![]() As mentioned by the Roman writer Varro, the city of Ephesus (on the coast of modern-day Turkey) was a centre for the Roman slave trade. However, enslaved people could also come from within the borders of the Roman empire, for example from Thrace, Asia Minor and Syria. In imperial times (27 BC to AD 476), imported people could come from areas just beyond the Roman frontiers – Ireland, Scotland, Eastern European countries bordering the Rhine and Danube, the Black Sea area, the Arabian Peninsula and Africa. Romans also traded enslaved people across and within the borders of Roman territory. Still, the supply of captives continued thanks to the conquest of new territories such as Britain and Dacia (modern-day Romania), frontier warfare, and the suppression of revolts. Augustus' pacification of the Mediterranean, at the end of the 1st century BC, reduced the number of people enslaved through warfare. We know of two slavery markets in the city of Rome. One was by the Temple of Castor in the Forum, the other near the Saepta Julia in the Campus Martius.Ĭapture during war saw many enslaved, especially during the Republican period (509 BC to 27 BC). As a result, origins of those enslaved shifted with Rome's geographical expansion. Less common were children sold by their parents, people being enslaved for debts or as punishment for crimes and people who were victims of kidnapping and piracy. These included children born into slavery, people captured in war, individuals who were sold or self-sold into slavery and infants abandoned at birth. ![]() ![]() In the Roman world there were many different ways someone could be forced into slavery. We know very little about the wearer of this tag, only that they lived in or near Rome and their master considered them difficult. We have no way of guessing if this person was born into slavery or where they came from. It seems the unnamed wearer of this tag had tried to flee at least once before, so their master Viventius had this collar made. As instructed, whoever found the individual was to return them to the estate of Callistus, located in the Transtiberine district in Rome, on the right bank of the river Tiber. It's possible they became frequently used following the emperor Constantine's law in AD 316 banning the cruel and dehumanising practice of tattooing runaways' foreheads, a previously common punishment. This, and other collars, date to the late imperial period (mainly 4th century AD). Some of the inscriptions also include statements giving details about the wearer and the master, occasionally even offering a reward. These collars (riveted so not easily removed) were used to deter enslaved people from escaping and to help with their recapture, should they try. The words on this tag, and others, are variations of ' tene me et revoca me' (hold me and return me), with instructions on how to return the fugitive. The object is part of a series of inscribed collars, with or without tags, found in both Italy, particularly in Rome and North Africa. ![]() Hold me, lest I flee, and return me to my master Viventius on the estate of Callistus Tene me ne fugia(m) et revoca me ad dom(i)num Viventium in ar(e)a Callisti Attached to a metal collar, an enslaved person was forced to wear it. Found in Rome and dated to the 4th century AD, it's a tag for a human. ![]() Although seemingly just a small inscribed plate (5.8 cm in diameter), this object tells a dark and troubling story from the heart of the Roman empire. ![]()
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