Rome was such a powerful civilization back in its day, so why would anyone question it? In truth, there was much more behind Rome than most people think. Most people do not know that many Romans had slaves. There were a lot of things expected of these slaves, which brings people to question of whether or not Rome could have risen to power without slavery. Slaves were so highly depended on by their masters, that it would have taken a much longer time and would have been much more difficult to gain power without the use of slavery.
Slavery was going on throughout all of the Mediterranean countries in antiquity, but not nearly as much as it was going on in Rome. The Romans depended more on their slaves than any other people. For example, the aqueducts were a vital part of Roman civilization, and are an invention that affects how we live today. There were around 700 slaves that worked on the aqueducts alone. In some households there were around 400 slaves. (John Madden- Slavery in the Roman Empire). Another man, Gaius Caecilius left 4116 slaves in his will, and some other people had so many slaves that they had to use a nomenclator to identify them. Although not every rich household had this many slaves, one may wonder why some people needed so many slaves. These slaves did a lot of work for their masters, and the masters highly depended on them.
Slaves had a lot of expectations and guidelines to follow. According to Plautus in Menaechmi, act V, scene four, “this is the proof of a good servant: he must take care of his master's business, look after it, arrange it, think about it; when his master is away, take care of it diligently just as much as if his master were present, or be even more careful.” He makes it sound like slaves did most of their master’s work for them. Slaves are expected to put their master’s needs first, far before his own. With slaves doing all of this work for their masters, it was easier for the masters to be in the military, or become more powerful. The masters were able to contribute to the rise of Rome, with the slaves doing most of the dirty work in the background.
Slaves did not have many rights in Roman society. Besides the fact that they must be completely loyal to their masters, they had many other unfair rules. They were not allowed to marry and they were beaten when they misbehaved, which made many slaves tried to escape. Slaves could be sold like property, and were not thought of as human beings. They made up 25% of Rome’s population (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Rome), which is an outstanding amount. Cato the elder tells of what slaves should have been given from their owners: “As for clothes, give out a tunic of three feet and a half, and a cloak once in two years. When you give a tunic or cloak take back the old ones, to make cassocks out of. Once in two years, good shoes should be given.” (Cato- Agriculture) It is doubtful that their owners ever gave them more than this, which is very sad. If only more citizens of Rome, or even other people, had realized how much the slaves helped them rise to power, maybe these great people would have been more appreciated.
The story of these slaves in Rome shows a great message. Even though these slaves were thought of as nothing, and people did not even have the respect to talk to them, they were probably the only reason Rome became as powerful as it did. It shows that people thought of as unimportant are really the opposite: they may even be the cause of success. Without the use of slavery, Rome would never have been one of the greatest civilizations in history, nor one that we still remember today.
Sources:
"Slavery in Ancient Rome." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_ancient_Rome .
Cato the Elder. Agriculture. "Ancient History Sourcebook: Slavery in the Roman Republic." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/slavery-romrep1.html .
Plautus. Pseudolus. “ Ancient History Sourcebook: Slavery in the Roman Republic." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/slavery-romrep1.html .
Madden, John. "Slavery in the Roman Empire: Numbers and Origins." Ancient History Sourcebook. 1996. Web. 25 Mar. 2010. http://web.archive.org/web/20031211005259/www.ucd.ie/classics/96/Madden96.html .
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