Archaeologists unearth 'slaves' room' near Pompeii
Archaeologists have uncovered a "slaves' room" near Pompeii
that sheds light on the living conditions of slaves in the ancient Roman city
Location: Pompeii, Italy
(SOUNDBITE) (Italian) GABRIEL ZUCHTRIEGEL, DIRECTOR OF POMPEII ARCHAEOLOGICAL PARK, SAYING (CONTINUES ON SHOTS OF REMAINS):
"There are three beds. They are extremely simple cots and of a little-known type, so we can imagine the slaves who worked in these spaces coming to sleep here in the evening. Two beds are a bit larger, they measure 1.70 m and, therefore, belonged to adults, while one is smaller, about 1.40 m, therefore for a child, perhaps for a small family of slaves, but we don't know. We know for sure that it was certainly a precarious life in these conditions."
Under Roman law slaves were considered property and had no legal personhood
Pompeii was home to about 13,000 people
It was buried under ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD