Legal Distinctions Between Slaves and Freemen in Roman and Germanic Law

Slavery is subject that most Americans are well versed in. The average American knows that our ancestors oppressed an entire race of people for hundreds of years as a labor force for our agricultural base. However, that was colonial slavery, a form of slavery that is no way represents the slavery that both the Roman and Germanic people practiced. These forms of slavery were based not on where the slave was from, but if they were free . This distinction is important because it is the basis for the laws of both societies concerning slaves. Slaves were not something to be owned for all eternity (unless captured in war ). Theoretically, a slave could become a free man; after serving for a certain time or paying off their debt to the person who owned them. However, the laws that governed slaves and freemen alike were complex in both Roman and Germanic societies. The line that defined if you were free or not could be very vague.

Laws that governed slaves in the Roman Empire were passed down from generation to generation via written documents. These laws were established by various Emperors, but were also influenced by imperial decrees, opinions of learned jurists senatorial statutes etc . . There were many ways to become a slave in the Roman Empire. Parents sold their children into slavery if their economic needs outweighed the need to raise a child. Getting captured by Rome as an enemy combatant was another way to become a slave .