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The years after Spartacus coincided with a sharp fall in the slave population. It seems that instead of using slaves that they instead rented out portions of their land and in return received rent and a share of the crops grown. This was a system that was similar to the feudal system in medieval Europe. While there were many estates that used slave labor, they began to decrease in number. It seems that the revolt by Spartacus had so shaken the confidence of the Roman elite that they turned to new strategies for controlling their labor. Spartacus and his men had shown that slaves made an unreliable and even a dangerous labor force.<ref>Matyszak, p 114</ref>
They were rebellious at the best of time and parties searching for escaped slaves were a common sight in many Italian districts. This persuaded many in the elite to move away from slave labor and this led to the emerge of a semi-feudal system in many areas of Italy. This ultimately may have led to an overall fall in the number of slaves which had grown dramatically in the previous decades. It should be noted that some historians disagree with this assessment. However, the revolt of Spartacus did not undermine the institution of slavery and it continued to flourish until the fall of Rome.<ref>Bradley, Keith. <i>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0253211697/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0253211697&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=93a9cd5def40a41a687b38624d6d4cae Slavery and Rebellion in the Roman World]</i> (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1989), p. 156 </ref>
== Perceptions of Slavery==
