's Ancient Civilizations of the World/Slavery  Roman collared
slaves - Ashmolean Museum  The Romans needed a large labor force
to engineer their massive empire, and they got it through the
institution of slavery. Unlike in the antebellum south of the
Untied States, slavery in the Roman world was not entirely based
on racial determinants or skin color. Romans acquired most of
their slaves through military conquest, thus slaves in the
empire were of diverse racial background: Celts, Germans,
Thracians, Carthaginians, Greeks, even fellow Latins on the
Italian peninsula. While taking defeated soldiers into slavery
made warfare make more economic sense than merely imprisoning or
executing them, it was not the only means by which a slave was
'created' in the Roman world. Free parents had the right to sell
their children into slavery, as all children born to slaves were
made slaves as well. As well, slavery was a fate met by children
abandoned at birth and insolvent debtors.  However, a slave
could receive manimissi