ABSTRACT
The effects of household slavery upon the mind and body of the slave-owning classes are subtle and far-reaching; correct description of an insidious disease, whose destructiveness is little apparent to the sufferer himself, is not easy. Absolute control leads to the satisfaction of every bodily whim, and creates a despotic and irresponsible temper insensible to the happiness of others and blind to moral values. Roman luxury is a theme which has held many by the double fascination of the attractive and the repellent. But luckily it need not detain us. Our concern is rather with the foundation upon which Roman luxury was built; except for slavery, it would never have reared so vast a superstructure. This chapter reviews the household of Trimalchio. It is the inscriptions that read as romance; in them most of Trimalchio’s slaves can be found, and there are scores besides.
