When And How Did Slavery End In The Roman Empire?

[@Maiorianus_Sebastian]

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[@bohemianwriter1]

Yearning for the times when Rome still ruled Europe, and upheld it's "civilization" through slavery?

[@RyanWarriorzZ]

@@bohemianwriter1 The dark ages were definitely better

[@jeupater1429]

Let's understand something that a lot of people today seem incapable of understanding. Death is more cruel and unfair than slavery. It always was, it always will be. A lot of people were not made into slaves, they were just killed and it was worse for them. There is no need to fetishize how bad slavery was because of some modern political agenda. Slavery is horrendous but isn't the most cruel and unfair condition. It wasn't then, it isn't now. This is modern political BS influencing ancient history. Sorry but no

[@bohemianwriter1]

@@jeupater1429 Have you tried it? Being a slave? P.S. With all the living slaves in Rome at the time, they would not be very loyal or obedient to their self proclaimed masters and join any invading forces.

[@jeupater1429]

@@bohemianwriter1 yeah it's called modern society

[@vulpo]

But as slavery slowly disappeared in the Eastern Roman Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire also slowly disappeared and was replaced by Muslim Caliphates where slavery continued unabated.

[@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240]

In fact Portuguese and Spaniards learned about black slavery from Muslim Arabs

[@chris-lk4ml]

Indeed. Sexual slavery was common in the arab world of this period. And it is still more of less common.

[@shamsishraq6831]

Did we watch the same video? Slavery did not "slowly disappear" in the ERE because of any moral change (not to mention Constantinople remained a key node in the slave trade of Kipchaks and other Caucasians). They only banned the slavery of Christians, just like Islam banned the slavery of Muslims. And no need to high road anyone about sexual slavery, as one of the other commenters have done. What do you think happened to the women and children taken from Crete? During the Reconquista, Aragon ransomed or enslaved the entire population of Menorca (1287). This was not an isolated case. The Genoese and Venetians raided the North African coast for slaves. The Portuguese raided as far as Bengal for slaves. At the other end of Europe, and more than four centuries later, Russians enslaved Finns in the Great Northern War. There are always these delusional people who think Christian Europe, being obviously so much more ethical, banned slavery and the Transatlantic slavery was some kind of short aberration. Christianity was not, in any way, against slavery. This is not to say they were uniquely horrible. Just pointing out that they are not the angels they claim to be in contrast to Muslims.

[@reality9451]

@@shamsishraq6831 Slavery was ended in Christian lands. It continues in Muslim lands. That is the contrast.

[@shamsishraq6831]

@@reality9451 It continues in Muslim lands AGAINST the law. The same way human trafficking and slavery continues in the West, need I remind you of that?

[@thekillers1stfan]

5:10 lmao imagine being captured and your master is like "HAHAHAHA you will now be forced to be an ACTOR in my devious plays HAHAHAHAHA"

[@burneraccount900]

"STEP ONE TWO THREE FOUR, TAKE IT FROM THE TOP" *It's a Hard Knock Life plays*

[@KingMordred]

"How happy, eh? To be a slave. To have no will. Make no decisions." *Pompey*

[@arsena1816]

Said by someone who never was one .Its like a billionaire saying he wished he was poor.

[@vivekkaushik9508]

Ancient virtue signaling.

[@fiachramaccana280]

so why didn't Pompey sell himself into slavery......? haha

[@NorthForkFisherman]

"HE WAS A CONSUL OF ROME!" Well, he was....

[@alexanderjentes]

Good ol’ General Gnaeus!

[@LordWyatt]

Theodosius I: Four hundred and seven years ago, our Forefathers brought forth a nation… One of my favorite ironies of history is that slavery became too expensive as the empire stagnated which led to a massive revival under the Caliphates.

[@andreweaston1779]

Everybody always thinks if they went back on time, they would be upper class.

[@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240]

because people who live today decendants of upper classes at some point. low classes did not leave many survavors

[@polishherowitoldpilecki5521]

Meanwhile, slaves and peasants were the 95% of the population.

[@EricDurrant-k5z]

As pervasive and universal the practice of slavery has been in human history, it's a safe bet that every person alive today has a slave or two somewhere in their ancestry.

[@lolmeme69_]

@@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240 While it's true that the upper classes were more fecund, we can't forget that the lower classes did indeed survive due to sheer mass. And the death rates were only bad in the cities - in the countryside, peasants, while maybe not as fertile as aristocracy, tended to still survive till they could reproduce.

[@TetsuShima]

It's pretty crazy that, through roman history, there were slaves who made history like any noble roman because they knew how to play in the big leagues, like Acte with Neto, Caenis with Vespasian and Marcia with Commodus

[@CharlesIsMyName]

The fact you say BC and AD make me have the utmost respect for you. Don't change it please.

[@firstlast5454]

Would it trigger you if he didn't?

[@CharlesIsMyName]

@@firstlast5454 No I don't get triggered. Are you triggered because he does? CE and BCE are stupid.

