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Slaves in the Late Roman Army
#1
I've tried reaching out to some historians and a reenactment group in Britain with no luck, so I thought I'd try a forum. I'm doing research for a book set in 322-326, roughly. Constantine's final battles against Licinius and ending with the Council of Nicea. The POV in the book is herding dogs. One of the main human characters is a slave, and for the life of me I can't find any information on slave soldiers.

I know they were called volones, but that is synonymous with voluntarii, which implies a freedman volunteer. I know that there was a specific "short whip" used for castigating slave soldiers that was much worse than a centurion's normal staff. This implies that slaves were treated like slaves while still within the army; i.e. suffering worse punishments than a regular soldier. I know that slaves could be given their freedom by displaying virtus in battle. And seriously, that is about it.

So, here are my questions:

Who owned a slave soldier? Was ownership transferred from a slave's owner to his recruiting officer? Or was there more symbolic ownership, as in "You belong to the Roman army now" (perhaps by taking the sacramentum?)

Who could free a slave soldier? Was there a "sent from the hand" ceremony of publicly freeing a slave?

How long did a slave have to serve in the army before being freed? I know there were automatic perks depending on your length of service; was it 20 years?

Could a slave rise in the ranks of being a soldier? How far? Were there limits on how far a slave could be promoted before they had to become free?

What would an experience for a slave tiro, a brand new recruit, have been like? Would there be extra tasks given to a slave because he was a slave by other soldiers in his unit? How would slave soldiers have been treated by his companions? Did units mix regular soldier and slave soldiers, or were they segregated, i.e. entire units made of slave soldiers?

If you could answer these questions, I'd be super happy. Or give me any articles or info. I can find a lot of info on slaves, and lot of info on soldier, but not much on slave soldiers.
Laura
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#2
The recruitment of slaves into army as soldiers (volones) is only known on one occasion during the Punic war, I think. There were other occasions of great peril and disruption (during the civil wars of the late republic, and the Marcomannic war) when slaves were freed and enlisted directly into the army.

Otherwise slaves would not have fought as soldiers - free status was a requisite of military service, and Trajan instructed his governor Pliny to execute any slave trying to enlist illegally.

There were slaves who served the soldiers - they were called calones - but they performed menial tasks: gathering firewood, cleaning, perhaps cooking. It was apparently quite normal for soldiers to have several slaves - the future St Martin of Tours was praised for only keeping one slave to attend him when he served in the Scholae. Josephus (I think) mentions that these slaves spent so long in a military environment that they could act as quite effective soldiers themselves if armed, but in practice this would have been a rare and desperate expedient.

There is, in any case, no possibility of slaves serving in the army of Constantine, unless they somehow managed to conceal their origins effectively enough to pass as freeborn.
Nathan Ross
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#3
Well, that throws a stick in the spokes of my story, to say the least. Would it be possible that a slave could be freed by an owner for the purposes of conscription? That, say, the owner a villa instead of giving up one of his sons, freed a slave or two to fill that quota?

I thought some portion of Constantine's army was conscripted from slaves, because there was such a large demand for soldiers despite barbarian recruits, especially because he went to war so often over such a large area. I also thought slaves could earn their freedom after serving in the army for a set period of time - is that strictly a Punic wars thing?
Laura
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#4
I think your probably better off calling your character a former slave rather than find some means within the story to keep him both a slave and a serving soldier.
Adrian Coombs-Hoar
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#5
well a slave after is freed is a freedman, he till retains his former master as protector but will be free to do what he likes and he can#t go into the army as freemen
on the other side if he's not free he might end up on the cross which makes an interesting character out of him
edited to add an example some 200 years earlier:
pliny to Trajan:
THE VERY excellent young man Sempronius Cælianus, having discovered two slaves 1 among the recruits, has sent them to me. But I deferred passing sentence till I had consulted you, the restorer and upholder of military discipline, concerning the punishment proper to be inflicted upon them. My principal doubt is this, whether although they have taken the military oath, they are yet entered into any particular legion. I request you, therefore, Sir, to inform me what course I should pursue in this affair, especially as it concerns example
trajans answer:
SEMPRONIUS CAELIANUS has acted agreeably to my orders, in sending such persons to be tried before you as appear to deserve capital punishment. It is material, however, in the case in question, to enquire whether these slaves enlisted themselves voluntarily, or were chosen by the officers, or presented as substitutes for others. If they were chosen, the officer is guilty; if they are substitutes, the blame rests with those who deputed them; but if, conscious of the legal inabilities of their station, they presented themselves voluntarily, the punishment must fall upon their own heads. That they are not yet entered into any legion, makes no great difference in their case; for they ought to have given a true account of themselves immediately upon their being approved as fit for the service.
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Gelu I.
www.terradacica.ro
www.porolissumsalaj.ro
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#6
Quote:Would it be possible that a slave could be freed by an owner for the purposes of conscription? That, say, the owner a villa instead of giving up one of his sons, freed a slave or two to fill that quota?

