Slavery and Society at Rome

by Keith Bradley

Book Overview

This book, first published in 1994, is concerned with discovering what it was like to be a slave in the classical Roman world, and with revealing the impact the institution of slavery made on Roman society at large. It shows how and in what sense Rome was a slave society through much of its history, considers how the Romans procured their slaves, discusses the work roles slaves fulfilled and the material conditions under which they spent their lives,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0521378877
• ISBN13: 9780521378871
• Release Date: November 1994
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 218 Pages
• Weight: 0.73 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Excellent introduction

An excellent introduction to Slavery in what the author calls "the central period", namely 200 bc-ad 200, though he does go over a bit and examines Christianity and slavery (c. ad400). It's enough to note that Christianity did little to change the attitude of Romans to slavery; but actually cemented the anodyne belief that one was already spiritually free if one was "free in his/her heart". Go tell that one to a suffering slave! This book is an excellent and entertaining read, with a controversial twist: he brings in at critical points information from new world slavery, especially Latin America. I find this most rewarding, though some classicists may take umbrage. You may avoid the last two chapters: they appear to be filler to round out the book. "Slavery and progress" since there wasn't much to speak of and the last one on the evils of slavery is repetitive.