Slaves in Ancient Rome

Yesterday, we went on a bike ride on Appia Antica, an old road with monuments for freed slaves.  It was a beautiful ride and an interesting look into the lives of the slaves of that time.  Slavery in ancient Roman times was much different than the form of slavery that we saw in America and many other parts of the world.  There were several ways in which the two differed.  The level of specialization and rate of manumission were just a couple of them.

Most of the slaves in ancient Roman times were highly specialized.  In the US, a large number of slaves were typically forced to do simple, repetitive tasks.  In Rome, there were slaves that were admirals in the Roman Navy, policemen, perfume makers/shop keepers, etc..  Slaves were highly specialized in what they did and could, and sometimes did, return to what they did after they had bought their freedom.  Slaves could also have a fairly high social status.  For example, some slaves were Gladiators.  Gladiators that won were typically celebrated.  Some Gladiator slaves were granted their freedom because gladiators often had wishes granted the night before a fight.  Slaves that were Gladiators were more similar to slaves in the US because the were forced to go fight and often risked death.  This fits more with the form of slavery called “stick slavery,” a form of slavery in which slave owners motivate slaves by using force, though, slavery in the US better fits the term because gladiators were often given gifts to incentivize them as well.

In the US, we think of manumission as an exception rather than a rule.   In ancient Roman times, quite the opposite was true.  Most slaves were able to buy their freedom.  Rather than using force, as was the case in the US, slave owners would use the possibility of freedom to incentivize slaves.  It was a balancing act of increasing the amount given to slaves in order to increase the total productivity.   In economics this is called optimization by balancing at the margin.  This type of slavery can be thought of as “carrot slavery,” or slavery in which slaves are given positive incentives to motivate them.  The more skilled and specialized the slave was, the easier it was for them to buy their freedom.  Freed slaves had a fairly easy time reintegrating into society because the status of slave was not determined based on ethnicity.  Many were able to become successful.  Some slaves chose to return to the families who had owned them after they had bought their freedom while others left the families.

It was interesting to see some of the differences between the slavery in Ancient Rome, and the slavery we had in the United States.  I had no idea that the two were so different.

Below is a picture of the inside of the Roman Colosseum.

Here are a couple pictures of La Via Appia Antica: