Slavery Commentary for Plautus' Aulularia

Mark Donatelli

Miami University

Roman slaves can be broadly distinguished into two separate groups: the urban slaves and the farm/mine slaves. Within the city, slaves might be owned by affluent families and employed as nurses, cooks, gardeners, tutors, hairdressers, barbers, pedagogues, litter-bearers, porters, seamstresses, etc. (Shelton, 1988). Likewise, slaves could also be purchased by the city and put to work in janitorial, clerical, or construction positions (Shelton, 1988). Further, the urban slave might be employed for entertainment, e.g. as a prostitute, gymnast or gladiator (Shelton, 1988). Slaves purchased for labor in the latifundia (large farms) performed physical labors that included tending to animals, tilling the fields, caring for grape vines, planting and harvesting crops, and associated tasks, e.g. shearing sheep, milling grains, etc. (Barrow, 1928), whereas those slaves employed in the mines worked at mining minerals and metals from the earth or quarried stone (Barrow, 1928). While little record is left of the mining slaves, the harsh physical treatment that slaves in these positions received from their masters resulted in a physical wasting away and eventual death, and when compared with the lapicidae (quarry men)&emdash;who are noted for having a longer life expectancy (seven years)&emdash;it is clear that the life expectancy for slaves in these positions was quite low (Barrow, 1928). The ideology behind this treatment of the farm/mine slave is characterized in Columella's discussion of the merits of imposing high physical demands upon slaves: "There is, moreover, no better way of keeping watch over even the most worthless of men than the strict enforcement of labour,Éafter their fatiguing toil, [they] will turn their attention to rest and sleep rather than to dissipation." (Col. 1.8.11).

While there cannot be any statistical clarity on gender distribution within farm/mine slaves and urban slaves due to fluctuations in slave number and geographical influences, a survey of the studies done by Madden indicates that males were the most numerous in both divisions&emdash;with percentages fluctuating from 66% to a minimum of 80%, depending on the study cited (Madden, 1996). In part, it is believed that males were favored because of their ability to handle a greater degree of physical labor than females, a factor that would be of special consideration in the latifundia and mines (Madden, 1996). Women were still important to slave owners, however, especially in tasks such as weaving, cooking and cloth making (Shelton, 1988). Also, female slaves provided a way for slave owners to breed more slaves&emdash;for the children of a slave became the property of the master (Joshel, 1992). This practice of breeding new slaves can be seen in the writing of Columella, who comments on his practice of rewarding fertile slaves: "To women, too, who are unusually prolific, and who ought to be rewarded for the bearing of a certain number of offspring, I have granted exemption from work and sometimes even freedom after they have reared many children." (Col. 1.8.19). According to the studies performed by Madden, however, the technique of slave breeding did not seem to propagate the slave population, for many women of child bearing age were freed so that the master might marry them&emdash;in this case, any children that they had upon being freed would, likewise, be considered free (Madden, 1996).

While there may have been certain rewards for the slave's fertility, it cannot be forgotten that the body of the slave did not belong to the slave but to the master (Fantham et al., 1994). To this effect, slaves also accommodated their master's sexual desires, in addition to producing new slaves and, possibly, being prostituted by the master (Fantham et al., 1994). One example demonstrating the master's dominion over the slave's body lies with the story related by Livy of Appius Claudius' lust for Verginia, the daughter of a Roman soldier: In Verginia's father's absence, Appius convinces another Roman to state that Verginia is Appius' slave, thus giving him control over her body; when Verginia's father is unable to get the verdict overthrown, he freed her by stabbing her through the heart (Liv. 3.48.5). (online Latin text for Liv. 3.48.5: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/fld/CLASSICS/liv.3.html#48)

Interestingly, male slaves were relatively free from the same pressure at the hands of the mistress, for Roman society had never relished the notion of a free woman engaging in sexual acts with a slave or lower class citizen (Fantham et al., 1994). This is reflected in the lex Julia imposed by Augustus&emdash;demonstrating an attempt to revitalize morality&emdash;which defined adultery for men as intercourse carried out with a woman other than one's wife, while defining adultery for women as intercourse with anyone but her husband (Fantham et al., 1994; Treggiari, 1994). In this sense, men could still engage in sex with prostitutes, slaves or concubines while women were only permitted to have sex with their husbands.

