Slave collar

[LUCIUS ALFENUS AVITIANUS]

Salve

Do you have some links, pics, or so with roman slave's collars? Usually have some inscriptions with the name of the owner.

Thanks... 8)

[FAVENTIANVS]

Tibisius has one in the PAX AUGUSTA book.

[Come in Nighthawk]

In HBO/BBC's "Rome" some of the slaves (e.g. Caesar’s Posca) wear a bronze tablet suspended around their neck (Atia’s Castor wears one even larger than Posca's). Other slaves OtoH (Pullo’s Eriene) do NOT appear to be wearing any such tablet. Pompey’s man in Ep. 01 was tattooed above his right ear on his bald pate, but wore no tablet that I recall. Also, the female body slaves of both Servilia & Atia do not wear them either. No one that I can see (finally got through all twelve DVD episodes) appears to be wearing anything like the “Thrall Collarâ€

[Carlton Bach]

Slave collars are for real, but unfortunately I can't find any images of them right now. IIRC finds tend to be fairly rare, anyway, suggesting that the practice was far from universal.

We know from literary sources that slaves could not visually be distinguished from free citizens, so clearly not all wore these things. Thus it has been suggested that slave collars were only put on slaves who were feared to attempt escape. At least one such collar is inscribed with a note that supports the theory (to the effect of 'I ran away. If you find me, returm me to my master'). But generally I suspect slave collars were simply something that was at the discretion of the owner - it could be done for a variety of reasons, but needed not be done for any. Some people may have liked the idea that their slaves advertised their wealth by walking around with 'vanity plates' while others might have considered them 'escape insurance' or a means to break a recalcitrant's will.

[Medusa Gladiatrix]

Salve Volker,

In the book "Vita Romana" by Ingemar König which I lent you is the issue about slave collars mentioned. Since you still have it just look up the sources he stated maybe that helps Avitianus with his research.

Vale optime,

[Carlton Bach]

Salve Volker,

In the book "Vita Romana" by Ingemar König which I lent you is the issue about slave collars mentioned. Since you still have it just look up the sources he stated maybe that helps Avitianus with his research.

Vale optime,

Thanks. It's on page 57, but there isn't much more, other than that most surviving slave collars are Late Roman, but there are some from Herculaneum. They also are mentioned in Plautus (captivi 357 ff.). A standard formula for inscriptions is given as:

SERVUS SUM XXX (name of master in Genitive) TENE ME NE FUGIAM ET REVOCA ME XXX (name and address of master or holder)

"I am the slave of XXX, if I escape, catch me and return me to XXX"

Still no photos

[Petra Rocks]

The best I could find with Google. :roll:

[url:zvxopi80]http://faculty.maxwell.syr.edu/gaddis/HST210/Nov6/Default.htm[/url]

[url:zvxopi80]http://faculty.luther.edu/~martinka/art43/daily/first%20days/writ2.jpg[/url]

[M. Demetrius]

THere were some slaves in Pompeii, IIRC, whose body casts show their collars. Poor beggars were evidently in a cellar and forgotten in their owners' hurry to get out of town.

Maybe that would help if you could find those pix. I couldn't describe them adequately from memory, except to say, "That looks even more uncomfortable than a torc!"