ternaiworthslavesinancientrome

Slaves

 Ancient Roman Slaves

Who were slaves? Well slaves were usually people who were captured in battle and taken to Rome to be sold, or they could be little kids that were abandoned and forced to be slaves. Once a slave was bought they would have to be a slave for life, unless their owner let them go free or they bought their freedom. To buy your freedom, you had to raise the same sum of money that your master had paid for you. If a slave got married and had children, their children would automatically be a slave. A rich man might have 500 slaves and an emperor would have at least 20,000. A slave would wake up at daybreak. If his owner lived in a cold place they would first have to fire up the hypocaust. Then, their owner would wake up, and they were expected to dress him/her. When the day began, a whole group of slaves started set tasks, such as walking children to school, cleaning a villa, washing clothes, tidying a garden etc. A group of slaves would work in the kitchen preparing the meal. When their owners bathed at home they would dry them off and dress them. If a guest was to come home the slave would be required to walk in front of them with a light torch. As you can see slaves in ancient had a rough life.