The church generally, even not just in the west, is the biggest landowner. And with land owning comes labor exploitation, comes slavery. In vitogothic spain, in the early middle ages, a church has less and ten slaves is regarded as poor. So this is not just a question of the thinking with slavery. Slavery is there. Pen remad we never picked up on your opening point about slaves owning slaves, which is a distinct feature of the roman system. Aman, it goes to the point of that huge diversity of the material conditions under which slaves lived. Some slaves, some slaves, lived extraordinarily privileged lives in material terms. I wish you'd diduct
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the role of slavery in the Roman world, from its early conquests to the fall of the Western Empire.
The system became so entrenched that no-one appeared to question it, following Aristotle's view that slavery was a natural state. Whole populations could be marched into slavery after military conquests, and the freedom that Roman citizens prized for themselves, even in poverty, was partly defined by how it contrasted with enslavement. Slaves could be killed or tortured with impunity, yet they could be given great responsibility and, once freed, use their contacts to earn fortunes. The relationship between slave and master informed early Christian ideas of how the faithful related to God, informing debate for centuries.
With
Neville Morley
Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter
Ulrike Roth
Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Edinburgh
And
Myles Lavan
Senior lecturer in Ancient History at the University of St Andrews
Producer: Simon Tillotson.