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Ergastulum
(438 words)

[German version]

Refers to a room in which tied-up slaves had to spend the night; it also refers to a group of bound slaves. With the acquisition of larger numbers of slaves during the Roman expansion in the 2nd and 1st cents. BC, the Roman slave owners were more frequently confronted with the fact that slaves fled or became violent against their owners. The result was an increased occurrence of slaves being tied up, who also had to do their work in that condition (compediti or vincti). This phenomenon becomes clear both in Cato as well as in Varro without the word ergastulum being used, which,…

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Eck, Werner (Cologne), “Ergastulum”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e401310>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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