From Property to Person: Rome’s Shifting Social Order by Liisa Eyerly

In my previous two blogs, I explored the all-important status ladder of ancient Rome. I use the term ladder because people could move up and down in rank, standing, and station. This included slaves who were legally considered property, not persons, with no legal rights. A slave could be punished, sold, abused, or killed at the whim of their owner. Physical labor on farms, in mines, in brothels, or on galley ships. included neglect, abuse, and often a short lifespan. Charles William Bartlett, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons  

Enslavement was harsh, but in ancient Rome, it was not always permanent. In my mystery novel Obedient Unto Death, I introduce this complex, layered reality through Sabina's childhood nurse, who, despite their emotional bond and trust, remained enslaved. And Sabina's father's freedman and spy-master, who was freed in a legal process called manumission and was trusted with the family's most dangerous secrets. 

Roman ships- its rise and fall; a text-book for high schools and colleges (1900) (14598250937).jpg via Wikimedia Commons

People enslaved in cities—especially those working in businesses, possessing education or marketable skills, or serving within a household—had a greater chance of gaining freedom than those relegated to hard physical labor.

Freedom was viewed as an incentive for loyal and hardworking slaves, and owners saw freed slaves as investments, future clients, and business partners. A Roman woman dressed and groomed by her slaves via Wikimedia Commons

Freedom was often granted as a reward for dedicated service, when an owner died, or occasionally when a bond formed, such as between Senator Marcus Tullius Cicero and Tiro, his personal secretary and archivist. Manumission elevated the freed slave to Roman citizen status, allowing them to outrank a freeborn person from Roman provinces within Spain, Greece, or Asia Minor.

*They could legally marry *Own property and do business *Were protected under Roman law
Marcus Tullius Cicero.jpg via Wikimedia Commons

Freedmen were considered lower-status than freeborn citizens, but they maintained obligations to their former owners in a client/patron relationship. Freedmen and freedwomen often continued in the same roles they had held in slavery, working in the same homes, businesses, or farms and providing the same services. The key difference was that they were now responsible for their own food, clothing, and shelter. Rather than being owned, they were paid—sometimes by their former masters—to carry out familiar work. A tutor might go on teaching, gardeners continued tending estates, and a business manager might remain in place or even enter into a partnership with a former owner. Papyrus manumission document. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Manumission_-_A.D._355.JPG

After Tiro’s manumission, he continued working for Cicero, inventing a form of shorthand known as Tironian notes. He recorded and maintained Cicero's many writings and was responsible for the preservation and publication of Cicero’s letters after Cicero's execution. Manumission was a powerful instrument for social mobility. Freedmen, Freedwomen, and their children made up a large portion of Roman society, with some estimates as high as 20%.

Lekythos, ca. 550–530 B.CE. Amasis painter attr. Weaving, upright loom. Unrolled.The Met.jpg via Wikimedia commons

At the same time, freedom was held out as a reward for loyal service; it also created an incentive structure that discouraged rebellion. Freedom was used as a tool to protect those in power from slave revolts—an ever-present fear among the Roman elite. Spartacus led one of the most famous uprisings, though many others occurred throughout Roman history. By offering the possibility of manumission, slaveholders fostered the belief that enslavement was not necessarily permanent, sustaining hope for a different future while reinforcing control.

As Roman citizens, they could partake of the benefits of one of the world's most powerful, rich, and prosperous empires. 

Step into the shadowy streets of 96 AD Ephesus, where danger lurks around every corner, and the line between friend and foe is razor-thin. Fortunes of Death, plunges you into a world where faith is tested, alliances are shattered, and one woman's courage could be the difference between life and death.

Sabina, a fierce young Christian widow, is thrust into a deadly game when a wealthy citizen is murdered. With her friend’s life hanging in the balance, Sabina must unravel a web of lies, deceit, and hidden motives. Every clue she uncovers brings her closer to the truth—and closer to becoming the next victim.

This isn't just a murder mystery. It's a gripping tale of faith, resilience, and the power of one woman standing against the darkness 

Mystery, murder, and mayhem aren’t your typical Christian themes—but why should secular authors have all the fun solving crimes in ancient Rome? My love of history, scripture, and whodunits led me to blend faith with intrigue, bringing the world of the early Christians to life. Writing from my home in the woods of northern Wisconsin, I also draw inspiration from my travels to Turkey, Greece, and Italy, where I’ve walked the same streets my characters once did. Through historical mysteries, I explore a time when faith was a matter of life and death—literally.

