Roman Slavery

Today I learned about the Romans and how they treat their slaves in two different classes, Latin and Economics.

First, Dr. Davies explained to us how humane the Romans were to their slaves. That slaves were often considered part of the family. That Romans often freed their slaves in their wills. The slaves weren't just forced to do hard labor like in America. Slaves filled all economic positions. And that the reason that slaves were called "servus" which is similar to the verb "servare" to save is that the Romans thought that they saved the people they enslaved because otherwise the Romans would have killed them. Thank you for small favors.

Next hour, Dr. Giffin explained to us how in the Roman Empire the slaves were brutally forced to do all the work, that economics hardly existed at all because the empire was too wrapped up in war to think of trade, that slaves weren't given any rights at all and that you could kill them if you felt like it. Slaves filled all economic positions. (Which you'll notice Dr. Davies also said last paragraph, but Dr. Davies made it sound like the Romans were doing them a favor.)

Therefore you can see that everything you learn on campus is highly skeptical and shouldn't be taken on face value. Or as Dr. Giffin himself says, "Just because it is a fact, doesn't mean it is necessarily true."