The daily realities of slavery in the Roman Empire were often brutal and short, involving back-breaking labor in dangerous conditions, severe physical punishment, and pervasive sexual exploitation, according to Emma Southon's book "Servus."
The book challenges common perceptions of Roman slaves, often imagined in domestic roles, by highlighting extreme examples such as hard labor in stone quarries under the Egyptian sun or in deep Welsh mines requiring constant operation of treadmills. Southon, a former academic now writing full-time about Rome, makes the harshness of these lives explicit, drawing parallels to Soviet labor camps for the conditions in the mines.
The primary source of slaves for Rome was warfare. When Roman soldiers captured settlements, they often engaged in widespread slaughter, enslaving survivors. For instance, after Scipio's capture of Cartagena in Spain in 209 BC, approximately 10,000 prisoners were taken, with craftsmen enslaved and strong young men sent to the galleys, a fate described as a near death sentence. Similarly, following the Roman capture of Jerusalem in AD 70, captured individuals were sent to quarries or forced to fight wild beasts in theaters, as documented by the historian Josephus.
Physical Abuse and Resistance
Slaves in Roman households faced regular beatings from both masters and mistresses. Physicians treated numerous patients for injuries sustained while assaulting their slaves. Southon notes that enslaved people suffered severe injuries, including broken limbs, burns to the Achilles tendon with hot irons to prevent escape while still allowing them to work, and blinding in one eye. The philosopher Epictetus, himself a former slave, reportedly had his leg deliberately broken by his owner as a child.
This level of punishment, coupled with frequent complaints from slave owners about slaves' "impudence" and "laziness," suggests significant passive resistance from the enslaved population, according to one historian.
Sexual Exploitation
Sexual slavery was considered entirely normal in the ancient world. All slaves were legally the property of their owners, making them vulnerable to exploitation. Even the depiction of gladiators having sexual relations with wealthy women could represent sex slavery, as most gladiators were themselves slaves. The book also points to evidence of child sex slavery, citing the names of establishments like the House of Jupiter and Ganymede, a Roman port brothel, and the explicit wall art in the Pompeii brothel, the Lupanar, which depicted both female and male prostitutes. Ancient writings also mention methods to prevent young boys from reaching puberty, suggesting castration or the use of puberty blockers.
Southon argues that the widespread acceptance of slavery stemmed from its pervasiveness; it was a social norm so deeply ingrained that a world without it was unimaginable, even for early Christians. While Romans were arguably more tolerant of daily violence than contemporary societies, Southon prompts reflection on whether modern social norms, such as factory farming or the use of child labor in cobalt mining for electronics, might be viewed with horror by future generations, questioning the degree to which modern society has truly surpassed its predecessors.