[@firstlast5454]

@@CharlesIsMyName lil bro sound kinda triggered at even the thought of others using BCE/CE. Dont worry snowflake, ill try not to use those scary acronyms around you.

[@BaikalTii]

it's especially respectable since he considers Christianity a negative influence on ancient Rome.

[@CharlesIsMyName]

@@BaikalTii Doesn't mean he thinks it's a negative thing though unless he say's that. But I could understand how going from paganism to the one true GOD might upset some of the worst in the society of ancient Rome.

[@John_Pace]

It is good that you look at the negative aspects of Rome as well as the positive.

[@joshuagarcia4523]

Great comment, I agree

[@kerneywilliams632]

In addition to being a Rome nerd I am a Norse nerd. They were bringing slaves to Constantinople from as far away as Ireland, usually kids between 8-12. They were easy to transport, eat less, and trainable.

[@vivekkaushik9508]

Wow!

[@WORKERS.DREADNOUGHT]

The Vikings were basically slave raiders. The raids stopped only with the abolition of slavery. When they attacked a coastal village they weren't after dried fish or wheat but the population themselves Dublin was a huge slave market

[@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240]

@@WORKERS.DREADNOUGHT Not with abolition of slavery but with conversion to christianity and crusades. Nors became the champions of crussades

[@John_Fugazzi]

The Vikings also travelled thr rivers of Eastern europe capturing slaves for Byzantium and the Caliphate.

[@alexmintz7786]

Kievan Rus was primarily a country of slave traders. There is a reason why slaves and Slavs are the same word.

[@bnelkin]

Damn, another reason to enjoy the present

[@bobbyokeefe4285]

You are a slave as well my friend,but it's just more subtle,you are allowed to consume as much as you please and engage in the most depraved behaviour,that's it.

[@christopherevans2445]

Every episode Maiorianus your fleet lands on north Africa and takes Carthage. Thanks again for your work

[@vulpo]

I am much looking forward to the video on how slavery evolved into serfdom.

[@inregionecaecorum]

I continue to learn things about Rome that I did not know.

[@Bern_il_Cinq]

I would like to see that video idea about how Roman legal and economic conditions transitioned into the medieval concepts of fiefs and serfdom!

[@BlackBrisingr4]

On the Bagaudae, a man named Bulla, who, if I remember correctly, was once a leader of a sizeable of Bagaudae, told the Roman leadership, "Tell your master that if they would put a stop to brigandage they must feed their slaves." This really goes to show how the Romans, and human beings in general, can not only be very cruel, but how their own cruelty and stupidity can come back to bite them hard.

[@liberty_and_justice67]

Thanks! Interesting and well presented🎉

[@Maiorianus_Sebastian]

Hello, thanks a lot for your kind donation, I really appreciate it a lot

[@alfastur6833]

Not only in the Eastern Roman Empire preexisted slavery. In Hispania, the visigoth kingdom made laws were the condition of slaves was specifically addressed. And the biggest owner of slaves was.. the Catholic Church.

[@dyskelia]

Wow! For once, the video sponsor is for something I’m actually interested in. The SPQR shop looks dope 👌💕

[@pdnpatrickmitchell691]

In fairness to the Romans and the Byzantines, it should be pointed out that slavery was an effective and more humane way (than genocide) of dealing with hostile populations that otherwise would have remained a threat even after their defeat on the battlefield. It was how marauding tribes were civilized and assimilated into Roman society. Secondly, as Kyle Harper has written, sexual slavery was a main driver of the slave trade (commerce in slaves). Men, women, and children were all fair game as slaves, until the empire's Christian emperors outlawed such sexual abuse. They also outlawed forcible castration, though eunuchs continued to be imported from abroad.

[@erynn9968]

It’s said that stupid jokes get upvoted instead of this sensible statement.

[@Gwunderi25]

In even greater fairness it should be pointed out that before these "hostile populations" became "a threat" to the Roman Empire, Rome was an even bigger threat to these populations! Or should they have welcomed the Romans takeover? And when did they become "civilized", as soon as they had slaves of their own? And what you derogatorily call "marauding tribes" may have been more civilized than you can imagine - never seen Celtic art, or Greek civilisation etc.?

[@wynnschaible]

Slavery was, and i hate to say it but it is true, virtually the ONLY way to get the hard degrading but necessary work of society done until money became well-nigh universal. The term "wage slavery" was not invented by the Marxists but by apologists for the Southern planterocracy!

[@HistoryDwarf]

@@Gwunderi25when looking at many of the enemies of Rome, you can clearly see that violence was often instigating by them and not the Romans (which isn’t to say the Roman’s didn’t do this at times) it is indeed true in the beginning that most Roman expansion was due to fighting purely defensive wars.

[@leepreston9637]

​@@HistoryDwarfya but the Romans never let the opportunity for conquest and slaves that a defensive war presented pass.

[@godking]

Short answer it was never legally abolished in the roman empire but slowly replaced by an early version of serfdom.

