Servus with Emma Southon - Chalke History Festival Special Series

Most history books only scratch the surface of Roman slavery, portraying it as just manual labor. But Emma Southon new book 'Servus: How Slavery Made the Roman Empire' reveals a hidden world—slavery that reached into every corner of society, even high finance and bureaucracy. Imagine slaves running entire provinces, managing banks, or even owning property, yet still legally ‘property’ of their masters. The sheer scale means enslaved people could have their own lives, relationships, even tips and businesses—they had agency, in a system designed to control and exploit at every turn. That’s a far cry from the simpli...