that the Ancient Romans had a festival in which the Slaves and Slave Owners would switch places.
The good treatment of slaves in Rome was one of the positive and beneficial aspects of the slave system. For example, some slaves were given many privileges, comforts and were treated better than most people would have imagined. Nardo states “some masters treated their slaves with care and affection as their own children”(25).
“As historian L.P.Wilkinson also stated, ‘normal masters could hardly fail, even if half-ashamedly, to have a soft spot for characters they had seen toddling and growing up about the place, these slaves in return ate and dressed better than poor free Romans. They were even safer and secure’” ( qtd.in Nardo.25). Some slave masters showed their loyalty and how much they cared for their slaves by giving nearly complete charge of their money and business affairs to the slaves without interfering. This led to the development of saturnalia festival.
festival in which the Slaves and Slave Owners would switch places
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