[@popgabriel5327]

I was always curious about this topic, thank you!

[@RyanWarriorzZ]

He’s making money in your back, he claims to have your consent

[@myysterio2]

Id venture to say that if people were "equal" in the roman empire, rome could have done exactly what it had done if not more. There's little evidence of the overall benefit of slavery across the entire population. You can pay people to do things and massively expand the economy. The US has achieved more since the elimination of slavery than it ever did before. Slavery only benefits the master, not the population as a whole. Also, you'd lose the liability of having huge population of potential enemies on your doorstep.

[@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240]

There is lots of evidence why slavery or similar forms or dependencies were very profitable in pre capitalist societies ...

[@NigelHatcherN]

We are born equal but our path depends on what we do.

[@smoqueed44]

Simplistic, gen-z energy argument. The US abolished slavery and thrived because technology allowed it to. Trains, fast reliable ports and hundreds of thousands of smaller technological advances made becoming resource-rich much easier than what the Romans were working with, and they were *very* good at what they did. Logistics killed the Roman Empire.

[@jackjack-sm2jg]

Yeah as a whole but for an individual no. Remember people live their own lives and look out for themselves, that’s why this kind of stuff happens. More economic equality would have been great for the empire but not for the upper class which is why slavery persists.

[@ИгорьАмчиславский]

Great video! Thank you for your efforts!

[@artemisarrow179]

So Roman slavery vanished when the Roman state failed the citizenry by making everyone so poor they were all effectively slaves. Makes you think.

[@brandonquezada9523]

It was very much done on purpose. Research the reforms of Diocletian, he created proto-serfdom in an effort to save the empire

[@alexanderjentes]

A very interesting and relevant topic as far as the fall of the (Western) Roman Empire is concerned. Danke Maiorianus!

[@FalseNomen]

Thank you for this video! Would you or anyone here have any recommended book or articles regarding this topic?

[@johncharleson8733]

I like your time machine ideas.

[@adrastoso9727]

The slave revolts were always a problem for Rome “Spartacus” but with or without our slavery, the empire would have fallen just as it did due to the consistent civil wars with the strongest general taking the throne, rise of Christianity destroying Hellenism and the Roman way of life, moving the capital of the western empire from Rome, and of course the eastern empire abandoned the western empire to the barbarians.

[@John_Fugazzi]

It's important to remember that there was nothing unique to Rome about this. Slavery existed around the world in most cultures and was not considered remarkable. this was not only true for organized states but for indigenous and tribal people as well.

[@Francis-qu2iu]

Thank you for the video

[@matthewwright8995]

I really enjoyed this video. Although we are all obviously Rome fans, let's not forget how brutal life could be. However, weren't most societies also as brutal until very recently? Slavery persisted here in England until the end of the first millennium. Until, as you rightly say, serfdom took its place. I find the subject of the 'Bacaudae' fascinating. Let's have a video on this at some point please. Thanks again!

[@Maiorianus_Sebastian]

Hi Matthew, thanks for your comment :) Indeed, yes, slavery unfortunately still persists to this very day in some regions of the world. It seems to be as old as humanity itself. Sure, I will make a video on the Bacaudae, it will be quite fascinating how much damage they actually did.

[@richardkut3976]

Nice video, thanks.

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

I’m looking forward to you covering feudalism and serfdom. I hope you give us much more content about Late Antiquity, the Eastern Roman Empire and the early Medieval period in the West. (The history of other civilizations and cultures is fascinating, too, but history is such a vast topic that I long ago decided to concentrate on Western history, that of my ancestors. I find all history interesting, up until modern times, anyway. I know what it’s like to live in modern times already!🙂

[@Maiorianus_Sebastian]

Hi Kimberly, yes, that will be a really fascinating video and I will dive much deeper ontop that topic there :)

[@carlosfilho3402]

An interesting Vídeo.

[@josephbrown1153]

Really great video. I might add that slavery did survive in the West past the sixth century. It would take a long time (arguably not until around the 11th century) that unfree dependent peasants and slaves would finally fuse into the fully-fledged medieval serf, especially as one key component of serfdom (lords having complete judicial control over their peasants) wouldn't fully develop until after the collapse of the Carolingian Empire in mainland Europe and the Norman Conquest in England. Certainly we find a lot of slaves mentioned in the sources in Frankish Gaul, Visigothic Spain, Lombard Italy and Anglo-Saxon England. A lot of slave raiding also seems to have gone on in the eighth and ninth centuries, with firstly the expansion of the Carolingian Empire and then the Viking invasions. Even in the tenth century, the Ottonians in Germany would capture slaves from wars against the western Slavs over the Elbe river and take them to the slave markets in Verdun, where they would be sold onto buyers including in Constantinople and Cordoba. These Slavic slaves filled up the armies of the Caliphate of Cordoba in the late 900s. But ultimately slavery does seem to have declined in the Latin West following the fall of the Roman Empire and did basically disappear (except in Mediterranean coastal cities like Pisa, Genoa, Venice, Naples, Marseille and Barcelona) by the eleventh century. I think probably the biggest factor in its decline was that states were becoming increasingly weak. Because while slavery (including very brutal forms of it) can exist in stateless societies like hunter-gatherer and nomadic pastoralist tribes, large scale chattel slavery in a complex agrarian society does require strong state structures. There needs to be a strong legal system and enforcement mechanisms otherwise landlords will simply take in each other's fugitive slaves and it also becomes much harder to overcome slave resistance and rebellions. Whereas a more feudal economic arrangement works better with political fragmentation: indeed its basic logic (you, a smallholding peasant, give your lord rent and labour services in return for protection) is sort of similar to a protection racket.

