A Short Note on Slavery during the Roman Empire.
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I have never read anything of slaves who became believers except in two references Paul makes in his letters. I have encountered more about people sold into slavery from Julius Caesar's writing of his Gallic wars. When the Gauls at the siege of Alesia (in southern France) in September 52 BC finally surrendered to Caesar, they were all given to his soldiers and officers to be kept or sold as slaves. This amounted to thousands of people. Later in the 1st century, the emperor was concerned about the number of slaves being given freedom on the death of their owners. This was producing a large number of property-less, poor people who often became homeless beggars. Slavery was certainly a problem, but it continued on well after the empire had collapsed. For the most part history has not left a record of what became of freed slaves in the Roman empire. Hopefully many enslaved during these times found the Lord, but any real record of this is undoubtedly very obscure, but more likely does not even exist. However we do know that the Gospel did have tremendous influence in the last four centuries of the empire's existence. Apparently it spread into many, if not all, parts of the empire. I have no doubt slaves did encounter the Gospel and, just like others, became believers. Only the Lord knows how many.

A brother.

Sep. 2017.

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