The ban on slaves in the army also extended to freedmen (freed slaves) unfortunately. There was a discussion about this on here a while back - freed status, in practice, was very hard to establish, and doubtless many freedmen did enlist, with the army either unawares or turning a blind eye!

As for your landowner, it would have been illegal for him to try and enlist either slaves or freedmen to fill his quota of recruits. There were, I think (although I'd need to check) laws in the later empire to stop landowners giving up their coloni (semi-free labourers) for the draft, which suggests that many of them tried to do just that.

It was actually far more likely that the sons of a landowner would try and join the army (as officers) to avoid the requirement to serve as decurions on the local town council, which was also hereditary and extremely costly! There are plenty of stories of the provincial upper classes trying to 'escape' into military or imperial service to avoid the onerous tax and service requirements of the decurion class (Ammianus Marcellinus was apparently one of them).

However, the later empire also saw a blurring of the social boundaries (albeit not in a liberating way) - earlier in the empire it was quite clear, legally speaking, who was free and who not, who was a citizen and who a slave. By the late second century citizens had become divided into honestiores (the 'better sort', wealthy men and, later, soldiers) and humiliores, the 'humble people', whose civil rights were steadily stripped away until they ended up as little better than slaves in the eyes of the law. This was combined with the rise of the tied labourers I mentioned to create a situation in which slaves were often better off than free men! Citizenship too, after AD212, was less an indicator of worth, and was far more freely awarded.

So you might be better thinking of your character as a poor man, a labourer's son perhaps, rather than an actual slave.


Quote:I thought some portion of Constantine's army was conscripted from slaves... - is that strictly a Punic wars thing?

Strictly post-Cannae, or during the republican civil wars and Marcomannic wars, as far we know. Constantine had a vast pool of military manpower to draw upon in the western provinces, and seems to have recruited large numbers of 'barbarians' too. Recruiting slaves would have been excellent negative propaganda for his enemies. Of course, in fiction anything is possible, and if you can construct a plausible reason why your man is illegally enlisted, then go ahead!
Nathan Ross
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#7
All of this is great information! I knew within about five minutes of posting my last post that a landowner wouldn't be able to pass off a slave to fill a quota, and that freedmen were exempt from serving. Fair enough. Let' try some alternatives.

My slave guy is a cattle herder, a pecuaris. It's not necessary for him to be a soldier, per se, as he experiences a different side of the army than that. I think I like the idea of him being a calones. Let's say the son of the farmer is conscripted and takes a slave with him. There was a rank of circutor, I think, where you could begin immediately as a circutor if you brought two horses, or a horse and a slave. Circutor was kind of an unknown rank, though, it was apparently a rank for doing rounds to inspect sentries?

The slave character would care for his master's horse(s) and would have knowledge of cattle herding. I was playing around with the idea that he catches the eye of a veterinarii because of his skill with animals, and could become a pecuaris medicus, an assistant to the vet. He starts learning vet care, which makes him fairly valuable.

Couple of questions, though. First, is any of this plausible? Second, could the slave be sold to the vet because of his skill? Would the son of the farmer have rights to sell his slave, or would he write his father? (I would assume selling a slave to buy better armor and equipment would be tempting.) And what would happen to a calones if his master dies on the battle field?
Laura
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#8
Freedmen, even people which were slaves the day before enlistment, were usually just allowed for service with the vigiles or the classis.

However, in very bad times, the emperors even allowed freedmen in the auxilia. Marc Aurel hired everyone he could get, after the marcomannic invasion, perhaps even for his 2 new legions. Some historians also believe, that they have evidence, that the cohortes civium romanorum, Augustus raised after the Clades Variana, because he could not get romans for new legions included freedmen; very new freedmen.

Real slaves (not freedmen) under arms are just known in very bad emergeny cases, like a siege of a city ("Hannibal ante portas")

So I would not fully exclude, that in the late empire freedmen were hired in emergency case. Freedmen could mean, he was a slave, was brought to the praetor, was freed and enlisted right behind the next door.

The idea that this son brings his horses and a slave to the army is very usual and therefore plausible. Usually this son cannot sell the slave as long as the pater familias lives, because everything the son earned before he entered the army is property of the father. But if the father donated (peculium) this slave and the horses to his son before departure, which is again very plausible, then he could sell him.

And if this vet as his new owner thinks, that he should free this slave, because he did so a good job, he has all the rights to do so. And if the prefect of this legion thinks, that this new freedman is so valuable, he will find a way to enlist him as a legionary. You bet! Actually a prefect would just do it. He is godfather of the camp himself.

