6/19/2023 0 Comments Ancient roman slave market![]() ![]() Therefore, I think this is a good time to delve into the slavery past, as well as the slave trade of the Roman Empire. In our previous article on the port city of Massalia, I also recalled that Gaul was already supplying slaves to Rome at the time of the Roman republic. The question then quickly arises to what extent Roman slavery can be compared to 17th-century African slavery? One could even say that, in quantity, the slavery of the Western Roman Empire over a period of eight centuries, across three continents with tens of millions of slaves was the precursor to the Trans-Atlantic slavery of the 17th century. Slavery in any form has existed for as long as humans have existed. The mostly Christian conscience was appeased with the deep-rooted line of thought that 'an African could not be considered a full human being and therefore should not be treated as such' 2. Economic opportunism, cheap labour and the white man's sense of superiority was the major driving force here. Nowadays, when we talk about slaves, we generally think about the black African population.Ĭurrently, in many countries, and not least in the Netherlands, much attention is drawn to the 17th century slavery past in the countries concerned. I recently received a 2018 article by a certain Arienne King titled 'The Roman Empire in West Africa' in which, among other things, she focuses on the slave trade in Africa as well as the relatively small group of African slaves 1, mostly children, who were transported to Rome. Oxford, UK: Oxbow Books, 2009.Figure 1: Roman chains found on a skeleton in England (3rd century AD) Graeco-Roman Slave Markets: Fact or Fiction?. Subjects History / Archaeology / Classics / Slave Trade / Slavery / Ancient Greece / Ancient Rome / Italy / The conclusion includes a short comparison of modern and alleged ancient slave markets and finally answers the question of whether, to date, ancient slave markets are an archaeological fact or fiction. A major part of this book is dedicated to a critical reexamination of all eight ancient buildings that have been identified as slave markets so far: Delos, so-called Agora of the Italians Pompeii, Building of Eumachia Rome, Crypta Balbi Ostia, Tempio Rotondo Herculaneum, so-called Basilica Leptis Magna, so-called Chalcidicum/Building of Iddibal Cadapha Aemilius Ephesus, so-called Sarapeum Magnesia-on-Maeander, so-called Prytaneion. This is followed by a brief discussion of ancient written sources on slave markets, focusing on what the texts reveal about the existence, design, and requirements of ancient slave markets. First, selected parallels, namely slave markets in Istanbul, Marrakesh, Cairo, Havana, Charleston, and New Orleans, are analyzed in order to: assess the possible range of locations for the sale of slaves in slave-holding cultures better known than their ancient equivalents answer the question of whether any of these cultures constructed clearly identifiable purpose-built slave markets on a regular basis, that is, whether the slave market was ever a firmly established building type evaluate what can be gained from such a cross-cultural approach to the study of ancient slave markets. It investigates whether certain ancient monuments were designed specifically for use as slave markets and whether they required special equipment and safety precautions, allowing them to be clearly distinguished from other nonspecific commercial buildings and marketplaces of the Graeco-Roman world. ![]() This book critically examines the existence and identification of purpose-built slave markets in the Graeco-Roman world from a cross-cultural perspective. ![]()
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