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Handout #18 |
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Slaves in Rome in the first century
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How they should be treated Seneca (4 BC to AD 65 A.D.) exercised political functions. He was tutor to Nero, but when Nero became emperor, he forced Seneca to commit suicide. A stoic moralist, Seneca did not always act in accordance with his principles. I am glad to learn, through those who came from you, that you live on friendly terms with your slaves. That befits a sensible and well-educated man like yourself. 'They are slaves?' people declare. No, rather, they are men. 'Slaves?' No, but comrades. 'Slaves?' No, they are unpretentious friends. 'Slaves?' No, they are our fellow slaves, if one reflects that Fortune has equal rights over slaves and free men alike... He whom you call your slave sprang from the same stock, was smiled upon by the same skies ... It is just as possible for you to see in him a freeborn man as for him to see in you a slave. Seneca, To Lucilius Letter 47. |
