Slavery and Warfare
In certain periods, a great number of slaves for the Roman market were acquired through warfare. The Roman military brought back captives as the booty of war, and ancient sources cite anywhere from hundreds to tens of thousands of such slaves captured in each war. These wars included every war of conquest from 177-101 BC, as well as the Social and Samnite wars (91-88 and 82 BC, respectively). The prisoners taken or re-taken after the three Roman Servile Wars (135-132, 104-100, and 73-71 BC, respectively) contributed to this number. The Thracian slave traffic added many more numbers of imported persons, including perhaps the most famous Roman slave of all, Spartacus. Later generations of slaves worshiped the genius of Spartacus.
Piracy has a long history of adding to the slave trade, and the Roman Republic was no different. Piracy was one of the many crises with which the Republic had to contend, at least until 85 BC. In those days, an increase in piracy always led to an increase in slavery.
Read more about this topic: Slavery In Ancient Rome
Famous quotes containing the words slavery and, slavery and/or warfare:
“This might be the end of the world. If Joe lost we were back in slavery and beyond help. It would all be true, the accusations that we were lower types of human beings. Only a little higher than apes. True that we were stupid and ugly and lazy and dirty and, unlucky and worst of all, that God Himself hated us and ordained us to be hewers of wood and drawers of water, forever and ever, world without end.”
—Maya Angelou (b. 1928)
“I have always thought that all men should be free; but if any should be slaves it should be first those who desire it for themselves, and secondly those who desire it for others. Whenever [I] hear anyone, arguing for slavery I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“Insurrection—by means of guerrilla bands—is the true method of warfare for all nations desirous of emancipating themselves from a foreign yoke ... It is invincible, indestructible.”
—Giuseppe Mazzini (1805–1872)