How pitiful were the slaves in ancient Rome? The men had to do manual labor, but how tragic was the fate of the women?

If a female slave is quite pretty, she will be selected by the male master to provide her with sexual services. However, when her beauty fades in old age, she will usually be sold to Goulanwashe by the female master, where she will be exhausted from doing manual labor. Pretty lucky. 1. The sources of slaves in ancient Rome: prisoners of war, self-sale, and birth into slavery.

Through long-term war and expansion, ancient Rome once became a superpower in the world. There were countless traders, and the living standards of the people were judged by the number of slaves in their homes. Becoming a slave was a helpless act based on conditions: some were prisoners of war who were captured for fighting against the ancient Roman army. Letting the losers become slaves of the victors was the best reward in ancient Roman wars. Among the prisoners of war, male slaves were Some were voluntarily sold as slaves, because in ancient society where there was a large gap between rich and poor, if you were a slave, you would at least not have enough to eat; some were born into slavery, that is, the children of slaves were also slaves.

Although the slaves in ancient Rome were essentially the same as the servants who had signed a bond of sale in our country, the slaves were even worse. They could never be redeemed. Those who have been slaves for generations are not humans, but animals. The end point of a slave is death, which is not terrible. Living and suffering is the most difficult thing. Because slaves have no human rights and are the private property of their masters, they cannot even control their own life or death. If a slave is found to want to die at will, the consequences will be disastrous. After all, in ancient times, there was no shortage of ways to make people want to die. 2. Female slaves are more valuable than male slaves.

Buying a male slave back is equivalent to buying a cow. Apart from providing labor force, it has no value. Moreover, male slaves are unruly in nature and may take advantage of the decline of their master's family to riot, which will threaten the master's property, women, family members, and children. Therefore, when purchasing male slaves, in addition to considering their strength, one must also consider their character. Generally, wealthy people They don't have too many male slaves. Female slaves are more popular in the slave market because they are smaller in number and more expensive than male slaves.

Female slaves have the strength to do the same physical work as male slaves, and women have less rebellious traits, which makes them safer for their masters. Good-looking female slaves will be favored by their masters, and some will directly become the playthings of their male masters; some will be given away by their masters in exchange for the temporary appreciation of powerful people; some will make them slaves, It's like letting animals give birth and expanding the owner's assets. No matter how you calculate it, female slaves are more in line with market demand than male slaves. Therefore, when buying and selling, it once took four male slaves to exchange for one female slave. 3. The fate of female slaves is worse than that of male slaves.

The most common fate for male slaves is to be exhausted to death. After all their strength is exhausted, they will eventually retain their remaining dignity. Because female slaves were used in so many ways, they had many endings. After the female slaves became playthings, in addition to being bullied, beaten and scolded by their mistresses, the worst ones were abandoned and became prostitutes who relied on the flesh trade to survive. Then they suffered from some strange diseases and died with pus all over their bodies. After a female slave becomes a calving animal, she will be ordered to keep giving birth to slaves. Selling small slaves may become a way to make money. In the end, the female slave either dies due to dystocia or runs out of oil.