Visit me at my website, on my Author Facebook page,

or purchase my books at:
Fortunes of Death
Obedient Unto Death My Amazon book page

On this Day…March 28, 1760…Thomas Clarkson – by Donna Schlachter – with Giveaway

Courtesy Wikipedia Thomas Clarkson 330px-Thomas_Clarkson_by_Carl_Frederik_von_Breda.jpg

Just over 250 years ago, a man was born who would change the face of slavery in America. While perhaps not as well known as his British counterpart William Wilberforce, Thomas Clarkson was—no pun intended—a force to be reckoned with when it came to ending the importation and sale of slaves.

Clarkson, as the eldest son, was expected to follow in his father’s footsteps. Perhaps his father’s passing when Clarkson was around six changed his mind. Although he was ordained a deacon in 1783, he never continued through his studies to become an Anglican priest.

Perhaps the reason was an essay competition he entered in 1785 about the legitimacy of slave trade. Maybe his hesitancy was due to his growing admiration for a Quaker abolitionist, Anthony Benezet. Whatever the cause, he won the contest, then read his essay in Cambridge. On the way home, he had a “Damascus Road” experience: if what he’d written was true—and he believed it to be so—then somebody—namely he—needed to publicize this truth.

He wrote an essay the following year decrying slavery and referring to first-hand accounts of victims and supporters on the treatment, transport, and lack of regard for the African person as a human being. Many applauded his attempts, and in 1783, Quakers from London presented a petition to the British Parliament against the slave trade.

Slave ship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Clarkson

 

 

 

 

Clarkson soon chaired a committee that gathered more evidence of the inhumane treatment of slaves, and he spent two years traveling around England, promoting the cause. During this time, he interviewed 20,000 sailors, obtained examples of equipment used on the transport ships, including handcuffs, leg shackles, and branding irons.

He realized quickly that pictures and artefacts influenced opinion more that words alone, and amassed a collection to demonstrated that Africans were skilled artisans who could be employed on a fair trading basis. Riding more than 35,000 miles during that time, he enlisted the help of two ship’s surgeons who had sailed on slave ships and could recount their experiences, lending credibility to his cause.

During the years Wilberforce carried the fight to abolish slavery in Britain, Clarkson traveled and wrote anti-slavery works.

By 1794, at the age of 34, Clarkson retired from his travels due to exhaustion. He married in 1796, welcoming a son later that year.

Playford Hall https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Clarkson

 

In 1804, once the war with France appeared to be at an end, he ended his retirement and traveled the country again, building support for abolition.

In 1807, the Slave Trade Act ended the importation and trade of slaves. Clarkson then turned his attention to enforcing the law and expanding the campaign to the rest of Europe and America. While the United States prohibited the international trade of slaves in that same year, the owning of slaves within the country was still allowed.

He continued traveling, and in 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act was passed in England. Now Clarkson turned his attention to the United States. Following the Revolutionary War, 3,000 former US slaves freed by the British and granted land in Nova Scotia, Canada. Later, this group moved to Sierra Leone and established Freetown. Thomas Clarkson’s younger brother John was its first governor.

From Wikipedia Clarkson Memorial 225px-Clarkson_Memorial_cropped.jpg

 

 

Thomas Clarkson died in 1846 in Playford, Suffolk, at the age of 86, and is buried at St. Mary’s Church in that village.

From Wikipedia Clarkson Memorial in church Memorial_To_Thomas_Clarkson_-_geograph.org.uk_-_2846475.jpg

 

Leave a comment to enter a random drawing: one lucky person will receive an ebook version of Theresa’s Talent, about a freed black woman who encounters resistance when she tries to set up her own business in Colorado in 1896. Include your cleverly disguised email address so we can contact you. For example: donna AT livebytheword DOT com

About Theresa’s Talent: Theresa, a former slave, wants two things: to own a business, and to vote. She excels at cooking and baking, so the first should be easy. The second? Already suffragettes had been working for twenty years—while it was the law in Colorado, would she see it the law of the land for every woman in the union in her lifetime?

Toby, a freeman now working for the Pinkerton Detective Agency, loves the sense of adventure and justice that being a private investigator brings. But when he sees justice failing for a white man, he can’t stand idly by and do nothing. Even if it means putting himself in danger.

But, is he willing to put another in the same position?

https://www.amazon.com/Theresas-Talent-Suffrage-Spinsters-Book-ebook/dp/B0C7DPQF89

And the rest of the Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B9YF8CC5

About Donna:

A hybrid author, Donna writes squeaky clean historical and contemporary suspense. She has been published more than 60 times in books; is a member of several writers' groups; facilitates a critique group; teaches writing classes; and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, traveling extensively for both, and is an avid oil painter. She is taking all the information she’s learned along the way about the writing and publishing process, and is coaching committed writers.

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Resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Clarkson

https://www.quakersintheworld.org/quakers-in-action/167/Thomas-Clarkson

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Thomas-Clarkson