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GCSE Latin — Roman Civilisation: Slavery in the Roman World

Led by Lucius Annaeus Seneca Simulacrum

Six tutorials on slavery in the Roman world — the Topic 7 prescription for WJEC Eduqas GCSE Latin Component 3B for 2027, 2028, and 2029 — hosted by Seneca (author of Letter 47) with guest appearances from Pliny the Younger (on domestic slaves), Tacitus (on the Pedanius Secundus affair), and Suetonius (on imperial-household slaves).

1. Module 1 ○ Open

   The Road to Enslavement

   Led by Lucius Annaeus Seneca Simulacrum

   The question

   How did a person become a slave in the Roman world — and what does that reveal about how Romans thought about slavery?

   Outcome

   The student can describe the several routes to enslavement, understand how slave prices reflected skill and utility, and articulate the moral frameworks Romans used to reason about the legitimacy of slavery. (WJEC Component 3B · Topic 7 · The road to enslavement)

   Begin the course →
2. Module 2 ○ Open

   Lives of Enslaved People: Urban and Rural

   Led by Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus Simulacrum

   The question

   What did Roman slaves actually do, and how did the experience of slavery differ between urban and rural settings?

   Outcome

   The student can describe the range of work performed by Roman slaves, distinguish urban from rural experience and free from state from private slavery, and draw on Pliny's letters as evidence for the domestic-slave relationship. (WJEC Component 3B · Topic 7 · Lives of enslaved people)

   Open this module →
3. Module 3 ○ Open

   Rights, Responsibilities, and the Hierarchy of Slaves

   Led by Lucius Annaeus Seneca Simulacrum

   The question

   Within the Roman slave system, what rights and responsibilities did slaves have — and how was the hierarchy among slaves structured?

   Outcome

   The student can describe the legal status of slaves, the ways custom and law constrained owners' power, the internal hierarchy of the slave system, and the paradoxes of slave experience within a hierarchical household. (WJEC Component 3B · Topic 7 · Rights and responsibilities)

   Open this module →
4. Module 4 ○ Open

   Manumission, Freedmen, and the Limits of Freedom

   Led by Lucius Annaeus Seneca Simulacrum

   The question

   Roman slaves could be freed — and large numbers were. What did manumission mean in practice, and what did freedom look like for a former slave?

   Outcome

   The student can describe the legal mechanisms of manumission, the patron-client relationship between former master and freedman, the social and economic opportunities freedmen had, and the lasting stigma that limited those opportunities. (WJEC Component 3B · Topic 7 · Manumission and freedom)

   Open this module →
5. Module 5 ○ Open

   Resistance, Revolt, and the Fear of the Enslaved

   Led by Publius Cornelius Tacitus Simulacrum

   The question

   Slaves resisted their condition in many ways, from everyday non-cooperation to outright revolt. What were those forms of resistance, and how did Roman society respond to them?

   Outcome

   The student can describe forms of slave resistance from everyday to revolutionary, name the major slave revolts, explain the Silanian senatorial decree, and discuss the Pedanius Secundus case as the exemplar of the tension between humane feeling and structural necessity in the Roman response to slave violence. (WJEC Component 3B · Topic 7 · Resistance and revolt)

   Open this module →
6. Module 6 ○ Open

   The Extended Evaluative Response on Slavery

   Led by Lucius Annaeus Seneca Simulacrum

   The question

   How do you construct an argument for the Component 3B paper on the topic of slavery, drawing across the material of the first five modules?

   Outcome

   The student can construct an extended evaluative response on Roman slavery drawing on material from the course, use source materials as evidence, navigate the tension between Roman self-representation and Roman practice, and manage the time demands of the Component 3B paper.

   Open this module →