L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2015 www.italoamericano.org 14 Slavery in Ancient Rome L'Italo-Americano which his audience, the wealthy masters of Sicily, would be kil- led or enslaved and he would become their king. The audience, consisting of w e a l t h y l a n d o w n e r s , w o u l d laugh so hard that they threw money at his feet. Each time Eunus received a generous tip, he would thank the patron and promised to spare the patron's life when he became king. Of course these remarks encoura- ged more laughter and more tips. While Eunus was entertai- ning the aristocracy, tensions a c r o s s S i c i l y w e r e b r e w i n g between slaves and masters. Many slave owners did not pro- vide enough food and clothing for their slaves. The slaves, in order to provide for themselves, resorted to thievery, for which they were punished. Eunus was well aware of the situation and had not been spending all of his time telling jokes. While he kept his audience laughing, he had been planning to lead some 2 0 0 , 0 0 0 s l a v e s a c r o s s t h e Sicilian country side in a rebel- l i o n a g a i n s t t h e i r R o m a n masters. This gutsy group began i t s r e v o l t b y t a k i n g o n t h e Roman Republic in the city of Enna, Sicily, led by Eunus and a n o t h e r s l a v e n a m e d C l e o n , who became Eunus' military general. From the start, the slaves seemed invincible, winning one battle after another. The powers of Rome, having encountered uprisings in the past, showed lit- tle concern, since slaves were considered innately powerless. As the conflict was approaching its third year, however, Rome began to reconsider the seriou- sness of the situation. Legions of soldiers were dispatched with The history of slavery dates back to a time well before the founding of Rome. Historical records indicate that slavery had been in existence four thousand years before the birth of Christ. In many civilizations, the use of slaves was a way of life. Slaves were considered to be nothing more than beasts of burden, pro- p e r t y , l i k e h o r s e s o r o x e n . Though the Romans were not t h e f i r s t t o u s e s l a v e s , t h e y acquired an insatiable taste for i t . N o o t h e r c i v i l i z a t i o n i n history was more dependent on slavery than Rome. There is evidence to indicate that when the Roman Empire was at the height of its power, there were s i x m i l l i o n p e o p l e l i v i n g i n Italy. Two million of those peo- ple were slaves. There were slave-sale days during which the slave trader paraded his latest acquisitions of slaves naked along the street with placards describing the b e s t q u a l i t i e s o f e a c h s l a v e . Among the slaves captured were skilled laborers. Greek slaves were known to fetch a higher price since many of them were educated and served as doctors, librarians or teachers. Those with special talents served as artists and musicians. Slaves were also employed as cooks, waiters, gardeners, hairdressers, dressmakers, maids and even bodyguards. Quite often, the disparity of economic status played a pivotal role in the making of slaves. It w a s i m p o r t a n t t o a d h e r e t o one's financial responsibilities, since it was quite possible for one to become a slave if he or s h e d i d n o t r e p a y b o r r o w e d money or failed to pay taxes in a t i m e l y m a n n e r . T h e p o o r SALVATORE DI VITA might find themselves forced to sell their children into slavery to a wealthier neighbor. Many historical accounts of Roman culture indicate that sla- very was a thriving business. Slave traders would often fol- low the Roman legions to forei- gn lands and await the outcome o f t h e i r b a t t l e c a m p a i g n s , h o p i n g , o f c o u r s e , t h a t t h e R o m a n s w o u l d w i n . I f t h e R o m a n s w e r e v i c t o r i o u s , everyone privy to the transac- tion made money: the army, who sold the defeated soldiers and their families to the slave traders and the slave traders who, in turn, transported the slaves back to Rome where they were sold for a higher price. The capture of enemy soldiers on the battlefield and reducing them to slavery was quite risky. They were angry and resentful after having been reduced to slavery, and so they waited for j u s t t h e r i