Slavery

Daily Life in Empire: Slavery

During the Roman Empire, slaves were bought and sold like livestock. Slaves were not just condemned criminals and people who could not pay their debt, some where unwanted children sold into slavery by their parents. Others where taken away from their homeland by The Roman military after they had been conquered. Some slaves were educated while others cold not read or write.

Personal or business relationships with their owners benefited slaves because they were treated better by their masters. Though, some were treated fairly,the others who worked in the mines and on plantations were whipped and beaten. Slaves, who worked in the mines, were worked to death. They were worked so hard because they where easily replaced. Some escaped the mines and the plantations by being chosen to become gladiators.

Slaves had no legal rights, and were unrecognized by the citizens in the Roman Empire. They belonged to their masters. Even their bodies where owned by their masters.They eventually gained legal rights later in the rule of the empire. The law some what protected them. Though, some things changed for them, but the one thing the Roman government would not change, was that if a master died, their slaves would be killed. They were killed because they were supposed to serve their masters in the after life. Slaves were property, they belonged to their masters. Like all property, slaves had value. Though they were property, they could be freed by their masters.But, if they saved up enough money they could buy their freedom or someone could buy it for them. As slave owners grew older, some would free their slaves before they died. It was some times an economic advantage if some slaves were freed because if they were sick and could not work then they were being a burden on the masters. Or they would agree to work for their master as a freeman, so the owners would not have to pay for food for them.

Bibliography

__Web sites__ 1. Chris, Heaton. "Roman Slavery". UN RV History. December 2, 2008 . 2. Bradley, Keith. "Ancient History Romans". BBC. December 2. 2008 . 3. not listed, not listed. "Roman Empire: The First Century". PBS. December 2, 2008 . __Pictures__ 1. __http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/images/slavery_serving_wine.jpg__ 2.__ http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aldokkan.com/society/roman_slave.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.aldokkan.com/society/slavery.htm&usg=__9HT6U9yKU0h5sQPCEApqsba6IvA=&h=271&w=294&sz=57&hl=en&start=1&sig2=CLBGlh7YLxc_S_fXzT0l__ 3. __http://www.visitandlearn.co.uk/topicalfactfiles/images/slavery4.jpg__ __ Book __1. Nelson, Eric.__ The Complete Idiot’s Guide to The Roman Empire.__ Arkansas: Alpha Books, 2007.