The ancient Roman Empire waged numerous foreign wars in which they captured a large number of prisoners of war. From the day they came to Rome, these prisoners of war lost their personal freedom and became slaves. They are even like cattle, bought and sold arbitrarily in the market.
So it occurred to one wonder what a Roman man would do with a female slave if he bought female slaves from the market.
(Scene of an ancient slave farm)
The reason why this question is of interest is that one side is a female slave and a weak person. And the other side is the man, the strong. Therefore, some people feel that the male master should probably do whatever he wants to the female slave. In fact, this kind of thinking is actually absurd and inferior. Why?
First, there is a difference between dignity and inferiority.
The Ancient Roman Empire was typical of a slave society. The slavery of the ancient Roman Empire and the slavery of the Shang and Zhou Dynasties in China are generally the same, with a strict concept of dignity and inferiority. Slaves also came mainly from prisoners of war, or some criminal civilians. Once a person becomes a slave, he is strictly locked in the hierarchical order, and it is difficult to have a chance to turn over.
There was a rule in the Colosseum that if a slave could win the battle against the beast, he could revoke his status as a slave. But it's not easy to win from the fight against the beast! It can also be said that it is not easy for a slave to revoke his slave status.
It was precisely because of the difference in dignity and inferiority that the ancient Romans bought and sold slaves like cattle. And when the ancient Romans bought and sold slaves like cattle, in their eyes, slaves were like cattle. Even if it was female slaves who bought them back, they were also cattle, so how could they do all those wrong things?
(Gladiator stills)
Second, cultural inheritance.
The ancient Roman Empire was a great empire that conquered Greece and other places and established it. Although there are some differences between ancient Roman culture and ancient Greek culture. However, ancient Roman culture and ancient Greek culture are actually in the same vein. Including its mythological genealogy, it is also borrowed from ancient Greece.
In ancient Greece, the concept of respect for women had been formed. The praise of ancient Greek goddesses such as the goddess of wisdom and the goddess of beauty is a manifestation of respect for women. So, of course, the ancient Romans also regarded this as one of their creeds.
Our current impression of the ancient Roman Empire is not very good. Especially during the Roman period of Nero's rule, he did things that indulged in desires that were contrary to human morality, which made us think that the ancient Roman Empire was like this. In fact, this is a misunderstanding. The ancient Roman Empire also had many very self-disciplined kings, and Nero was just a special case.
And even nero, his debauchery and absurdity would not be used on female slaves.
When the Western Roman Empire fell, the place where the Western Roman Empire once lived later entered the "Age of Knights". The knighthood era is a manifestation of respect for women. Therefore, the Romans certainly did not do anything too out of the ordinary.
Of course, this is not to say that ancient Roman men would never do those things that went out of the ordinary. Society is very complex, both ancient and modern. What we are talking about here should be the mainstream situation.
(Female slaves on the slave farm)
So, excluding the sexual humiliation of female slaves, what would ancient Roman men do with female slaves?
In fact, when they were buying and selling female slaves, the purpose was already very clear. Just as cattle were bought in order to play the role of cattle in pulling plows, grinding, carrying heavy loads, laying eggs, milking cows, and shearing, female slaves also played their labor role.
There is a saying: "Rome was not built in a day", and there is a saying: "All roads lead to Rome". These two sentences are enough to illustrate how brilliant and splendid the Roman Empire formed in those years. How did this very splendid civilization come about? Apparently it was built by slaves. In figurative terms, Rome was built on the bones of slaves. So, whether male or female, they would do all kinds of heavy labor all day long. As female slaves, weaving, washing, cleaning, stocking, and other things suitable for them were heavily undertaken by female slaves. From the moment they were taken prisoner or born, they lived such a life, from day to night, until the day of the end of their lives.