Slavery in the Roman World

by Sandra R. Joshel

Rome was a slave society. Beyond the thousands of slaves who worked and lived in the heartland of the Roman Empire, slavery fundamentally shaped Roman society and culture. In this book, Sandra Joshel offers a comprehensive overview of Roman slavery. Using a variety of sources, including literature, law, and material culture, she examines the legal condition of Roman slaves, traces the stages of the sale of slaves, analyzes the relations between slaves and slaveholders, and details the social and family lives of slaves. Richly illustrated with images of slaves, captives, and the material conditions of slaves, this book also considers food, clothing, and housing of slaves, thereby locating slaves in their physical surroundings – the cook in the kitchen, the maid in her owner’s bedroom, the smith in a workshop, and the farm laborer in a vineyard. Based on rigorous scholarship, Slavery in the Roman World serves as a lively, accessible account to introductory-level students of the ancient Mediterranean world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Ancient History, School, Research, Classics, Roman History

252 pages, Paperback

First published August 31, 2010

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked up this book while trawling for books around Christmas and just got around to reading it. Joshel offers a good overview of Roman slavery, without getting too bogged down in the controversies and other distractions in the topic. She presents a variety of historical, legal and epigraphic texts to tease out what slavery meant in the Roman world, but the strength of the book really is in the attempt to understand how it look at it from the slave point of view. It is an occupational hazard in the study of the ancient Greek and Roman world that most of our sources are elite sources, so it is harder work to tease out what is happening to everyone else. And slaves are among the most invisible of the invisible.

Joshel also considers Roman slavery with other forms. Her point that there really was no 'North' to run to or really any secure place to escape is a good one, and, I think, crucial for the development of Roman slavery. Her discussion on resistance to slavery as shown by elite criticisms of slaves as lazy or dishonest or unreliable is a good one and one I'll be incorporating into my Latin classes in the fall.

This is a slim volume and a good overview. Obviously, there is much more to say about the topic. However, this is an excellent place to start.

[Heather Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

(This is reposted from my personal blog, so it's a bit more informal than a typical book review, and more why I engaged with this particular book.)

There was a time in my historic-hobby life when I was invested in researching the material culture of imperial Rome far in excess of the amount of time I spent actually participating in Roman-era activities. One of my excuses is that I have at least one historic novel in process set in that era. This falls in the category of “excuse” because I’m not sure that I’ll manage more than one novel with that setting, but honestly I’m simply fascinated by the amount of information we have about everyday life and our ability to mentally inhabit it.

But writing a novel involves different sets of data than doing historic re-creation and involves some very different questions. I think one of the hardest topics to tackle when writing relatively fluffy historical fiction set during the Roman empire is how to handle slavery. One can take an unhistorical approach and ignore it. One can take a brutally historic approach and have your characters treat it unquestioningly as normal and natural. One can have the characters hold ahistorically enlightened opinions on the topic. Especially in the context of romance fiction, one can fetishize the relationship between the enslaved and the enslavers and redeem the latter via True Love. (Which: ugh. I have a hard time being neutral when including stories of this type in the LHMP new books listings.) Or one can try to thread the needle and find a balance that both respects and accurately represents the experiences of enslaved people in Roman society, alongside the experiences of more privileged characters.

In any event, I picked up this book (based on a recommendation on Twitter) to try to help educate myself with respect to the last option. It’s a fairly quick read (and very readable for the non-specialist, I think), trying for a balance between using primary source materials while recognizing how badly skewed those sources are with respect to whose voices are represented and how honest they are able to be in their expression. It addresses the sheer scale of the role slavery played in the Roman economic and social structure, while recognizing the wide range of experiences of enslaved people, depending on factors such as geography, the rural/urban divide, gender, occupation, and the random chance of the personality of enslavers. Another focus is on the everyday precariousness of life for the enslaved, even within the most privileged contexts. But also the opportunities, the ways people worked around and within the system, and the extremely variable opportunities for advancement or manumission.

The author puts a lot of focus on the humanity of the people involved in Roman slavery and both the parallels and differences between the Roman experience and systems of slavery in other eras and societies. Definitely fulfils the purpose for which I acquired the book.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

In order to better understand the history of slavery that I will be teaching from 1450, I decided to read this book on Roman slavery both to inform myself historically and to learn more about a system that is often compared to American chattel slavery as being more humane. This book is the perfect read for an undergraduate or armchair historian looking to learn about the basic ins and outs of Roman slavery. It is written simply though with important detail, and Joshel is always forthcoming about the shortcomings of her sources and when she is presenting speculation. This honesty is a valuable tool to both the beginning and advanced scholar, as it demonstrates the importance of reading against the grain. My one qualm is that Joshel did not place Roman slavery in the context of a more inter-regional or global slave system. It would have been nice to learn more about where these slaves came from. Otherwise a neat little read that demonstrates strong scholarship and a brief but rich understanding of the subject matter.

[Tallulah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Speed-read this in an ambitious literary marathon for a paper I'm writing. Now my head hurts.

Full of great information (although it did get a little repetitive) and I loved the inclusion of inscriptions coupled with writings of some familiar names (Cicero, Varro, Cato, Pliny, Columella). Contrasting agricultural writing/moralistic writing/epistles with depictions of enslaved characters in Roman theatre would have been great. But that's literally the topic of my paper so I'm biased.

[Anouck · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly insightful and informative book! I read this in my second year of college and knew little to nothing about the topic. I learned lots and remembered it, too. Some non-fiction works are very dense and heavy which results in me forgetting most of what I am reading. I didn't have that problem with Slavery in the Roman World . It was a very accessible and fascinating read.

[Lizzie Ashworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves five stars for the sheer effort of research involved. As far as readibility goes, a three might be a more appropriate rating. I'm an avid history fan and a research addict, but I found this rough going. It seemed as if the author said everything ten times, one time after another, each time adding one or another tiny bit of new information. Her effort to be scholarly (necessary, considering this is part of a Cambridge series on Roman civilization) is over the top in my opinion. No need to be boring to provide comprehensive data on slavery. Still, I'm thankful for the book--it provided some key information needed for a novel I'm currently writing.

[Rosemary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting information but I found it repeated itself rather a lot. I preferred the Keith Bradley book Slavery and Society at Rome but may have been influenced by reading Bradley first, since they cover a lot of the same ground. Joshel is more cautious, constantly reminding us that sources may be unreliable, while Bradley merrily cites novels and all sorts. Since my interest is general rather than academic I preferred the second approach. Others might not.

[Bonnie_blu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to slavery in the Roman world. Joshel also examines other slavery cultures throughout history, and explores the effects slavery had on slaves, slaveholders, and society. A must read for anyone who wants to try to understand how slavery could have existed in virtually all early cultures and into modern times.