Continuities and Instabilities in the Institution of Slavery in Ancient Rome and in the American South

Abstract

This thesis is a comparative study that examines continuities and instabilities in violent practices inherent in slavery in the ancient world and in America. In particular, it explores the violence used in maintaining slavery in ancient Rome and in the southern United States, and it argues that the violence, essential to slavery also weakened it. It is concerned with how slave status was acquired and maintained, and the ways violence defined the slave experience. The thesis includes a critical evaluation of the laws and literature of ancient Rome and the American South that pertain to the violence perpetuated against slaves. Using texts that foreground the perspective of the enslaved, the study looks at the problem in ancient Rome and in the American South.