The Roman Guide to Slave Management

The Roman Guide to Slave Management
Author: Jerry Toner
Publisher: Abrams
Total Pages: 138
Release: 2014-09-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1468310275

A scholar explores the history of slavery in Ancient Rome using a fictional story as a backdrop. Marcus Sidonius Falx is an average Roman citizen. Born of a relatively well-off noble family, he lives on a palatial estate in Campania, dines with senators and generals, and, like all of his ancestors before him, owns countless slaves. Having spent most of his life managing his servants—many of them prisoners from Rome’s military conquests—he decided to write a kind of owner’s manual for his friends and countrymen. The result, The Roman Guide to Slave Management, is a sly, subversive guide to the realities of servitude in ancient Rome. Cambridge scholar Jerry Toner uses Falx, his fictional but true-to-life creation, to describe where and how to Romans bought slaves, how they could tell an obedient worker from a troublemaker, and even how the ruling class reacted to the inevitable slave revolts. Toner also adds commentary throughout, analyzing the callous words and casual brutality of Falx and his compatriots and putting it all in context for the modern reader. Written with a deep knowledge of ancient culture—and the depths of its cruelty—this is the Roman Empire as you’ve never seen it before. “By turns charming, haughty, and brutal . . . an ingenious device.” —The New Yorker “[Toner’s] history and commentary provides context for the dirty institution upon which modern civilization is built.” —Publishers Weekly

Slavery in the Roman World

Slavery in the Roman World
Author: Sandra R. Joshel
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2010-08-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 0521535018

A lively and comprehensive overview of Roman slavery, ideal for introductory-level students of the ancient Mediterranean world.

How to Manage Your Slaves

How to Manage Your Slaves
Author: Marcus Sidonius Falx (Fictitious character)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2014
Genre: Rome
ISBN: 9781781252512

At last a clear manual for managing slaves the Roman way. How to Manage your Slaves offers practical answers to every question you're likely to have and guidance on every problem you're likely to encounter. Marcus Sidonius Falx shows where and how to buy the slaves for the purposes you have in mind and how to get the best out of them once you've got them. He explains how to tell a good slave from a bad, offers guidance on the punishment of miscreants, and reveals the secrets of command and authority. He covers the delicate subjects of when you should let your slaves have sex with each other and whether to engage in sex with them yourself - and considers when to set them free. Armed with this guide you will be master in your own home: your household will be a comfort to your family and its running the envy of your neighbours. Up to now ancient slavery may have been difficult to fathom: this Roman's-eye view takes us to the heart of the matter and, based on a wealth of original sources, lets us understand just why slaves meant so much to the Romans.

Release Your Inner Roman

Release Your Inner Roman
Author: Jerry Toner
Publisher: ABRAMS
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2016-12-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1468313711

Learn the secrets to conquering the world like a Caesar: “A fun concept and an entertaining way to teach the history of Roman society” (Historical Novel Society). Following his “ingenious” handbook on slave management, here is Marcus Sidonius Falx’s new guide on how to improve every aspect of your barbarian life (The New Yorker). Up to now, most barbarians have had to settle for marveling at the Romans’ achievements. This guide from one of its leading aristocrats lets you into the secrets of Rome’s success. Outlining the personal characteristics that have made the Romans the most successful people in history, he shows how you too can learn from their example. He reveals the ways in which Romans approach their work and how they boost their career prospects. He explains how to control your emotions, especially when involved in the difficult process of conquering others. He covers the delicate subject of managing your love life, choosing a suitable wife, and then maintaining control over your family. Supported by his practical wisdom, you’ll discover how to raise yourself up in society, enjoy the good life, and keep the gods on your side. Based on a wealth of original sources, this book lets us understand the society behind the greatest empire the world has ever known. “At times laugh-out-loud funny and at others shocking . . . A very useful guide to the real-life customs of its era.” —The Washington Independent Review of Books

How to Manage Your Slaves by Marcus Sidonius Falx

How to Manage Your Slaves by Marcus Sidonius Falx
Author: Jerry Toner
Publisher: Profile Books
Total Pages: 205
Release: 2014-06-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 1782830545

