Explain the economic and social contribution of slaves and freedmen to Roman Society. AUTHOR: PETER LI
Rome is an Agrarian society; its economy is based on agricultural production. Evidently, the majority of the elite invested the majority of their wealth in land. All agricultural industries were driven by slave labor. Elite owned agricultural estates such as large farms and vineyards often have large numbers of slaves working in chain gangs and housed in slave prisons, which were notorious for their severity. An overseer would be chosen among the slaves to run …
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…they[honors] can be thrown away on such dirt and filth..." Under the principate freedmen could gain offices in the imperial bureaucracy as procurators. The imperial freedmen may become extremely influential through their power based on access to the emperor and organs of government. A handful of freedmen amassed wealth and became important patrons; 4 of the 10 richest men of the principate were freedmen.
Sources:
Garnsey & Saller, R. Alston, J.Carcopino
AUTHOR: PETER LI
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