• Sign up or login, and you'll have full access to opportunities of forum.

The Slave Market

Go to CruxDreams.com
Women are going to shop. Another mixed slave market by Tejlor&bernd. Again with the shady slave trader for Montycrusto. Does anyone think slave markets always were mixed sex, or specialized?
From what I've learnt, in Middle Eastern and African slave markets, much like present-day in cattle markets, 'cows' and 'bulls' were sold in the same place, but at different times. Probably likewise in Roman ones. And, in Rome and other major cities, and in the Islamic world, there were general markets, but also special, more private, places where 'top end' slaves were sold at premium prices to wealthy, discriminating customers.
 
From what I've learnt, in Middle Eastern and African slave markets, much like present-day in cattle markets, 'cows' and 'bulls' were sold in the same place, but at different times. Probably likewise in Roman ones. And, in Rome and other major cities, and in the Islamic world, there were general markets, but also special, more private, places where 'top end' slaves were sold at premium prices to wealthy, discriminating customers.
Did ladies purchase slaves directly?
 
From what I've learnt, in Middle Eastern and African slave markets, much like present-day in cattle markets, 'cows' and 'bulls' were sold in the same place, but at different times. Probably likewise in Roman ones. And, in Rome and other major cities, and in the Islamic world, there were general markets, but also special, more private, places where 'top end' slaves were sold at premium prices to wealthy, discriminating customers.
Like at the House of Typhus. :D
Asterix-SlaveMarket1a.jpg
Did ladies purchase slaves directly?
I think I read somewhere that they did not do so generally, and those cases where women did go to the slave markets it was sort of like "cross-dressing": a bit scandalous and not done by respectable women. Romans were, apart from a decadent subset, a very morally strict and prudish people, it seems. Seems to be why Christianity caught on there, after a string of decadent and dissipate emperors, especially Commodus.
 
Did ladies purchase slaves directly?

Good question, which others may better able than I am to answer with confidence, I know there's a lot of work been done in recent years on the position(s) of women in Classical times. My impression is that the situation for patrician women was rather like in traditional families in India today - younger married women were entirely under the 'guardianship' of their husbands and in-laws, but older women - mothers of older children, past child-bearing, or wealthy widows - would have had more independence. I doubt if they'd have visited the public slave-market, they might have gone to high-class merchants' private premises, more likely they'd have had slaves brought to their homes to consider for purchase.
 
mothers of older children, past child-bearing, or wealthy widows - would have had more independence. I doubt if they'd have visited the public slave-market, they might have gone to high-class merchants' private premises, more likely they'd have had slaves brought to their homes to consider for purchase.
I know there are accounts of Livia (wife of the Emperor Augustus) who would procure young slave girls for Augustus as a present. I suspect she didn't go to the slave markets herself, being wife of the divine Augustus and all.
 
End - Sandy Sale.jpg
GoatJr End - Sandy Sale.jpg

This is a neat solution to addressing the empty lower left corner of the original painting. Otto Pilny was an Orientalist painter, who toured North Africa in the final decades of the nineteenth century. The painting dates from 1910, so it is contemporary with early motoring, and in fact Pilny was painting such scenes until his death in 1936. The first Willys Jeep was built just five years later in 1941, so I think its appearance here is not as incongruous or anachronistic as it might at first seem.

The character interaction of the inserted figures is delightful. The military type engages the original Bedouin in conversation in a realistic manner. The central figure was originally addressing the seated female with raised arms, but now both are gesticulating towards the new girl, skilfully inserted between them. Lighting and saturation are consistent for the new additions, and the updated version looks very convincing. Nice work, GoatJr! :)
 

This is a neat solution to addressing the empty lower left corner of the original painting. Otto Pilny was an Orientalist painter, who toured North Africa in the final decades of the nineteenth century. The painting dates from 1910, so it is contemporary with early motoring, and in fact Pilny was painting such scenes until his death in 1936. The first Willys Jeep was built just five years later in 1941, so I think its appearance here is not as incongruous or anachronistic as it might at first seem.

The character interaction of the inserted figures is delightful. The military type engages the original Bedouin in conversation in a realistic manner. The central figure was originally addressing the seated female with raised arms, but now both are gesticulating towards the new girl, skilfully inserted between them. Lighting and saturation are consistent for the new additions, and the updated version looks very convincing. Nice work, GoatJr! :)
I'm afraid I've had to resort to extreme measures View attachment 1001481 . Amazing ... Thank You Bob ... but you have to stay out of my head !
 
I know there are accounts of Livia (wife of the Emperor Augustus) who would procure young slave girls for Augustus as a present. I suspect she didn't go to the slave markets herself, being wife of the divine Augustus and all.
Why not?
Slavery was a perfectly normal thing at this time (Late Republic/Early Empire) and (what we tend to forget) primarily an economic thing, with little sexual connotations. Yes, there were slaves used as sexual objects, but that was a small percentageand it was something that was accepted but not talked about. Household slaves were there to do the household. They often were elderly people inherited within the family (which was considered the 'ideal' way of getting slaves. The word 'familia' even means 'the slaves that belong to a household).
Besides such concrete examples, the question in general is not answerable. (Western) Roman culture existed for almost 800 years (same timespan than from today to the time of Richard the Lionheart) and almost everything changed radically several times. And, just as the time span is huge, the geographical scope is also enormous. It started out as a small middle Italian city, then became an Imperium. You can be sure that even at the times of Augustus there were very big differences how slaves were treated in Rome, in partly Celtic northern Italia and in pre-dominantly Greek southern Italia. Not to speak about Spain, France, South Germany, North Africa, Aegaeis, Levant ...
So whenever you ask "Was it like this, or like that or completely different?" The answer is most probably "Yes!"
 
One giant slave market, another one in the initial phases. Finished one is Tejlor&bernd, WIP is Kindinov. Hope you ladies/gents like them. Hope you like it Kav!!
 

Attachments

  • 984EFA79-54FA-43D0-B3C5-217E31CC506D.jpeg
    984EFA79-54FA-43D0-B3C5-217E31CC506D.jpeg
    2.1 MB · Views: 630
  • 6E0C6FA3-51E2-491D-9F4B-0F0E4B14CD1F.jpeg
    6E0C6FA3-51E2-491D-9F4B-0F0E4B14CD1F.jpeg
    1.6 MB · Views: 734
Back
Top Bottom