Women in Classics: Slavery in the Roman Empire with Emma Southon

'The most important book you'll ever read about ancient Rome' Rebecca Wragg Sykes

We associate the Romans with majesty and greatness: we marvel at their straight roads and innovative underfloor heating, at the dominance of their army and navy, at the grandeur of their palaces and temples. But the Romans were also enslavers. They built an empire on the backs of millions of people snatched from their homes in the aftermath of war, kidnapped from the streets, sold into slavery as punishment or, simply, born enslaved.

Servus takes us into the invisible spaces of the Roman world, where millions of lives were dedicated to the perpetuation of the empire that owned them. From the fields of wheat required to give every Roman their daily bread, to the actors and gladiators who provided their circuses, and the miners who kept Rome a city of gold and marble, enslaved people were the bedrock of the Roman Empire. They were ubiquitous, but silenced. Through the fragments they left behind, Emma Southon traces the pain and tragedy of their lives alongside the love stories, lifelong friendships, small victories, and hard-won freedoms.

'Forget white marble statues and philosophical debates: Emma Southon takes you on a journey through the hell of ancient slavery that defined the classical world as few other things – a true masterwork of historical inquiry.' Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director General of Pompeii

Emma Southon is a former bookseller and the author of A History of the Roman Empire in 21 Women and A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Armed with a PhD in Ancient History, she also co-hosts the History is Sexy podcast. She lives in Belfast with her husband.