[@OhioDan]

Insightful comment. I agree that it mostly petered out due to changing economic conditions and the necessities for medieval society, rather than primarily due to some great moral awakening.

[@ostrichhe4d]

I feel that this video treats Constantine more fairly than most of your other video. You here highlight both his bad sides and very good sides.

[@AVJB16]

11:02 Ah yes, Emperor Liam Neeson I

[@Vigoda.d]

could you make a video about the Jews in the Western Roman Empire (late Roman Empire ) and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire)? (=

[@Medhead101]

Obviously not justifying slavery but I presume slaves were obtained as a result of warfare and being conquered? If so, what was the alternative from the Roman perspective, other than simply executing all the men as they would likely pose a threat (and with the men gone, how would the women be cared for during these Ancient times?). Is this why slavery was so apparent, as an alternative to death?

[@bassamalfayeed1384]

Based on hindsight the alternative would have been to levy a taxes and trade concessions on the defeated people.

[@brandonquezada9523]

You may have to search this up (same with I) but many slaves were actually bred so the demand wouldn’t exceed the supply. Very messed up

[@malakine6306]

Not invading another people?

[@John_Pace]

Reminds me during any Triumph in Rome, the victorious general's victory wreath was held by a slave, who would remind the general, that but for an accident of birth this triumph would be mine and you would be holding the wreath. remember "I am Spartacus!"

[@trench01]

slaved in ancient times sometimes were more free than free debt slave masses today.

[@JohnDoe-px4ko]

Glad you have brought this up. It does annoy me hearing archaeologists extolling Roman achievements, construction etc without any mention of the role of slaves.

[@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240]

Any culture that reached level of civilization had slaves in those days, Egypt, Babylonia, Carthage , Assiria, Greece , Iran ....

[@JohnDoe-px4ko]

@@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240 yes I know (I am an archaeologist) but I want to hear acknowledgment of the fact that

[@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240]

​@@JohnDoe-px4ko I thought it is a common knowledge that just 200 years ago 90% of all humans were slaves in one form or another.

[@TheAlchaemist]

​@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240 yes, and to be fair those cultures that didn't achieve such high level of civilization, also had it.

[@adythedog]

I think the term feudal is misused, following socialist historiography. The feudal system meant something else entirely. The name comes from fief - a territory controlled by a noble family, where the authority of the emperor or king was only nominal. It was about the system of vassalage based on personal relationships.

[@juanzulu1318]

Thx👍

[@LuisAldamiz]

It didn't, even if you consider Constantinople, where Genoans bought their slaves to export them to Spain, etc., all the way to the Ottoman conquest. And slavery didn't end when the Ottomans rose to the Constantinopolitan throne either...

[@neiladlington950]

For a certain percentage of our society, those were the good old days and I swear, they're doing their best to bring those days back. And of course the old saying applies; "careful what you wish for".

[@keouine]

I recently learned the salutation ciao evolved from the word for slave. I guess it does somewhat resemble schiavo.

[@ivandrago4852]

I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's video on the Byzantine tributary system on the topic

[@BrianPlace-y2z]

As I understand it, the Byzantines eventually reshaped the cruel and wasteful Italian Roman latifundia system, with its over-dependence on chattel-slaves, and coincidentally overhauled their taxation system to accommodate more efficiently an increasingly more modern feudal system better suited to the needs of a shrinking empire facing military threats from all sides. So much so that Islamic conquerors simply took over the Byzantine rural economy (especially in the Levant, Egypt etc.) for themselves, without any great changes to its structure. In part, the early loss of Rome's lazy food backstop in Egypt forced this rethink.

[@TetsuShima]

Roman empire: "I am christian now!" Slaves: "Does that mean you will free us to make us all equal, like Jesus wanted?" 😃 Roman Empire: 🤣🤣🤣

[@napoleonfeanor]

Roman Emperor: Yes, before God Scripture doesn't outlaw slavery, it just makes it not good and gives limits. Equality wasn't even something people thought about. Freedom was an idea but earthly equality? No.

