{"id":15733,"date":"2016-03-26T20:31:45","date_gmt":"2016-03-26T20:31:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/?p=15733"},"modified":"2016-03-26T20:31:45","modified_gmt":"2016-03-26T20:31:45","slug":"i-have-run-away-seize-me-a-slave-collar-of-the-time-of-constantine-and-other-similar-items","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/2016\/03\/26\/i-have-run-away-seize-me-a-slave-collar-of-the-time-of-constantine-and-other-similar-items\/","title":{"rendered":"“I have run away. Seize me!” – a slave collar of the time of Constantine, and other similar items"},"content":{"rendered":"

Roman society was a brutal place.\u00a0 At the bottom of the heap were slaves, who could endure a very unpleasant time.\u00a0 Not unnaturally, some of them ran away; and some were recaptured.<\/p>\n

In the museum in Rome in the Baths of Diocletian, there is a slave collar on display.\u00a0Here\u00a0are some images of it\u00a0(click on the images to enlarge them).[ref]These from Twitter: the first via Kate Cooper<\/a>; the others taken by Sarah Bond<\/a> in 2014.[\/ref]<\/p>\n

\"Slave<\/a>
Slave collar. 4th century. Baths of Diocletian, Rome.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\"slave_collar2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"slave_collar3\"<\/a>
\nThe inscription is straightforward.\u00a0 Slightly normalised it reads:<\/p>\n

\n

FUGI. TENE ME. CUM REVOCAVERIS ME D. M. ZONINO, ACCIPIS SOLIDUM<\/p>\n

I have run away. Catch me. If you return me to my master Zoninus, you will receive a\u00a0solidus.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A solidus is the standard gold coin of the later Roman empire, so not a small sum.\u00a0 Clearly this was a valuable slave, and one who didn’t like his or her “employment” much.<\/p>\n

For comparison, here is the receipt for another slave.\u00a0 The tablet was found in London.\u00a0 The image was reversed and coloured from a photograph.[ref]Published in Britannia<\/em> 34, 2003, 41-51.\u00a0 Details via here<\/a>.[\/ref]<\/p>\n

\n

\"slave_tablet_1poultry\"<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Translation:<\/p>\n

\n

Vegetus, assistant slave of Montanus the slave of the August Emperor and sometime assistant slave of Secundus, has bought and received by mancipium the girl Fortunata, or by whatever name she is known, by nationality a Diablintian, from […] for six hundred denarii. And that the girl in question is transferred in good health, that she is warranted not to be liable to wander or run away, but that if anyone lays claim to the girl in question or to any share in her, […] in the wax tablet which he has written and sworn by the genius of the Emperor Caesar […]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The girl is a Gaul.\u00a0 Montanus is an imperial slave – really a civil servant.\u00a0 Vegetus is also a slave, but clearly able to buy things with his own money, and for a not inconsiderable sum.<\/p>\n

There are more items about slaves here<\/a>.\u00a0 One of these is witness to an apparently\u00a0more tender relationship:<\/p>\n

\"Bracelet<\/a>
Bracelet for a slave girl, from her master. Found near Pompeii<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The inscription reads:<\/p>\n

DOM[I]NUS ANCILLAE SUAE<\/p>\n

The master to his slave-girl.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It was found on the girl’s arm.\u00a0 For she died while hiding from the eruption of 79 AD at Pompeii, and her remains were found at modern Moregine, near Pompeii.\u00a0 The item is\u00a0now in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples.<\/p>\n

But why does it not give her name?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roman society was a brutal place.\u00a0 At the bottom of the heap were slaves, who could endure a very unpleasant time.\u00a0 Not unnaturally, some of them ran away; and some were recaptured. In the museum in Rome in the Baths of Diocletian, there is a slave collar on display.\u00a0Here\u00a0are some images of it\u00a0(click on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[19],"tags":[1545],"class_list":["post-15733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-from-my-diary-announcements","tag-slaves"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15733\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/roger-pearse.com\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}