Working Poor

Background

- By the middle of the 1st Cent. AD., most upper class Romans forsook manual labor.

- They considered it beneath their dignity to work.

- As a result, the work was performed by slaves or a large class of poor citizens.

- Their were very skilled craftsmen, worked long hard hours and few became rich.

Artisans

- Artisans set up their shops throughout the city.

- The shop was just a one room store from which the craftsman sold directly to the buyer

- The most common were cobblers, goldsmiths, cutlery makers, and butchers.

Clients

- Many other free Romans were unskilled and had to depend entirely upon the charity of the rich

- Every morning these poor "clients" would line up outside a rich man's door for scraps or coins

- The government also provided free bread, water, and entertainment for the poor

Slaves

- Slaves were deprived of civil rights

- They were considered as animals to be worked to exhaustion for no pay except bare survival

- All slaves were completely at the mercy of their owners.

- Many were cruelly punished, maimed, or even killed for slight offenses

- Rome had approximately 200,000 to 300,000 slaves and 500,000 free men.

- By 100 AD. A law was passed forbidding a master to kill, torture, or mutilate a slave.

- In Rome, many slaves were freed and were known as "freedmen."

- A number of skillful freedmen became wealthy and politically influential.