[@Lollygagger-k4p]

Jesus never preached equality. That is a post -modern perversion that comes from Marxism. Instead, Jesus reminded us that God is no respecter of persons. That is to say, He does not care what your status is, "for all have sinned, and fall short of the Glory of God" Slavery in ancient times was not the slavery we think of in the Colonial Period from 1550-1865, longer in the Ottoman Empire amnd in varuious Moslem Caliphates in Africa until the end of WW2. Jesus walked in a world wherein slaves were the largest minority class in most societies. They were mostly white people on the northern side of the Mediterrainian Sea, Middle Eastern in the eastern provinces and Egypt, and a mix of African/berber along the North Africa coastal provinces. The most sought after slaves were white skinned, red haired women from Germania and the British Isles. Jesus did not call for the liberation of slaves, nor did he condemn it. He spoke to the world of His day - as it was, and showed the Human Race the Future if they would accept it. Most slaves in the Roman world were not kept in chains, nor beaten or starved, as they were managers of households, wet nurses and nannies, doctors (highly valued if they were Greek or Persian), teachers(same as Greeks or Persians), engineers, market sellers and traders, money handlers (early bankers), etc, etc. Upon the death of the owner, many slaves were freed, given a pension, and some chose to stay with the family. When a slave got old, they could be freed and retireed - or placed on the island in the Tiber River - and/or killed. There is not much evidence of the wide spread killing of retired slaves, but there is evidence of retirement. Hard labor was done by lower valued men who had no skills, or were war prisoners or criminals. These were miners, stone quarry workers, oarsmen in Roman war ships (although many were paid well for that). They were suprvised by other, higher raanking slaves who were paid. The history of slavery is very complex. This video is highly biased.

[@wolfgangkranek376]

At this time everyone who was a slave came from a culture that also kept slaves. And in the end it was this Christian West that started with Rome that for the first time in all of human history outlawed and fought against slavery.

[@Lollygagger-k4p]

@@wolfgangkranek376 Correct.

[@JediMasterRadek]

Neither Jesus nor Paul wanted to make slaves free. There is no condemnation of slavery in the Bible and there are a lot of passages condoning the act. Moral progress on the topic came from Enlightenment thinkers, only nowadays Christian tend to pretend that Christianity always was anti-slavery. In 100 years time Christians will claim that gay rights also came from their religion.

[@jrt818]

Slave labor is not free labor. Slaves have to be clothed, fed, watched, directed, doctored, etc. Couldn't help but noticed slavery ended in my country where slaves became uneconomical. Going through slave population figures for Virginia I could see most of the value of a slave was the prospect of "being sold down the river" when slavery went into decline.

[@hglundahl]

13:59 The Germanic invasions didn't free all slaves who somehow all became Bacaudae. In the Frankish Kingdoms there were slaves, and they were freed by Queen St. Bathilde (Anglo-Saxon and former slave).

[@jasonalmendra3823]

The Avars and Slavs invaded Europe after 560AD. The Avars sold Slavs in Venice. That's why the word changed from servus to sclavus. It changed to schiavo. Then it became ciao.

[@andreweaston1779]

Imagine getting the power to free slaves, anywhere, and living in a world where slaves still existed for your entire life because you didnt free them. Holy indeed.

[@alexclement7221]

The differences between a "slave", a "coloni" or a "serf" are mostly semantics. Serfdom lasted in some form until the late 19th century in places like the Austria-Hungary, the Great Britain, and (especially) Russia.

[@bcvanrijswijk]

I was very curious about this, thank you, but slavery did not finally end in Italy in the 7th century. I find many slaves in the notarial acts and baptismal, marriage and death registers in southern Italy in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

[@hermanehrentraut4956]

I am wondering on your thoughts. In 380 AD with the edict of Thessalonika established Nicene Christianity as defacto religion of the empire outlawing all other religions. This also meant the creation of the State Church, which gave the church political as well as religious authority within the Roman empire borders. Now overtime the political authority in Western half of Roman empire waned eventually the church which had both authorities took over, the same would happen in the Eastern half. My question is this if the church was not only created by Rome but got its political authority by the Roman Emperor, 1. Can the Roman empire really have fallen since the Catholic and Orthodox church would be like the children of the Roman empire. 2. If the Roman empire did not fall then would not everything that came out of the State Church be considered Roman even to this day which would include nations like England that also has a State Church and the US that was founded by Nicene Christians and have even made laws that show they are keeping laws first enacted by Constantine, referring to the edict of Constantine making Sunday the day of mandatory rest except for farmers. I mean if Constantine saw the world today he would see his law still being followed gladly I might add, by people who have no idea why or even who he is. Examples in my life are "blue laws" in the US.

[@ariebrons7976]

I thought serfdom, and the class systhem where based on the book Deuteronium (Bible). Maybe your video on serfdom could also discuss how Christianity influenced its development.

[@xxmarc92xx]

Gibt es auch eine deutsche Version von deinen interessanten Themen? :)

[@darylwilliams7883]

Of course the number of slaves in ancient Rome was later eclipsed by the number in the USA. At least in proportion in the confederate states, where every second person was owned by another person, of not by absolute numbers. The only thing that could be said of the Confederacy is that slaves were so valuable it was a rare event for a master to simply kill a slave out of hand, nor would anyone have thought to build an arena to force them to kill one another. That would be like pushing your car over a riverbank and into the water.

