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Servus

The moving, enthralling true story of slavery in the Roman Empire by acclaimed ancient historian Emma Southon

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Servus

By: Emma Southon
Narrated by: Emma Southon
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THE 'ELECTRIFYING' UNTOLD STORY OF SLAVERY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE BY THE AUTHOR OF A FATAL THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM.

'Excellent . . . a thoughtful and refreshing, intimate and disturbing insight into the workings of the Roman Empire' - Sunday Times

'The most important book you'll ever read about ancient Rome.' - Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of KINDRED

We associate the Romans with majesty and greatness: we marvel at their straight roads and innovative underfloor heating, at the dominance of their army and navy, at the grandeur of their palaces and temples. But the Romans were also enslavers. They built an empire on the backs of millions of people snatched from their homes in the aftermath of war, kidnapped from the streets, sold into slavery as punishment or, simply, born enslaved.

Servus takes us into the invisible spaces of the Roman world, where millions of enslaved lives were unwillingly dedicated to the perpetuation of the empire that owned them. From the fields of wheat required to give every Roman their daily bread, to the actors and gladiators who provided their circuses, and the miners who kept Rome a city of gold and marble, enslaved people were the bedrock of the Roman Empire. These enslaved people were ubiquitous, but silenced. Through the fragments they left behind, historian Emma Southon traces the pain and tragedy of their lives alongside the love stories, lifelong friendships, small victories and hard-won freedoms.

Servus tells the truth about the Roman empire and the unseen lives that made it so dominant.

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ACCLAIM FOR SERVUS:

'A much-needed corrective to centuries of obfuscations and misunderstandings. Servus is a challenging read yet a simultaneously sensitive and even entertaining one, striking that peculiar balance that . . . only Emma can fully achieve.' Jane Draycott, author of FULVIA

'Electrifying, rousing and flowing with passion, this deeply researched book zips along in a way that defies expectation. What a skill Southon has for maintaining an energetic yet empathetic tone while bringing such dark realities to light.' - Daisy Dunn, author of THE MISSING THREAD

'Forget white marble statues and philosophical debates: Emma Southon takes you on a journey through the hell of ancient slavery that defined the classical world as few other things - a true masterwork of historical enquiry. - Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director General of Pompeii

'From the gladiators forced to entertain to the miners who sourced Rome's marble, this illuminating piece of revisionist history looks at just how much the Roman Empire was built on the back of the people they enslaved.' -I Paper

'One cannot fault the author for the passion with which she tackles this subject, or the vividness of her descriptions' - Literary Review Ancient Civilization Greek & Roman Historical History Philosophy Rome World War Ancient History
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Critic reviews

Emma Southon turns her unique combination of unflinching academic gaze and irrepressible sharp humour to that darkest and most depressing of subjects, Roman slavery, providing a much-needed corrective to centuries of obfuscations and misunderstandings. Servus is a challenging read yet a simultaneously sensitive and even entertaining one, striking that peculiar balance that, of all the Romanists writing trade history today, only Emma can fully achieve. (Jane Draycott, author of FULVIA)
Electrifying, rousing and flowing with passion, this deeply researched book zips along in a way that defies expectation. What a skill Southon has for maintaining an energetic yet empathetic tone while bringing such dark realities to light. (Daisy Dunn, author of THE MISSING THREAD)
Think you know about Roman slavery? Think again. Fascinating, appalling and profoundly moving, SERVUS is the most important book you'll ever read about ancient Rome. With lightly-worn scholarship and fierce humour, Southon reveals the true scale of human terror, suffering, survival and resistance at the heart of empire. (Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of KINDRED)
An absolute tour de force. I adore all Emma's writing on the ancient world and this is my favourite of her books so far. It is razor sharp, riveting and treads an exceptionally well balanced line between humorous and harrowing (yes, I know that sounds impossible - but she pulls it off). It's a brilliant book. (Elodie Harper, author of THE WOLF DEN)
Forget white marble statues and philosophical debates: Emma Southon takes you on a journey through the hell of ancient slavery that defined the classical world as few other things - a true masterwork of historical enquiry (Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director of Pompeii)
Excellent . . . Servus offers a thoughtful and refreshing, intimate and disturbing insight into the workings of the Roman Empire and the psyche of its inhabitants - free and enslaved.
Grimly compelling and shocking from start to finish . . . I don't think any book about slavery in the modern world has ever made the daily realities so explicit, so haunting. The book is openly partisan, angry, disgusted and blackly comical . . . A gallopingly entertaining if sometimes horrifying read.
All stars
Most relevant
You have to admire an author/narrator who can show both just how into a subject they are and just how righteously repulsed they are. Emma Southon does that hilariously well. If I was very clever I'd probably say she writes with amazingly deft comic bathos, but I'm not, so I won't.
What stood out for me was how she constraints our preconceptions based on US 19th slavery and Roman era slavery that was simply howbthings were.
It's also a very human story, bringing together the historical echoes of what we know about women and children as much as gladiators and miners.
Recommendus Maximus.

A brutal history with deft deadpan humour

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Superb detail - love the nuance and focus on the human side of history. I also loved the well-judged notes of humour. Superbly done.

Entertaining and erudite - fabulous!

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A matter of fact telling of enslavement which brings home to the listener that, the colosses that was Rome was built, sustained and lived everyday was underpinned by enslaved people. The personal stories hit home and overall the book has changed my thoughts on this era conpletely. I just detest this BCE/CE nonsense after all, Christianity was born out of hope.

Power corrupts, a Roman trait.

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really difficult to get into, author comes across like a snot noses kid and really affected my ability to enjoy

struggled to finish

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poorly read far too fast and lacks gravitas l would love to hear the story but only lasted 15 mins shame!!!

awful

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