At last, a clear manual for managing slaves the Roman way. In How to Manage Your Slaves, Marcus Sidonius Falx offers practical advice, showing where and how to buy slaves and how to get the best out of them. He explains how to tell good slaves from bad, offers guidance on the punishment of miscreants, and reveals the secrets of command and authority. He covers the delicate subjects of when you should let your slaves have sex and whether to engage in sex with them yourself - and considers when to set them free. Armed with this guide you will be master in your own home: your household will be a comfort to your family, its running the envy of your neighbours. Slavery was a core institution in the Roman world for all its long existence. As they conquered, the Romans enslaved millions and then bred from this stock to maintain their numbers in times of peace. It almost never occurred to anyone that slavery might be dispensed with and to no one at all that it was morally reprehensible. Up to now ancient slavery may have been difficult to fathom: this Roman's-eye view takes us to the heart of the matter and, based on a wealth of original sources, lets us understand just why slaves meant so much to the Romans.

Greek and Roman Slaveries

Greek and Roman Slaveries
Author: Eftychia Bathrellou
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2022-04-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1118969332

Greek and Roman Slaveries Slavery was foundational to Greek and Roman societies, affecting nearly all of their economic, social, political, and cultural practices. Greek and Roman Slaveries offers a rich collection of literary, epigraphic, papyrological, and archaeological sources, including many unfamiliar ones. This sourcebook ranges chronologically from the archaic period to late antiquity, covering the whole of the Mediterranean, the Near East, and temperate Europe. Readers will find an interactive and user-friendly engagement with past scholarship and new research agendas that focuses particularly on the agency of ancient slaves, the processes in which slavery was inscribed, the changing history of slavery in antiquity, and the comparative study of ancient slaveries. Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses on ancient slavery, as well as courses on slavery more generally, this sourcebook’s questions, cross-references, and bibliographies encourage an analytical and interactive approach to the various economic, social, and political processes and contexts in which slavery was employed while acknowledging the agency of enslaved persons.

A Crime So Monstrous

A Crime So Monstrous
Author: E. Benjamin Skinner
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 341
Release: 2009-03-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 0743290089

Based on four years of research in over a dozen countries across the globe, journalist Skinner provides a shocking expos of the inner workings of the modern-day slave trade. Maps.

The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome

The Cambridge Companion to Ancient Rome
Author: Paul Erdkamp
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 647
Release: 2013-09-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0521896290

Rome was the largest city in the ancient world. As the capital of the Roman Empire, it was clearly an exceptional city in terms of size, diversity and complexity. While the Colosseum, imperial palaces and Pantheon are among its most famous features, this volume explores Rome primarily as a city in which many thousands of men and women were born, lived and died. The thirty-one chapters by leading historians, classicists and archaeologists discuss issues ranging from the monuments and the games to the food and water supply, from policing and riots to domestic housing, from death and disease to pagan cults and the impact of Christianity. Richly illustrated, the volume introduces groundbreaking new research against the background of current debates and is designed as a readable survey accessible in particular to undergraduates and non-specialists.

Ancient Greek and Roman Slavery

Ancient Greek and Roman Slavery
Author: Peter Hunt
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 264
Release: 2017-11-29
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 1405188065

An exciting study of ancient slavery in Greece and Rome This book provides an introduction to pivotal issues in the study of classical (Greek and Roman) slavery. The span of topics is broad—ranging from everyday resistance to slavery to philosophical justifications of slavery, and from the process of enslavement to the decline of slavery after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The book uses a wide spectrum of types of evidence, and relies on concrete and vivid examples whenever possible. Introductory chapters provide historical context and a clear and concise discussion of the methodological difficulties of studying ancient slavery. The following chapters are organized around central topics in slave studies: enslavement, economics, politics, culture, sex and family life, manumission and ex-slaves, everyday conflict, revolts, representations, philosophy and law, and decline and legacy. Chapters open with general discussions of important scholarly controversies and the challenges of our ancient evidence, and case studies from the classical Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman periods provide detailed and concrete explorations of the issues. Organized by key themes in slave studies with in-depth classical case studies Emphasizes Greek/Roman comparisons and contrasts Features helpful customized maps Topics range from demography to philosophy, from Linear B through the fall of the empire in the west Features myriad types of evidence: literary, historical, legal and philosophical texts, the bible, papyri, epitaphs, lead letters, curse tablets, art, manumission inscriptions, and more Ancient Greek and Roman Slavery provides a general survey of classical slavery and is particularly appropriate for college courses on Greek and Roman slavery, on comparative slave societies, and on ancient social history. It will also be of great interest to history enthusiasts and scholars, especially those interested in slavery in different periods and societies.