Child Slaves at Work in Roman Antiquity

Abstract

Making use of literary, legal, epigraphical and papyrological sources, this article aims at offering a comprehensive survey of instances of labour carried out by child slaves in Roman times. The evidence offered by archaeology, osteology and iconography is also taken into account. The child slaves’ jobs and tasks are categorized and the various cases are commented upon. In the end, it turns out that the subject is not only revelatory with regard to the living conditions of young slaves and concepts of slavery, but also the everyday reality of children and Roman concepts of childhood in general