Roman slaves

Latifundia labor force

Roman slaves were enslaved people in ancient Rome, forming the foundation of the Roman economy and household life.

Slaves performed every kind of labor—from mining and agriculture to teaching and medicine—and could be acquired through conquest, purchase, or birth to enslaved mothers.

Some gained freedom and became freedmen.

The Roman slaves who built the aqueducts left no names in history.

Related

domestic servants · piracy · miners · cooks · social hierarchy · artisans · entertainers · corporal punishment · scribes · Spartacus · tutors · manumission · public spectacles · imperial decree · religious practices · inheritance rules · branding · forced labor

Categories
Opposites
legal status in Roman society

Roman slavesRoman citizens

Members of ancient republic

patricians · freedmen · equestrians · senators

social hierarchy/power

Roman slavesslave owners

People who legally owned humans

slaveholders · paterfamilias · Roman emperors · equestrians · emperors

economic role

Roman slavesslaveholders

Owners of enslaved people

landowners · slave traders

Family

Roman, Romans, romance, Romance, romantic, romantically, romanticize, romanticized, romanticizing

Familiarity
Top 500,000
Profile
Known to kids · Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Negative · Everyday, not technical · Rated PG