character of both slaves and masters.

As the Roman Republic expanded, so did the number of slaves. The slaves were most

likely prisoners of war from the countries conquered by Rome. Other sources for slavery included criminals, debtors, and those captured by pirates to be sold at the slave market.

Slavery was usually an inherited hardship similar to American slavery. Yet, unlike America’s history with slavery, Roman slavery was not the result of racial injustice. A variety of nationalities representing the conquered by Rome made up the slave class. Different attributes of slaves were actually sought at the slave market; “…black Africans and blond Germans were particular favorites.” Other factors determining the value of a slave included their demeanor, age, and sex.

The slaves of the Roman Republic performed

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Sicilian slaves were “…beaten beyond all reason… The torment of the beatings and of the status in life in general, led Sicilian slaves to organize and uprise. Maybe the world needs two thousand more years to

wake up and end oppression, but I think with the rate it’s been going since the Romans, it

will take much longer than that. The rebels were eventually stopped, and those captured suffered horrendous torture; “…and confining the rebels under conditions of unspeakable duress and famine: conditions such that, beginning by eating the children, they progressed to the women, and did not altogether abstain from even eating one another…” Other runaway slaves were rounded up, tortured, and then thrown over a cliff to their deaths by Sarapion, a general. Siculus then looked at the Roman generals who probably also owned slaves.

A wealthy man Damophilus of Enna and his wife Megallis had abused their slaves so greatly that it was their slaves who first plotted the uprise. But there were also those who thought that the slaves must be harshly treated to perform to the master’s expectations. Sicilian slaves received only a minimal amount of food and clothing to survive. Slavery continues, as an eight-year-old boy sews a $150 pair of Nike athletic shoes

for less then a dollar a day in Indonesia, and young women in Thailand are sold into

slavery as prostitutes in exchange for a ticket to America.

Two thousand years ago Roman slavery was a brutal institution that led to disastrous

rebellions killing many innocents. Slaves in Sicily were branded with the mark of their owner upon being purchased at market and were shackled in iron. Slaves that had once been broken and exhausted were now seized by fervor to taste independence; “When they found their way into the houses they shed much blood, sparing not even suckling babes. A war that grew from one man’s slaves to what is estimated to be around 70,000.

Diodorus Siculus, the historian who provided the information on the uprising of slaves in Sicily, also divulged the impact of slavery on the moral characters of masters and slaves.

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Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

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