Rome relied on the labor of enslaved individuals who were mostly war captives but who might also have been born into slavery, kidnapped, or abandoned in infancy. Manumission was common, and freed people formed a substantial class in a number of skilled professions. Enslaved life was often brutal, however, and the wars of the first century BCE show the frequency with which the enslaved chose violence as a way to escape. Gladiators were often enslaved men made to fight in violent spectacles that remained hugely popular throughout the imperial period.

All images referenced in this podcast can be found at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/7-2-slavery-in-the-roman-empire

Welcome to A Journey into Human History.

This podcast will attempt to tell the whole human story.

he content contained in this podcast was produced by OpenStax and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/1-introduction

Podcast produced by Miranda Casturo as a creative common sense production.