Slaves During Pompeii
The slave life was very unique during Pompeii. Many slaves were either from Greece or from Africa (Source 2). Slaves were usually assigned to wealthy Pompeiians, usually business owners or high officials. Many slaves did different work, such as standing in a tub filled with urine, water, and dirty clothes. This link would be found here. The slaves would then stomp on the clothes. This process would clean the clothing (Source 1). Many Pompeiian slaves did this technique. Some slaves had their own personal time, some slaves would fetch water at a public fountain. Others went to a tavern to grab something to eat, or a bakery or cook shop. Or just enjoying views of a close garden near by. Slaves usually did this when their work was completed assigned by their owners. Slaves were sold sometimes at a hefty price, that's why the poor could not really afford them.
Unlike roman town houses , country villas did not have slave living quarters. This is because of the sheer of agricultural slaves made it impractical for them to sleep in stables and storage areas. The living quarters found demonstrate just how basic life was for these laves. The cells where they spent their resting hours had plain walls and earth floors. Windows were slits and the interior light would have come from a lamp contained in a niche in the wall (Source 3). This link can be found here. Many slaves lived in different living quarters, depending on the owner. When Mt. Vesuvius erupted many slaves shackled in the prison were left there. None were able to escape the death of the volcano (Source 2).
Slaves were not identifiable by their dress. The simple tunic was the clothing of choice worn by slaves and their owners alike. Only the toga was reserved for Roman citizens; however, many did not wear it, because the long length of material was cumbersome and difficult to keep clean. Slaves were viewed as property, and if they were damaged by an erratic donkey cart or a falling pot flung from an upstairs window, for example, financial retribution would need to be made by the perpetrator.
Sources
"Ancient History and Archaeology.com." - Slavery in Pompeii. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2014.
Connolly, Petter. "The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome Paperback – May 18, 2000." Amazon.com: The Ancient City: Life in Classical Athens and Rome (9780195215823): Peter Connolly, Hazel Dodge: Books. Hazel Dodge, n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2014.
Nardo, Dom. "Life in Ancient Rome." N.p., 12. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.
"A Slave's Life in Ancient Pompeii." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2014.
Although slaves in roman times were not treated well at all, I thought it was interested how they were treated a bit better than slaves that were in America and actually wore clothes similar or the same as the Roman citizens themselves.
ReplyDeleteTheir ability to wear clothes that are similar to other people gave them certain freedoms that differentiate them from American Slaves.c
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ReplyDeleteI would switch out the word 'assigned to' for something like 'bought by,' since wealthy Romans bought slaves.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it's quite interesting that they wore clothing quite similar to that of their owners'!
There is a very big difference between American slaves and ancient Roman slaves. Roman slaves were treated with much more respect than American slaves. Roman slaves had many more freedoms than African Americans in the United States.
ReplyDeletehow do you clean clothes by stomping on them? Were there a lot of revolts from the slaves?
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