The treatment experienced by slaves at the hands of their masters varied from extreme cruelty to beneficence. One example of the sadistic master lies with Vedius Pollio, who entertained himself by throwing slaves into a pool of lamprey eels and watching the slaves die an agonizing death for trivial wrongs or accidents (Shelton, 1988). Slaves were, at times, also subject to the violent outbursts of their masters. In a poem criticizing his mistress, Ovid alludes to this fact when he describes her hairdresser as, "tuto corpore semper erat" ("[the hairdresser] was always with a safe body")&emdash;thus, due to her skill at working her trade, the hairdresser escaped physical punishment by not inflicting any accidental discomfort upon her mistress (Ov. Am. 1.14.16) (online Latin text for Ovid's Amores 1.14.16 can be found at:

http://www.gmu.edu/departments/fld/CLASSICS/ovid.amor1.html ).

Likewise, within the Satyricon of Petronius, there is section detailing the dinner party of Trimalchio&emdash;an extremely wealthy freedman&emdash;who at one point during the meal is injured by a slave that has been performing acrobatics for the entertainment of the dinner guests and accidentally falls onto him (Petr. 54). Witnessing this scene, the guests fear that the dinner party will be marred by the execution of the boy, but Trimalchio amazes everyone by freeing the boy so that it might never be said that a slave injured him (Petr. 54). From this example, it is clear that punishment was a common means of dealing with slaves, and that the penalty for mistakes could be severe. Contrarily, there were also Romans who attempted to treat their slaves well. In this regard, Pliny the Younger writes to a friend, Paternus, of his willingness to manumit slaves if they are near death and to allow them to draw up wills for the distribution of their peculium to members within the household (Plin. Ep. 8.16). This demonstrates the generosity that slave masters could show toward their slaves, for in Roman law, the possessions of the slave who had died would become those of the master (Shelton, 1988).

It can also be noted that nationality and birth played a part in determining a slave's status and interaction with his or her master. Slaves born within "civilized" countries such as Egypt or Greece were often used within the home and not for manual labor whereas slaves from "uncivilized" regions such as Gaul and Germany were often used in farms/mines (Shelton, 1988)&emdash;this might be explained by considering that in buying slaves for the home, Romans probably desired refined qualities and abilities that would be associated with "advanced" cultures, while slaves that were considered "uncivilized" would be better suited as work animals for the fields or mines.

Social interaction involving familial bonds and friendships would also have been important to slaves in classical times. According to Roman custom, the deceased may be honored not only by the immediate family, but also by owners and patrons as well as slaves or fellow freedmen and women (Fantham et al., 1994). In this sense, it can be noted that slaves often constructed familial relationships with their owners and other slaves&emdash;taking part in the familia. As Pliny the Younger notes, "Éfor to persons in their station [i.e. slaves] the household takes the place of city and commonwealth." (Plin. Ep. 8.16). Indeed, the contubernium ("marriage relationship") between male and female slaves was often encouraged by slave owners, who saw it as a way to propagate their slaves; under the law, however, this relationship was not recognized as a marriage (Joshel, 1992).

References

Barrow, Reginal Haynes. (1928) Slavery in the Roman Empire. New York: Lincoln, MacVeagh, Dial Press.

Columella, Lucius Hunius Moderatus. (1977) De Re Rustica. Trans. by Harrison Boyd Ash. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Fantham E., H. P. Foley, N. B. Kampen, S. B. Pomeroy, H. A. Shapiro. (1994) Women in the Classical World. New York: Oxford University Press.

Joshel, Sandra R. (1992) Work, Identity, and Legal Status at Rome. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.

Livy. (1922) Livy Vol. II. Trans. by B. O. Foster. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Madden, John. Roman Slavery. Online (http://www.ucd.ie/~classics/96/Madden96.html). 3-25-98.

Ovid. (1977) Heroides and Amores. Trans. by Grant Showerman. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Petronius Arbiter. (1916) Petronius. Trans. by Michael Heseltine. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Pliny the Younger. (1924) Pliny: Letters Vol II. Trans. by William Melmoth. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Shelton, Jo-Ann. (1988) As The Romans Did. New York: Oxford University Press.

Treggiari, Susan. (1994) "Leges sine moribus", Ancient History Bulletin 8 (1994), on adultery and social legislation in the Augustan period. (online location: http://www.trentu.ca/faculty/ahb/AHB8/AHB-8-3b.html)

Useful links:

Diotima article return for slaves:

http://www.uky.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/scaife/diobib?slaves

For a list of Pliny the Younger's work on the web:

http://patriot.net/~lillard/chp/pliny.html

Web site for lex Julia de maritandis ordinibus: http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/wlgr/wlgr-romanlegal120.html#pass122

For a selected list of Latin literature concerning Roman women: http://www.uky.edu/ArtsSciences/Classics/dfr-contents.html

Notes on female slaves and freedwomen, including a selected reading list can be found at: http://www.lampeter.ac.uk/~davidnoy/roman12.htm

An excellent list of resources available online concerning studies of females in the Roman world can be found at: http://www.lampeter.ac.uk/~davidnoy/women.htm