The Ancient Romans were recognized as an advanced people with a superior civilization. However as much as we admire the Ancient Romans, we can’t deny the fact that the Ancient Romans practiced the detestable institution of slavery.

The Ancient Romans always had a steady supply of slaves from the nations that they had conquered. There was also a domestic supply of slaves, in which poor parents might sell their children, but the majority of slaves were acquired through warfare.

Slaves were needed in Ancient Rome mostly for agricultural labor. Of course, slaves were not just needed for manual labor. Some slaves were quite educated and became private tutors for the sons of wealthy men. There are several instances that we know of, where a slave-tutor became a liberti or a freedman.

However, even if these slaves were freed, they did not enjoy all the privileges of freeborn citizens. There were certain laws that prohibited ex-slaves from holding office and rising to important positions in the military. The Ancient Romans feared that some ex-slaves would want to get revenge for the mistreatment that they endured, so former slaves were barred from positions of power as a way to prevent any mishaps.

Ironically, the children of former slaves had many rights and privileges than their parents did. For example, the children of freed slaves had rights like being able to marry other freeborn children, which was a right not shared by slaves.

As the Roman Empire expanded, more rights were given to slaves. For instance, slaves could complain of their master’s mistreatment in a court of law and masters could be prosecuted for killing their slaves. These rights were extended to slaves not because of any progressive kindness towards slaves, but because people feared that too much mistreatment of slaves would incite a slave revolt. No one knows just how many people were enslaved at the height of the Roman Empire, but it is certain that there were many slaves and that the wealthy elite were constantly fearful of being outnumbered.

Some slaves from wealthy households had considerably comfortable lives, and some of them even lived better than some citizens. As a result, even when some slaves were freed, they chose to continue to work for their master. Some freedmen fared worse when they were freed than when they were enslaved, because no one wanted to hire their services for pay. Since slaves could do the same work as freedman, and not demand any payment, many wealthy elites chose not to hire freedmen.

Eventually, a combination of factors like Stoicism and Christianity, both of which opposed slavery, and the decline of the Empire itself, led to the decline of slavery in Ancient Rome. People often forget that slaves played a major role in maintaining the Empire. Even if slaves were not important office holders or military generals, they did brutal, backbreaking work that no one wanted to do. So while we should condemn slavery, we should also acknowledge that their work contributed to the Empire in many ways.