The Roman Guide to Slave Management (29 page)

I understand that the Christians want to change a few things about how slaves are treated. They believe it is wrong that, when slaves are sold, families can be broken up. They say that if a Christian ever became emperor – as if! – he would decree that when slaves are sold, then the husband and wife, parents and children, would have to be sold together. And he would outlaw the practice of branding runaway slaves on the face. But you should note that the reason for wanting to do this is not out of sympathy with the fugitives, for they are criminals, but so that the face, which is, in the Christian view, made in the image of the countenance of their one god, should not be scarred or disfigured. So Christians would prefer that slaves be branded on the foot or leg instead. I believe they also wish to decree that any slave forced into prostitution by her master should automatically become free.

Christians certainly do not believe that there should be no slaves, unlike that squeamish Alan who caused me to write this book. But they share with us the view that it is only right that slaves who have given many years of good service deserve to be freed. I understand that their practice is to do this at their Easter festival, after a
slave has served them for six years. The Christian church often helps in facilitating manumission. For in the eyes of most Christians the ecclesiastical court of a bishop has the same, if not more, authority as the law courts of the Roman state.

Christians always seem to be obsessed with sex and the same is true when it comes to slaves. Some of them seem to think it is wrong for a master to share the beds of his slaves. They argue that when the head of the household behaves like the husband of the slave girls, his wife is not far removed from the status of a slave. They say that when the head of the household behaves in an immoral way then he corrupts the morals of the slaves also. They rightly state that the master’s position within his household is like that of the head to the body: his own lifestyle sets a standard of behaviour for everyone. But they go on to argue that in sleeping with their slaves, masters force slave women to behave wickedly since they have no option but to obey their masters against their will. They become slaves to another’s lust. It is the usual Christian nonsense. And you would be very naive if, in reality, you believed that wealthy Christian slave owners did not also behave like that. And why shouldn’t they? After all, was there any whose slave girls did not enjoy their master’s visits?

   COMMENTARY   

Early Christian writing is full of imagery drawn from slavery. The Latin word for Lord (
Dominus
) is the same as that used for ‘master’. The word for ‘redemption’ is the same as that used in Latin for ‘buying one’s freedom’. The New Testament also has many sections relating to the treatment of slaves. This may reflect the fact that early Christianity was a religion of the oppressed and so had greater appeal to slaves. Alternatively, it may show that slavery was so pervasive an institution that its language got into all forms of social life, even new forms of religious expression. It may also show that many slave owners were adherents to Christianity and influenced the way it expressed itself. We must not assume that Christianity was inherently better disposed towards slaves than other earlier forms of ancient thought, such as Stoicism.

We would like to think that Christian teachings improved the conditions of slaves. But it is not clear from the evidence that Christian owners treated their slaves any better than did pagan masters. Many Christian writers seem to be as oblivious to their slaves as were pagan writers. In Luke 7:1–10 Christ heals a centurion’s slave and praises the former’s faith. He makes no comment on the status of the latter. And Christian authors assume that slaves will behave immorally. We therefore find numerous examples where Christian writers compare the bad behaviour of their flock to the kind of behaviour you would normally expect from a slave. But, like Stoic writers, Christian texts often emphasise that slaves were also capable of acting morally.

St Paul took great care not to fall foul of the Roman law by harbouring a fugitive. He sent back a runaway slave to his owner Philemon. Paul’s concern is to ensure that Philemon acts leniently towards his slave. This does at least show that there was a Christian ideal that a master should behave decently towards his slaves. Yet this kind of ideal also existed in the sort of pagan philosophy we saw in
Chapter IV
. Did this have much influence on the lived reality on the ground? It’s impossible to say.

Paul also told slaves that they should obey their masters. But he said, too, that their suffering was comparable with that of Christ. This emphasised how good were their prospects of future salvation. There is no hint that slaves should rebel or even resist their condition. Instead they are told ‘to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in every respect; they are not to talk back, not to pilfer, but to show complete and perfect fidelity’ (Paul’s
Letter to Titus
2: 9–10). Some later Christian writers, such as John Chrysostom, interpreted Paul’s sending back of the slave to Philemon as meaning that slavery should not be abolished.

The conversion of the emperor Constantine to Christianity in
AD
312 did not make much difference to the plight of slaves. He did pass laws preventing the splitting-up of slave families at sale (
Theodosian Code
2.25), forbidding the branding of slaves on the face, and prohibiting slaves being used as prostitutes by their masters. This last law reflects the Christian concern with the body as a site of morality. This meant that a master’s sexual behaviour towards his slaves acquired a significance it had not held for a Roman audience.

It was not until the late fourth century that Gregory of Nyssa provided the first Christian text that attacks slavery as an institution (
Fourth Homily on Ecclesiastes
). Many have seen this as the first ancient text, pagan or Christian, to call for the abolition of slavery, although it is not clear that he is taking what would have been an extreme position for its time. He may simply have been trying to persuade Christian owners to treat their slaves better. Even if he is arguing for abolition, his remained a lone voice in antiquity.

The story of the crooked slave Callistus, who was later to become pope, from
c
.
AD
217–222, is told by his rival Hippolytus (in
The Refutation of All Heresies
9.12.1). This means that we should probably take the story with more than a pinch of salt. It also underlines that we should be careful about seeing one universal Christian attitude towards slavery. Christian views of slavery were as varied as those of the Romans, and changed significantly over time.

An example of a Christian sermon assuming that slaves are morally inferior can be found in Salvian
The Governance of God
4.3. For stricter Christian attitudes towards the sexual exploitation of slaves by their masters see also Salvian 7.4. The Christian emperor Constantine’s law against forcing a slave into prostitution is in the
Theodosian Code
15.8.2. Paul sending back the runaway slave Onesimus to his owner is in his
Letter to Philemon
.

   
EPILOGUE
   

T
HESE THEN ARE THE PRINCIPLES
that apply to the ownership and management of slaves. If you have read and studied my words with the same care and diligence you should expect of your slaves, then you will have acquired the knowledge you need to manage an efficient and successful household. You will know how to command authority and demand respect among your underlings. You will know something of the theory of slavery. You will understand what makes a slave function well, how best to treat him, and how best to get pleasure from your assets. You will know when the time is right to set your slaves off on the path of freedom, as loyal clients to your cause. You will also appreciate the pitfalls that occupying a high-status position and a leadership role can bring. But you will be all the better able to avoid them. In short, you will know how to be the Master.