Oxford Latin Chapter 3 Culture

What were common ways to become a slave (mark all that apply)

• Being captured in war

• Being a victim of kidnapping or piracy

• Being abandoned as an infant

• Selling yourself into slavery

Where were the worst places to work as a slave?

• mines or quarries

• elite household

• gladiatorial schools

• farms

Intelligent or skilled slaves were most likely to live more comfortable lives in:

• mines or quarries

• elite households

• gladiatorial schools

• farms

What people did the Roman familia include:

• Only the nuclear family (e.g. parents and kids)

• The extended family (including aunts and uncles)

• All Roman citizens (but not slave)

• Everyone within a household (including slaves)

What were the rights of slaves?

• They had nearly all rights as Roman citizens (but could not hold political office)

• They had only very basic rights (including the right to trial and property)

• They were called puer, and had similar rights to children

• They had no individual rights.

How did masters usually treat their slaves?

• cruelly to instill fear

• indifferently as they were seen as property

• kindly to persuade hard work

• equally as humans just in different circumstances

How could a slave earn freedom? (mark all that apply)

• They could by their freedom using money called peculium

• They could revolt in an act called rebellium

• A master could choose to free them in an act called manumission

• Slaves could never be freed

Once a slave was freed, what was their relationship to their former master?

• None, each went their own way as equals.

• They became enemies

• Their master became their patron

• Slaves could never be freed

What was the status of a freedman (libertus) in Rome?

• They were essentially the same status as slaves, but with pay

• They could make a good amount of money but had very few rights

• They had all the same rights as Roman citizens, but couldn't hold office

• They were Roman citizens

Who could become a Roman citizen?

• Only those born to ethnically Italian Romans.

• In theory, anyone!

• Only the descendants of a few hundred old Roman families.

• Citizenship was rarely given and only by vote of the senate.