[@pierluigipassoni6231]

Slavery for the romans was totally different from more modern and more brutal forms of slavery. Apart from being given food and housing most slaves received the peculium, a wage. It could be taken back by the master at any time (if the master was in financial difficulty), but usually it didn’t happen. The manumissio occurred when a slave had cumulated enough wealth to be independent and obviously only after the master had received sufficient services to be satisfied. The patronatus implied mutual assistance between the former slave and master in case of need. In the late empire and up to the longobards, when effectively it disappeared, slaves were simply forced to do a job, probably underpaid, and no more than that. At the time on the 410 siege, a large number of slaves joined the barbarian forces because they had been set free by Christian masters for moral reasons without being given the necessary means to live on: basically they found themselves jobless. The manumissio in ecclesia in the late empire could grant immediate roman citizenship to a freed slave. The Roman Church was not against slavery in principle, in fact maybe the Popes employed slaves up to Gregory the Great, however the Christian ethics and laws started posing problems for the institution of slavery by acknowledging the freedom to marry for all Christians which was unknown for slaves: they didn't have marriage before but only contubernium, that is a de facto union with no legal value.

[@horror11]

slavery was a concept older than the empires and nations. it was a natural thing and nothing strange. keep in mind that some nations like usa abolishd slavery in 1865 or the ottoman empire in 1919. today we still have a form of slavery in several countries so it is still not entirely gone.

[@TheAlchaemist]

Plantations have been replaced by factories and the estate was replaced by the State. The most populated country of the world is a State of slaves with an authoritarian king and the entire world economy relies on that without saying much about it... and of course... what could go wrong with such recipe....??

[@histguy101]

Slavery still exists in every country in the world today, it's just called "human trafficking" now. It's illegal in most countries, but so is heroin. There are still open slave markets in North Africa, and frequent slave raiding in sub-Saharan Africa. Sex slaves are still trafficked from eastern Europe to western Europe and the US. You can find ads in Saudi Arabian newspapers of runaway slaves. I remember hearing a story of parents that sold their child into a slavery for a flat screen tv in southeast Asia. I attended a briefing a few years ago on modern slavery and was very surprised at the scale of it, how US law enforcement agencies have been trying to stop it, and how little this is talked about anywhere.

[@leoflorida95]

In the city of Rome slavery was abolished by the pope in the 700's

[@epilepticwelder]

tell that to their diaper choir today, so enslaved, theyll never learn to build for themselves, just sing for satun

[@nebojsag.5871]

Basically, slaves were always a small minority and the economy overwhelmingly relied on free labor. A huge number of the slaves were essentially just there to walk around their masters as physical, living displays of their masters' wealth. Basically, rich people had mega-mansions with 30 doors, and they showed off how much money they had by basically having one slaver per door to open and close the door whenever somebody came in and out of the room. This further limited the relevance of slavery for the economy. Slavery also never vanished so long as there was a state apparatus to enforce it. Even in the chaos of the collapse, it took mass slave insurrections to actually overthrow the institution, as the invading Germanics were in no sense abolitionists. Byzantium continues to practice slavery in more or less the same way Rome always had for as long as it existed.

[@aum1083]

Primis!

[@stanislavkostarnov2157]

though greatly reduced, I would argue there was no real "end of slavery" until the post-renaissance era... with castles the richest members of the church possessing slaves into the 13th - 14th centuries (though, slaves were not sold and bought at markets, enslaving civilians in the course of war meant that gifts of slaves were still very much a thing among knights and among naval captains)... captured slaves and prisoners who received similar status, would be used to man the oars of galleys, service functions within many of the castles & forts dotting medieval Europe, and on building projects during war. indeed, at the time of the discovery of the New World, slavery was still not an institution that had been forgotten, just something that was economically unnecessary... meaning that once reason for slavery appeared, it immediately sprouted anew More so, if one looks not just at Europe but what became of the empire and it's many separating factions, slavery was rather common in what became of the Persian & African side of the empire, such places as the Ottoman empire, and the states which formed along the Mediterranean coast (Alexandrian Egypt, Carthage, Libya, Algeria) all the way to modern Morocco and south of that, continued and expanded the tradition of slave-trade within there boarders, unlike in the north, maintaining much of the late Roman slave markets and slave professions through the fall of Rome; some enclaves, only abandoning the practice as late as the post-colonial era of the early 20th century.

[@BerndSeichter]

Slavery still goes on today. When a person earns 10 cents per hour it is different but comparable in the degree of dehumanization. This global exploitation is the backbone of wealthier economies since the renaissance.

[@epilepticwelder]

yup, and not learning carpentry forces ppl to work for banks to get shelters

[@epilepticwelder]

information slaves, pain slaves, sex slaves...its all kathlik closet kult ideology🤢🤮👺

[@thekurdishtapes8317]

i wouldn't agree to the statement that slavery was "unfair". People didn't just become slaves out of the blue but were captured in combat or former criminals, so it was the fairest thing to become slave of the victor. It had been like that for 1000s of years all over the world, it wasn't even a specific Roman thing. Human rights Charta didn't exist in those days, no-one would have questioned the logic of using the people you have subdued as slaves. And lets not forget that slaves even had the opportunity to become free men again, so what's unfair about it, it sounds rather fair to me.

[@raylivengood8040]

The slaves didn’t “have it better” if they had no choice in self determination. Maybe some aspects were better, but they were in prison with no ability to plan for a future that they might want for themselves.

[@NigelHatcherN]

Slaves in Rome and Greece (some of them) where wealthy on a par with modern sportsmen.

[@lerneanlion]

After watching this video, why peoples in the Age of Enlightenment kept forgetting that the Roman Empire practiced slavery so much? After all, the locations in the cities such as the hippodromes, temples and bathhouses did not just materialize out of thin air. So why they looked up so much to the Roman Empire if they know how unfair and awful their society was?

[@michaelporzio7384]

Roman slavery was complicated. First thing, it was not based on race (as was American and European colonial slavery). Slaves could be Greeks brought to Rome to teach the children of the Patricians, expert craftsmen, engineers etc. These slaves were treated well . A slaveholder could give money to a particularly intelligent and ambitious slave and if the slave made money for the owner, the slave could buy his freedom. The other side of the coin were the agricultural slaves, slaves that worked in mines, sex slaves and slaves that were trained to fight in the arena. After Spartacus, slaves were treated better, but Rome lived in perpetual fear of slave revolts, and thus rebellious slaves were treated with particularly cruel punishments. Well done post, Sebastian!

[@histguy101]

European colonial slavery wasn't based on race either. We associate it with Africa today because they had the biggest markets with the strongest, most valuable slaves available for the lowest price. Irish, Slavic, etc slaves were also brought to colonies in large numbers. European slaves could be bought in North African markets, from the Ottomans, from raiding in Ireland, and from captured enemy soldiers, like if a British ship captured a Spanish ship or vice versa, the crew and marines would go into slavery. At some point, people were being stolen right off the streets of London to be shipped off to the colonies and sold, which is the origin of the term "kidnapped."

[@alexmintz7786]

The author seems to think that slavery was unique to Roman Empire and died with the death of the Eastern Roman empire. The author seems to be unaware of huge and thriving slavery markets in Arab Baghdad and Istanbul under the Ottomans. The truth is that slavery has been with us through the entire history, and the prevalence of slavery was simply determined by the wealth of the nation. Do you know that right now, today, there are more slaves in the world than at any other point in history? And guess in which countries the slavery thrives? Is it Europe and north america? Or maybe it's the Middle East, India and Africa? Take your wild guess.

[@JosephPercente]

Due to all the romans joining the barbarians and the fact it took a century to fall. Can you ask was was rome conquered by the romans?

[@andreweaston1779]

Were slaves of this nature considered Romans? Some obviously were. Those who sold themselves for debts for example. I mean those who got hard labour, or, were captured, or otherwise bought from abroad. Were these slaves considered Romans? Or, were they just considered slaves?

[@muhammadibnmusaal-chorezmi7240]

just considered slaves

[@malakine6306]

They were things, like a sword or a spoon.

[@NigelHatcherN]

They could be granted their freedom, they could run their own business but they where not citizens. Not all the freeborns were either.

[@peterpim6260]

What do You mean with "unfair" ? Not even the majority of slaves would have labeled it so, just as the working class of today does not, although in fact it is that in all but name. Besides, Slavery might be hell for slaves, for slaveowners it was heaven.

[@henkstersmacro-world]

👍👍👍

[@ale_s45]

wow

[@Kelnx]

The idea that slavery allowed the Roman Empire to expand because it is "free labor" isn't correct. It's not free labor at all and is often more expensive than simply paying low wages to workers. Slavery has always been practiced for reasons of status and power, not for cheap labor. The economic dependency on slavery is often merely an excuse made to justify it (by the slaveowners of the time). In reality Rome could have accomplished much the same without slavery and with a graded citizenship system. However it probably wouldn't have without the need for more slaves which largely fueled its expansion in the first place.

[@Wanwan-mq3jw]

To what extent the roman church held slaves?

[@pierluigipassoni6231]

Actually...​@@bossmoskv1

[@Zebred2001]

Slaves were never free labour. There was some cost for feeding, clothing and housing them.

[@NimLeeGuy]

Slavery existed in England until after 1066, and William of Normandy abolished it. But yes, almost all the English peasants became serfs.

[@slopermarco]

It ended about 1300 years before it began in the USA. 🙄

[@kimberlyperrotis8962]

It’s a important point you make here, Sebastian, not to glorify Classic Greek and Roman civilization. The technical achievements of this civilization are impressive, but we should never forget that the Roman Empire was founded on violent, bloody wars of conquest and was dominated by great, evil abominations: human slavery, the subjection of woman and animal cruelty. Christianity has to be credited for at least, in part, helping to end these brutal institutions. I know it’s fashionable to consider religion the root of all evil these days, but it isn’t, human beings, with our insatiable love of power and wealth, are. Semi-slavery in the form of serfdom persisted for many centuries, as did Patriarchy and the subjection of women, and great animal cruelty and of course, these latter two persist today in many parts of the world. There were always be forms of evil and cruelty so long as there are us humans, but at least in today’s Western Civilizations, there are legal protections against them. That wasn’t the case even in the Middle Ages, where private, baronial courts ruled the vast majority of people. Life is so much better now for the majority of people, especially for women. I’m grateful to have been born an American woman in the 20th C., there’s never been a better time or place to be alive (and female!) since perhaps our hunter/gatherer times, if ever. But, I wouldn’t ever want to “go back”, just the thought of giving up hot showers, comfortable, parasite-free living, fresh food, or painless modern dentistry or surgery is enough to convince me.

[@Maiorianus_Sebastian]

Hi Kimberly, very good points you make here, very well said :)

[@aum1083]

So I guess emperor Maiorianus had slaves too?

[@erynn9968]

According to modern history consensus, calling slavery ‘the worst thing in the universe etc’ is wrong. Because slavery was the next step of social development after simple slaughter. Enslaving an enemy instead of killing them marks a huge humanistic transformation. So you’ve just called slavery the worst while the rest of the world just killed each other straight away.

[@petersteenkamp]

Unfortunately, slavery was very profitable. So the opportunity to catch more slaves would be a strong motive to fight more wars.

[@NigelHatcherN]

@@petersteenkamp Many tribes in Africa became rich this way. They didn't really fight a war they raided people.

[@EndingSimple]

So, it stopped when they couldn't do it anymore.

[@BrianPlace-y2z]

A useful reminder about the great moral vacuum at the heart of the Roman Empire cult - slavery. Despite its art, literature, civil structures and achievements, "Rome" was too often toxic to other cultures seeking to exist beside it: it expanded by war, seizing others' lands and wealth and enslaving millions in the process. While this was true of other ancient civilisations (like the Greeks), the Romans were just too damn good at it and it might be seen as an almost-divine retribution that Rome's over-dependence on human chattel slavery eventually hollowed out the Republic's core of freemen farmer citizenry and brought about its downfall, chiefly at the hands of "barbarians" and other peoples it had wronged. [I am simplifying things you understand.] Christianity admittedly softened slavery's worst features, and arguably allowed for the continuation of a Roman empire (of sorts) until 1453. But it never really tackled and questioned the moral basis of slavery and its bastard offspring serfdom - consider (for example) that Gregory the Great's famous quip "Non Angeli, sed Angli" [quoted by Bede] was said of fair-haired English boys on sale in 6th/7th century Papal Rome! The saintly pope spoke more as a connoisseur of human flesh than as a follower of Christ. At bottom, even on the count of its slavery alone we should likely no more mourn classical Rome's fall as we should lament the violent disappearance of the living-heart sacrificing Aztec and Inca civilizations, notwithstanding their considerable cultural achievements. Mel Gibson's film Apocalypto was, I suppose, making this point by ending with the arrival of Conquistador ships - crewed by heretic-burning and slave-owning Christian Spaniards LOL...

[@epilepticwelder]

slavery isnt determined by confession or policy...dont be groomed

[@50PullUps]

Man the past sucked

[@TheRealASN]

❤

[@belstar1128]

our ancestors were slaves

[@sotirismitzolis5171]

.......it didn't

[@stefanolteanu512]

I love your videos but Romanians still appeard in Romania 😂😂😂. I appreciate your fantastic video but history is factual not opinions 😂😂

[@Norm-ih2rq]

Rome was ghetto

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

Thanks for helping the Germans out slaves

[@markvoelker6620]

The modern equivalent of slavery, is the income tax, which in the US began in 1914, only 49 years after the end of chattel slavery.

[@callummorgan7495]

Um in slavery you were never given any rewards for your work, such as a salary or public services/social security, so i dont think that's accurate.

[@markvoelker6620]

@@callummorgan7495 You were provided with the basic necessities of life. Today, income tax slaves are allowed to keep just enough to provide themselves with the basic necessities of life, with amounts above that taken by force and given to the ruling elites.

[@callummorgan7495]

@@markvoelker6620 i pay 20% tax so i keep a large majority of my earned salary for myself and a lot of that 20% goes towards providing me healthcare, education, social security etc so its a decent deal. Trying to compare income tax to chattel slavery is a stupid as it is offensive.

[@markvoelker6620]

@@callummorgan7495 Awww, you’re offended.

[@callummorgan7495]

​@@markvoelker6620 i assume i shouldn't expect any valid counter point

[@waynemcauliffe-fv5yf]

Don`t worry in 1453 Islam would of brought it back mate😅

[@whimsicalhamster88]

A lot of six-fingered people in this video 😅