Changes

Slavery was widespread in the Roman world. It seems that a significant proportion of the population were slaves. The institution of slavery had a legal status in the Roman law and any slave was the property of their owner. The owners had immense power over their ‘property’ and had the power of life and death over them. Slaves were exploited by their masters in every conceivable way. Many slaves were released by their masters and became ‘freedmen’. They were born and died in that condition. The role of slaves varied in Roman society and they worked as domestic servants, agricultural workers, miners and even artisans. Many slaves were educated and worked as administrators or as teachers. Their numbers had greatly expanded during the 2nd and 1st century BCE. <ref> Appian, <i>The Civil wars </i> (Penguin Classics; New Ed edition, London, 1996), p. 12</ref>.  This was because the Romans enslaved many of the peoples that they had conquered in the Mediterranean. This led to a great increase in the numbers of slaves in Rome and Italy. Large numbers of them worked on large landed estates as agricultural laborers. There were significant populations of slaves in the South of Italy and Sicily .<ref> Holland, Tom. <i>The Rubicon </i> (Longman, London, 2005), p. 23</ref>. Because of their large numbers, the Romans could use many as gladiators. The Romans ensured the obedience of their slaves by brutal and draconian measures. However, this had not prevented two Servile Wars in Sicily in 135 BC and in 140 BC. These involved the escape of thousands of slaves who fought the Romans and devastated large areas of the Sicilian countryside <ref> Holland, p. 13</ref>.