g h t t i m e t o r e b e l against their masters. History tells of three such rebellions w h i c h b e c a m e k n o w n a s t h e Servile Wars, named for those who served and fought for their freedom. The First Servile War, in 135 B.C., was led by a slave from S y r i a b y t h e n a m e o f E u n u s who was gifted with a great per- sonality. In fact he was so lika- ble, that his master employed him as an entertainer. Eunus m i g h t b e c o n s i d e r e d o n e o f history's first stand-up comics. Besides telling jokes, he liked to p u t o n s l i g h t - o f - h a n d m a g i c s h o w s , w h i c h i n c l u d e d b r e a t h i n g f i r e a n d j u g g l i n g . His monologue was so outra- g e o u s t h a t h e w o u l d o f t e n announce to his audience that S i c i l i a n s o c i e t y w o u l d s o o n experience a role reversal, in orders to put an end to the rebel- lion. The war had lasted almost three years. Cleon, the comman- ding general, was killed in bat- tle, and Eunus was taken priso- ner. It is believed that he would have been executed by means of crucifixion, but he died before he could be punished. F o r t h e n e x t t w e n t y - e i g h t years, slave problems remained low-key, but by 104 B.C., once again on the Island of Sicily, the Second Servile War occurred in a most peculiar way. It seems that Gaius Marius, Consul of Rome, in planning a military campaign was in need of addi- tional troops. Rome's Italian allies, however, refused to sup- ply the needed troops because Roman tax collectors had ensla- ved Italians unable to pay their taxes. Since Gaius Marius was a consul, he had the power to fix t h e p r o b l e m . H e t h e r e f o r e decreed that all allied-friendly Italians be freed from Roman slavery. Approximately 800 slaves were freed in Sicily. Apparently, the process of freeing slaves resulted in some confusion for two groups of sla- ves: one group of non-Italians who believed they would also b e f r e e d a n d t h e o t h e r , w h o incorrectly believed they had b e e n f r e e d . W h e n t h e s e t w o g r o u p s w e r e o r d e r e d b y t h e governor to return to their slave masters an insurrection ensued. From the rebellion emerged an elected leader named Salvius, who had managed to amass an army of about 20,000 trained s l a v e s a n d t w o t h o u s a n d cavalry. They easily overpowe- red a Roman legion of 10,000 and were then joined by another ex-slave, named Athenion, and h i s m e n w h o c a m e f r o m t h e western part of Sicily. Manius Aquillius, a consul of Rome, was called upon to quell the revolt, but he soon discove- red that such a task would not b e a n e a s y o n e . T h e r e v o l t lasted about four years with sla- ves resorting to guerilla tactics. T h e i r h i t - a n d - r u n m e t h o d o f warfare proved to be quite suc- cessful since it allowed a small bands of slaves to outwit and defeat larger groups of trained soldiers who were accustomed to meeting their enemies face to face on the battle field. Salvius' method of fighting seemed foolproof, but for some unknown reason, he made the mistake of changing his method of warfare. By some accounts, it is believed that he had taken the advice of Athenion, who sugge- sted that he take the fight to the open field. It was in a field bat- t l e t h a t S a l v i u s w a s k i l l e d . Athenion was wounded but he managed to escape and continue f i g h t i n g f o r a w h i l e l o n g e r . Eventually, he was also defeated a n d k i l l e d b y t h e f o r c e s o f Consul Manius Aquillius. The remaining slaves were taken prisoner. The timing of their defeat could not have been worse, since gladiator games were becoming one of the more popular forms of entertainment in Rome. Rome had plans for their future. But rather than end their days as gladiators in the arena, they chose to commit sui- cide. For more than two decades there was relative calm in Rome until a single soldier emerged from within the ranks of the Roman legions and whose name was destined to be on the lips of many Romans who feared for t h e i r l i v e s . H e w e n t b y t h e name, Spartacus. To be continued. Some slaves rather than end their days as gladiators in the arena, chose to commit suicide Part one

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