Regarding the rank of this son. I don't know exactly about the late roman army. But during principate, sons of the curiales or of equestrian rank could even start as decurio or centurio. It is all a matter of social rank, connections and sometimes money. The youngest centurio we know of, died, when he was 19 years old.
Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas
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#9
If I remember correctly, if a soldier was given or acquired anything for the better performance of his military duties, it became part of his peculium castrense and he could deal with it freely as his own property. You would need to check the law, however, if you wanted this to form part of your story.
Michael King Macdona

And do as adversaries do in law, -
Strive mightily, but eat and drink as friends.
(The Taming of the Shrew: Act 1, Scene 2)
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#10
oops double post
Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas
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#11
Quote:If I remember correctly, if a soldier was given or acquired anything for the better performance of his military duties, it became part of his peculium castrense and he could deal with it freely as his own property. You would need to check the law, however, if you wanted this to form part of your story.

Correct, but this slave is not part of his peculium castrense. The father has to give him the slave as a peculium in advance. In this case, this older peculium is still property of the father theoretically, but the son has the power of disposal. He now has all rights to sell the slave and the contract is valid by roman law.
Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas
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#12
Another alternative. If this prefect is not willing to take the small risk to enlist this fresh freedmen, he is convinced of, as a legionary, he can hire him as a freelancer. Yes, there were freelancers in the roman army. Communis opinio is, that the roman army hired freelancers, if they had no appropriate immunis. Some medici or architecti were most probably freelancers.
Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas
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#13
Okay, so all seems doable. Nice. I would still like to know what happened to a slave whose master died while fighting, if anyone could answer that.

What kind of treatment could a slave in the army expect from other soldiers? Did a slave take care of only his master, or other men in the immediate unit? I'm aware that of course abuse could happen, but it was considered bad form, and a soldier taking it into his own hands to chastise a slave could be damaging another man's property. I can't imagine keeping a slave to yourself would be a morale builder that promoted brotherhood in the ranks, but maybe a slave only had time for his master's concerns, especially if he was looking after horses.

Could slaves marry? Were slaves allowed to enjoy prostitutes? (Obviously provided they could pay and that it wasn't rape; apparently a slave who raped got molten lead in his throat for his troubles.) A slave could have money and his own accounts depending on the level of freedom he had, and that money could be saved to buy their freedom. Not sure if time with a prostitute could be considered wise spending, but the temptation had to be there. I'm also not sure if a slave in the aforementioned position of caring for his master and the master's horses would have the level of freedom to buy a turn with a prostitute, or if it could simply be a reward from an indulgent master.
Laura
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#14
Quote:Okay, so all seems doable. Nice. I would still like to know what happened to a slave whose master died while fighting, if anyone could answer that.

He becomes inheritance. No matter how his master dies. If the master has not written down his will, the close relatives will inherit. Roman law was not that different about this case. Soldiers sometimes constituted comrades as heirs. The slave could be freed in the will.

Regarding prostitution, I see no reason, why a slave should not spend money on it. He can use his peculium in any way he wants, as long as his master is not explicitly against it.

Slaves could marry (contubernia), but just with permission of the master(s). But the law changed often during the centuries, especially if the bride was a free woman. Now it becomes a bit complicated. Let him become a freedmen before he marries to avoid issues. Or let him deal with it like a legionary. Legionaries (until Septimus Severus) could not marry. They just lived together with women until dismissal.
Ut desint vires, tamen est laudanda voluntas
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#15
Great, I'll keep that in mind. I've got a few more questions, as I develop things.

What sort of religious practices would slaves be able to do? I know they wouldn't be able to sacrifice cattle or anything, so how did they play their part with pagan gods? Or hearth gods, which might have been more common among lower classes? I would like my slave character to convert to Christianity, mostly to be symbolic of the religion on the rise. Diocletian's persecutions were over, and any renewed persecutions were under Licinius, and the story takes place after Constantine answered Maxentius's prophecy of "an enemy of Rome shall fall" with the labarum, and the subsequent victory at Milvian bridge. The Council of Arles also gave the okay for Christians to serve in the army. I know what formal Christian services looked like at the time, under Eastern Orthodoxy and churches, but not so much with slaves, who may not have had access to such places by sheer virtue of their status/responsibilities. In short, what could a slave encounter both pagan and Christian-wise in an army camp?

If a slave was freed, he took the name of his master, correct? I assume the name of the person who set him free. Can anyone direct me to some Roman surnames? I don't want to accidentally name a Roman citizen or soldier after a hugely powerful and highly influential Roman clan of nobility. The nomenclature of slave names also changed things a bit, but I think I can make that leap okay after I figure out some good surnames.
Laura
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