An ergastulum (plural: ergastula) was a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
workhouse building used as a type of factory with
slave
Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...
s held in chains or to punish slaves.
The ergastulum was usually built as a deep, roofed pit below ground level, large enough to allow the slaves to work within it, and containing narrow spaces in which they slept. Ergastula were common structures on all slave-using farms (
latifundia
A ''latifundium'' (Latin: ''latus'', "spacious", and ''fundus'', "farm", "estate") was originally the term used by ancient Romans for great landed estates specialising in agriculture destined for sale: grain, olive oil, or wine. They were charac ...
).
The etymology is disputed between two possible Greek roots: ''ergasterios'' "workshop" and ''ergastylos'' "pillar to which slaves are tethered."
Augustus instituted inspections of ''ergastula'' because travelers were being illegally seized and held in them. The ergastulum was made illegal during the reign of
Hadrian
Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
as part of a series of reforms to improve conditions for slaves.
Columella
Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella (, Arabic: ) was a prominent Roman writer on agriculture in the Roman Empire.
His in twelve volumes has been completely preserved and forms an important source on Roman agriculture and ancient Roman cuisin ...
in his ''De re rustica'' states that an underground ergastulum should be as healthful as possible and lit by windows with narrow bars, which are far enough from the ground that it is not possible to reach them by hand. In the
Loeb Classical Library
The Loeb Classical Library (LCL; named after James Loeb; , ) is a monographic series of books originally published by Heinemann and since 1934 by Harvard University Press. It has bilingual editions of ancient Greek and Latin literature, ...
1941 edition H. B. Ash translates a later section in Book 1, Chapter 8 of ''De re rustica'' as: "Again, it is the established custom of all men of caution to inspect the inmates of the workhouse
'ergastuli'' to find out whether they are carefully chained, whether the places of confinement are quite safe and properly guarded, whether the overseer has put anyone in fetters or removed his shackles without the master's knowledge." Ash translates the term ''ergastulis'' as "chain-gangs" upon its first appearance in ''De re rustica'' in Book 1, Chapter 3.
Examples
*
Villa dei Volusii
References
Slavery in ancient Rome
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