Question

Respond in writing to the following questions after exploring the internet sites above. 1 How do you think most people treated their slaves based on the words of Seneca? Why do you think Seneca encouraged the Roman to treat your inferior as you would like to be treated 2 In what way were the plebeians, slaves, and freemen recally important to trade in the Roman Empire? How would the absence of wave labor have impacted the spread of the Roman Empire and its wealth

Answer 1

Introduction- Lucius Annaeus Seneca was a major philosophical figure of the Roman period, his ideas for stoicism was highly accessible among the Roman elite class. The philosophical ideas of Seneca were influential and he supported the ethical perspective of humanity and civil rights. According to him, the path of happiness goes through the present and if a person makes a happy present may experience a better future.

Ans. 1

At that time, slaves were treated like machines, their owner has no sympathy for them, and slaves were the things rather than human. Upper Roman Class treated slaves as the assets, the value of slaves was nothing more than goods and services. The contemporary culture of Rome was not much flexible for all humans, racial discrimination exists and only a few people have all administrative rights. The ideas of Seneca were more futuristic according to the contemporary Roman society, he proposed that slaves are part of our society and every owner should treat them as they like to be treated, his mean to encourage the humanistic approach among upper Roman class, as an adviser of the king, he tried to influence elite class and officials to encourage humanistic approach. The idea of happiness hidden behind our behavior so he supported good behavior for all human including slaves.

Ans. 2

Roman Empire was very vast and developed, the economic ties with Asia helped this empire to grow rapidly. Slaves, plebeians, and freeman was the essential part of Roman society, they were producer, worker, peasants, and transporters, and the economy of the Roman Empire was based on their labor and work. The Roman upper class considered labor as the ancient traditions so they used slaves for their work. At that time, human resources are precious because they could fight in wars, work in farms, and serve in cities and palaces so the whole Roman Economy was depended on these classes, while upper Roman class was the owner and king’s courtiers.