The Roman Guide to Slave Management: A Treatise by Nobleman Marcus Sidonius Falx
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In this creative text, Toner (Roman Disasters), classicist at Churchill College, Cambridge, "translates" a work of Marcus Sidonius Falx, a fictionalized average Roman citizen from a well-off noble family who offers his rationale for owning slaves, how to procure them, and how to treat them. Falx relates the story of when a small hoe banged his leg and a slave had the audacity to smirk. Falx ordered the slave's legs broken, but a guest from a German tribe, who found slavery distasteful, asked Falx to show mercy. The event was so thought provoking for Falx that he composed this treatise, written in a tone that feels both educated and archaically brutal. After each of Falx's chapters, Toner offers commentary and explanations for modern readers, and the text as a whole is full of details on the history of the slave trade in the Mediterranean, how slaves came to be slaves (by owing a debt or being captured from a conquered land), the expenses incurred in owning slaves, and the prestige that came from being a slave master. Toner doesn't condone Falx's views, but his history and commentary provides context for the dirty institution upon which modern civilization is built. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In this creative text, Toner (Roman Disasters), classicist at Churchill College, Cambridge, "translates" a work of Marcus Sidonius Falx, a fictionalized average Roman citizen from a well-off noble family who offers his rationale for owning slaves, how to procure them, and how to treat them. Falx relates the story of when a small hoe banged his leg and a slave had the audacity to smirk. Falx ordered the slave's legs broken, but a guest from a German tribe, who found slavery distasteful, asked Falx to show mercy. The event was so thought provoking for Falx that he composed this treatise, written in a tone that feels both educated and archaically brutal. After each of Falx's chapters, Toner offers commentary and explanations for modern readers, and the text as a whole is full of details on the history of the slave trade in the Mediterranean, how slaves came to be slaves (by owing a debt or being captured from a conquered land), the expenses incurred in owning slaves, and the prestige that came from being a slave master. Toner doesn't condone Falx's views, but his history and commentary provides context for the dirty institution upon which modern civilization is built. (Sept.)