2: submission to a dominating influence.
3 a: the state of a person who is a chattel of another b: the practice of slaveholding.
The author Michael Grant defines slavery as an institution of the common law of peoples by which a person is put into the ownership of somebody else, contrary to the natural order".
Slavery in ancient Rome was not much different than slavery in Africa around the same time. Slaves were taken when the Roman army won a battle; slaves were usually people of the other country that did not have enough status to become Roman citizens. The men would work in the fields, or as the master's personal lackey while the women would work in the kitchen, the house (cleaning, sewing ), or as personal assistants to the woman of the house.
The way a slave was treated depended on the type of master he or she had. Tales about the treatment of slaves range from brutal to loving. There are stories of roman women pulling the hair of the nearest slave because she could. Although none of this is proven there are also tales about families sending sick slaves off to "retreats" so they could heal.
Slaves produced food and many other materials the cities depended on. Some of the most important crops produced by slaves were wheat, olives, vines and grapes, which were eaten and used for making wine. "Wines were drunk before, after, and between meals, it became their coffee, tea, and spirits. The olive oil on the other hand, was their butter, soap, and electricity. If you are a student and using this for research sorry for the interuption, if you are a teacher and a student has turned this in as a report please contact Danielle M. Friedman, so that proper actions may be taken. They cooked with it, put it on at the baths, and burned it in their lamps, and the grains were ground into flour (Casson 28)." .
Not only were the slaves working on the farms and in the households, they were also involved in businesses.