Social class in ancient Rome: Encyclopedia II - Social class in ancient Rome - Slaves

Social class in ancient Rome - Slaves

Slaves (servi) were for the most part descended from debtors and from prisoners of war, especially women and children captured during sieges and other military campaigns in Italy, Spain, and Carthage. In the later years of the Republic and into the Empire, more slaves came from newly conquered areas of Gaul, Britain, North Africa, the Middle East, and what is now eastern Turkey.

Slaves originally had no rights whatsoever and could be disposed of by their owners at any time. As time went on, however, the Senate and later the emperors enacted legislation meant to protect the lives and health of slaves. However, until slavery was abolished Roman men habitually used their slaves for sexual purposes. Horace, for instance, writes of his love for his young, attractive slaves, and in the epode Parentis olim chides Macaenas for eating garlic and forcing his slave of the night to retreat to the edge of the bed. All children born to female slaves were legally slaves, although many testators (Tacitus, among others) freed the slaves whom they believed to be their natural children.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Slaves", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki