Download Roman Slavery (1) Some Roman people were owned by other

Roman Slavery
(1) Some Roman people were owned by other
people, or by the Roman government, as sl aves.
Because the Romans didn't really have hourly wage
anymore, and we don't send criminals to the mines,
but miners still have difficult and very dangerous
work.
(4) Other slaves did not work in the fields or the
work, or salaried work, as we do now, men and
mines. Instead, they were house servants for richer
women who didn't own their own land and didn't
people - nannies, nurses, cooks, butlers, house-
own businesses of their own often found themselves
cleaners, stable-boys for the horses, laundry-
enslaved. The jobs slaves did were jobs which today
women, tutors for children, accountants. This was
in the United States are done by free people
not necessarily such a terrible life, or so different
working for wages. Like today, some of these jobs
from the lives of nannies, cooks, or house-cleaners
were awful, and some of them were pretty good.
today. These slaves often did have families, though
(2) Many of these men and women, especially in
they could never be sure of keeping them. Children
southern France and Spain, worked in the fields, on
who were slaves were often sold away from their
big farms owned by rich men and women. On these
parents, and even these slaves were often beaten
latifundias, a slave or freedman overseer forced
and poorly fed.
hundreds or thousands of slaves to work out in the
(5) A lot of slaves also worked in factories or
fields all day under the sun, and at night the slaves
craft shops. They might be weavers, or dyers, or
sometimes slept in barracks, with the men separated
potters, or mosaicists, for example. Some slaves
from the women. In ancient times, perhaps as much
worked in construction, and some sold things in
as 90% of people or more of some communities
perfume stores or cloth stores. Or, slaves might
worked solely in farming. Not so many people
work for the Roman government as accountants or
work in farming today, but those that do are often
as guards.
very poor, and often - if they are migrant laborers,
for instance - sleep in barracks.
(3) Other slaves were forced to work deep
(7) Many of these slaves were freed when they
got older (if they lived that long) and became
Roman citizens. They were known as freedmen and
underground in the mines, getting gold or silver or
freedwomen. Not all slaves were freed, but if a
copper or iron or tin for the Roman government.
slave was born from a woman owned by the master,
They also suffered and died after just a few years.
he might free that child when they came of age,
The Roman government, and private traders, owned
something around 18 or so. The master might even
many men who rowed ships as slaves, often chained
give a small amount of money so that the slave
to their oars. Many of these men were sentenced to
could start a small or business or even get married
the mines or to the ships because they were
and start a family.
criminals. We don't use men to power ships
1. What is the main idea of this passage?
a. That slavery in Rome was completely
unique to slavery anywhere else in the world
b. That both the Roman government and its
citizens owned slaves
5. What of the following statements would the
author most likely agree with?
a. Slavery in Rome was exactly like slavery in
America
c. That slaves in Rome performed a wide
variety of tasks in the empire
b. Many criminals deserved their punishment
by being sent to the mines
d. Slavery in America and slavery during the
Roman Empire had numerous similarities
c. Many jobs performed by slaves in the
ancient world are performed by regulars
workers today
2. Based on what the author states in paragraph
1, what can likely be inferred about Roman
slaves and American workers?
a. Slaves in Rome were very similar to slaves
in America
b. Slaves in Rome were very different to slaves
in America
d. All slavery in Rome was cruel and
unnecessary
6. Which of the following sentences would best
complete the 4th paragraph?
a. Depending on the luck of a slave, their life
could take end up in a variety of directions
c. That some Roman slaves did eventually earn
an hourly wage
b. Families in Rome often kept their slaves for
the remainder of their lives
d. The work done by slaves in Rome is similar
to that done by wage earners in America
c. Many free people decided it would be better
to be a slave if you could find a kind master
3. Based on context clues, what do you think the
word latifundias mean as it is used in line 15
a. a large collection of slaves
b. a large farm where the majority of
agriculture was performed by slaves
c. any community where 90% of the
population or more consisted of agricultural
work
d. wealthy land owners in Southern France and
Spain
4. What is the author’s main idea from
paragraph 3?
a. All slaves in Rome worked in hard,
potentially lethal conditions
b. Roman slaves could at times be sent to work
in dangerous mines
c. Mine work is still today dangerous
d. A Roman slave could be forced to labor in
an extremely harsh job that could cost them
their life.
d. Very few Roman parents missed their
children once sold
7. Based on how it is used in line 46, what is
most likely the definition for the word
mosaicists?
a. warriors
b. painters
c. slaves
d. government workers
8. What would you say is the main reason this
article was written?
a. To convince the reader that slavery in Rome
or anywhere else was wrong
b. To demonstrate that slavery really only
existed in Rome
c. To show that many of the jobs done today in
our world were performed by slaves in
Ancient Rome
d. To show how similar the lives of slaves
were throughout the Roman Empire