Western Civilization I / Unit 7 WC1 0622 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Bread and Circuses, Life Expectancy, and the Coloni
Captions available
The idea
Male citizens of Rome received free grain and games; the anchor calls it cynical control and a right that could not feed a family. Life expectancy: forty-five for men, thirty-four for women. As conquest ended, slavery declined and farmers became coloni.
In practice
The anchor's forty percent of Italy enslaved under Augustus.
Where people slip
Coloni were serfs in all but name.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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