Slavery’s Deep History

After searching for “Sicily Slave Rome Haiti” on the Brooklyn CUNY library website, there was an article that caught my attention. In Slavery and Inhumanity: Keith Bradley’s Legacy on Slavery in New Testament Studies by J. Albert Harrill, I found that his studies would benefit anyone that wanted to know about slavery and how it reveals the unsettling and dark truth history tries to leave behind. Harill explains that under Roman expansion, there were very few slave revolts, which would seem surprising to many because anyone being held against their will and forced to do labor would do anything for their freedom. The slaves that were under ancient Roman rule learned to coexist with their masters through fear of losing their life. They only revolted if they were violently abused. Romans did not have a racial justification as to why they enslaved people, but their harsh and violent punishments inflicted fear upon the slaves made it easier to tame them. By dehumanizing them and viewing them as animals, they were able to control their mentality and make them work for them with little to no objections. In the articles it states, “The world history of slavery reveals slave revolts to be extremely rare occurrences; only four outright slave wars are known: one in modern Haiti, two in ancient Sicily, and one led by Spartacus in ancient Italy. Moreover, the ancient revolts occurred in a very limited time span in the context of massive military expansion and political upheaval in the late Roman Republic.” (Pg.509) Slavery not only allowed for the Romans to expand on their land, military, and political ideals in society, but it also made them progress and grow economically. It gave slave owners power because they provided a cheap labor source that made exponential profits.

In the ancient text of Diodorus, book 33 states, “Those whom fate has placed in a lowly position will gladly yield to their superiors in honour and glory, but if they are denied the kindness which they deserve, they revolt against the men who act like cruel despots.” Though the slaves were forced to coexist with the Romans out of fear, there is a certain point where they can no longer accept being violently oppressed. There were few slave revolts because they were afraid of the consequences. Romans thought that by dehumanizing and abusing their slaves, it would lead to obedience, but they failed to acknowledge that pain could also give them strength to rebel. It is not an uncommon thing to see how hate can become a driven passion for survival. Diodorus shows how ancient Romans handled slavery and Harill explains the technique used to keep them in check. Both show the underlying purpose as to why each side acted the way they did and how slavery in and of itself is a cruel, dark, and inhumane part of history that will never be forgotten.

MLA citation:
Harrill, J. Albert, “Slavery and Inhumanity: Keith Bradley’s Legacy on Slavery in New Testament Studies”, The Ohio State University, USA, Biblical Interpretation 21-4-5 (2013) 506-514 http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ez-proxy.brooklyn.cuny.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=1&sid=f0295519-8807-4b40-8841-4279927e3c53%40sessionmgr4007

 Mary H., Team Vulcan