The Roman Empire, one of the most powerful and vastest empires ever, made up of thousands of people and great leaders and ideas from Julius Caesar to the first Republic ever formed, but how did it get there? The Roman Empire as strong as it was came from humble beginnings as just a small village. With the help of its great leaders, Rome rose to become great. The Roman Empire had many slaves as its inhabitants that did all the work in the fields and fought as gladiators in the Coliseum. The Roman slaves are not included in the Roman history as great, but the slaves undoubtedly played a role in the Romans rise to power in Europe.
The Roman slaves were the keepers of the fields and houses of the Roman patricians, or wealthy class. The slaves were treated almost inhumanly by their masters, receiving lashes for anything and everything that they did or did not do. The scholar John Madden said this about Roman slavery,”(John Madden, Volume 3) Though slavery was a prevailing feature of all Mediterranean countries in antiquity, the Romans had more slaves and depended more on them than any other people.” An estimate shows that almost 1/3 of the entire Roman society was made up of slaves. Although there were so many slaves were treated as the lowest social class in Rome, receiving almost no respect from anyone. Despite poor treatment and no recognition, the slaves were depended on greatly to work the fields year after year and yield great harvests for the Roman Empire. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_slavery#Slavery_in_Rome)
The slaves also served as, as cruel as it sounds, a confidence boost to their masters by making them feel powerful and selling them into the world of being a Gladiator. The Coliseum in Rome is a great building where the gladiators, who were Roman prisoners and slaves, fought against eachother in battle scenes. This provided a source of entertainment to the Roman people. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator)
Many of the slaves kept in Rome ended up serving in the Roman army. With so many slaves in Rome, the number of them serving in the army would have been vast numbers that would have undoubtedly served of great use in battle. The Romans were great fighters and the slaves gave them power in numbers that were used to not only intimidate their enemies, but the slaves were trained to be Roman warriors and good soldiers. The Roman slaves were a great asset to the Romans, laying down their lives to defend a country, which was very often not their own. The Roman slaves showed their great numbers and passion through their revolts in which their fighting skills beat off a Roman force on some occasions. The Roman slaves, described as the rebels, have several documents on their revolts. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Servile_War)
The revolt in Sicily is considered a great revolt of the slaves against their Roman masters, and it is described as this:
18. “Soon after, engaging in battle with a general arrived from Rome, Lucius Hypsaeus, who had eight thousand Sicilian troops, the rebels were victorious, since they now numbered twenty thousand. Before long their band reached a total of two hundred thousand, and in numerous battles with the Romans they acquitted themselves well, and failed but seldom.
19. As word of this was bruited about, a revolt of one hundred and fifty slaves, banded together, flared up in Rome, of more than a thousand in Attica, and of yet others in Delos and many other places. But thanks to the speed with which forces were brought up and to the severity of their punitive measures, the magistrates of these communities at once disposed of the rebels and brought to their senses any who were wavering on the verge of revolt. In Sicily, however, the trouble grew.
20. Cities were captured with all their inhabitants, and many armies were cut to pieces by the rebels, until Rupilius, the Roman commander, recovered Tauromenium for the Romans by placing it under strict siege and confining the rebels under conditions of unspeakable duress and famine: conditions such that, beginning by eating the children, they progressed to the women, and did not altogether abstain even from eating one another. It was on this occasion that Rupilius captured Comanus, the brother of Cleon, as he was attempting to escape from the beleaguered city.” (Diodorus Siculus, Books 34/35. 2. 18-20). These sections of Diodorus Siculus’ accounts of the revolt in Siciliy show the fighting strength of the slaves that was evident in the Roman armies.
The slaves in Rome, considered as scum and treated as if they were not human, proved to be a great strength to the Roman Empire, providing their agricultural products, serving as entertainment as gladiators, and being great soldiers in the Roman military force. Without the help of the slaves in Rome, the Roman Empire would not have been able to rise to the level it did.
Works Cited
"Ancient History Sourcebook: Slavery in the Roman Republic." FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
"First Servile War -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
FORDHAM.EDU. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
"Gladiator -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
"MADDEN: Roman Slavery." Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
"Slavery in Antiquity -." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 25 Mar. 2010.
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