Gregory Aldrete

It's wrong for you to beat me because I am a citizen and that gives me certain protections. So that notion of citizenship is something that I think the Romans really emphasize and becomes a legacy to a lot of civilizations today where citizenship means something. It's a special status.

It's wrong for you to beat me because I am a citizen and that gives me certain protections. So that notion of citizenship is something that I think the Romans really emphasize and becomes a legacy to a lot of civilizations today where citizenship means something. It's a special status.

It's wrong for you to beat me because I am a citizen and that gives me certain protections. So that notion of citizenship is something that I think the Romans really emphasize and becomes a legacy to a lot of civilizations today where citizenship means something. It's a special status.

Well, Roman slavery, a couple just reminders at the beginning. First of all, it's not racial slavery. So for people in the United States, you tend to think of slavery through this kind of racial lens. So slaves in ancient Roman society could be any color, ethnicity, gender, origin, whatever. It's an economic status.

Well, Roman slavery, a couple just reminders at the beginning. First of all, it's not racial slavery. So for people in the United States, you tend to think of slavery through this kind of racial lens. So slaves in ancient Roman society could be any color, ethnicity, gender, origin, whatever. It's an economic status.

Well, Roman slavery, a couple just reminders at the beginning. First of all, it's not racial slavery. So for people in the United States, you tend to think of slavery through this kind of racial lens. So slaves in ancient Roman society could be any color, ethnicity, gender, origin, whatever. It's an economic status.

Now, having said that, slavery is fundamentally horrific to human dignity because it is defining a human being as an object. And very famously, a Roman agricultural writer who's writing about farms, just as a kind of aside says, you know, on your farm, you have three types of tools. You have dumb tools, and by dummy means can't speak.

Now, having said that, slavery is fundamentally horrific to human dignity because it is defining a human being as an object. And very famously, a Roman agricultural writer who's writing about farms, just as a kind of aside says, you know, on your farm, you have three types of tools. You have dumb tools, and by dummy means can't speak.

Now, having said that, slavery is fundamentally horrific to human dignity because it is defining a human being as an object. And very famously, a Roman agricultural writer who's writing about farms, just as a kind of aside says, you know, on your farm, you have three types of tools. You have dumb tools, and by dummy means can't speak.

So that's like shovels, you know, picks, things like this, wagons. You have semi-articulate tools, which are animals, and you have articulate tools, which are human beings, slaves. And for him, these are all just categories of tools. It's so intensely dehumanizing to view people in that way. So Roman slavery is odd in that it doesn't have this racial component.

So that's like shovels, you know, picks, things like this, wagons. You have semi-articulate tools, which are animals, and you have articulate tools, which are human beings, slaves. And for him, these are all just categories of tools. It's so intensely dehumanizing to view people in that way. So Roman slavery is odd in that it doesn't have this racial component.

So that's like shovels, you know, picks, things like this, wagons. You have semi-articulate tools, which are animals, and you have articulate tools, which are human beings, slaves. And for him, these are all just categories of tools. It's so intensely dehumanizing to view people in that way. So Roman slavery is odd in that it doesn't have this racial component.

It's horrible in the way all slavery is horrible. But the other thing about it is it's not a hard line. It's a permeable membrane. And many people move back and forth across it. So you have many people in the Roman world who were born a slave who gained their freedom through one means or another. And you have many others who were born free and become slaves.

It's horrible in the way all slavery is horrible. But the other thing about it is it's not a hard line. It's a permeable membrane. And many people move back and forth across it. So you have many people in the Roman world who were born a slave who gained their freedom through one means or another. And you have many others who were born free and become slaves.

It's horrible in the way all slavery is horrible. But the other thing about it is it's not a hard line. It's a permeable membrane. And many people move back and forth across it. So you have many people in the Roman world who were born a slave who gained their freedom through one means or another. And you have many others who were born free and become slaves.

And you have some who go back and forth. There's a great Roman tombstone of this guy who says, I was born a free man in Parthia. I was enslaved. Then I gained my freedom and I became a teacher or something and I had a life and now I'm a Roman citizen. So it's this whole like back and forth across all these boundaries multiple times.

And you have some who go back and forth. There's a great Roman tombstone of this guy who says, I was born a free man in Parthia. I was enslaved. Then I gained my freedom and I became a teacher or something and I had a life and now I'm a Roman citizen. So it's this whole like back and forth across all these boundaries multiple times.

And you have some who go back and forth. There's a great Roman tombstone of this guy who says, I was born a free man in Parthia. I was enslaved. Then I gained my freedom and I became a teacher or something and I had a life and now I'm a Roman citizen. So it's this whole like back and forth across all these boundaries multiple times.

The most common source of slaves in the Roman world was war. So wherever the Roman army went, in its wake would be literally a train of slave traders. So you're in war. You capture an enemy city. You whack the people over the head, and you turn around if you're a soldier, and you sell them to one of these slave traders that's following the army around, literally.

The most common source of slaves in the Roman world was war. So wherever the Roman army went, in its wake would be literally a train of slave traders. So you're in war. You capture an enemy city. You whack the people over the head, and you turn around if you're a soldier, and you sell them to one of these slave traders that's following the army around, literally.