How to Manage Your Slaves

At last, a clear manual for managing slaves the Roman way. In How to Manage Your Slaves, Marcus Sidonius Falx offers practical advice, showing where and how to buy slaves and how to get the best out of them. He explains how to tell good slaves from bad, offers guidance on the punishment of miscreants, and reveals the secrets of command and authority. He covers the delicate subjects of when you should let your slaves have sex and whether to engage in sex with them yourself - and considers when to set them free. Armed with this guide you will be master in your own home: your household will be a comfort to your family, its running the envy of your neighbours. Slavery was a core institution in the Roman world for all its long existence. As they conquered, the Romans enslaved millions and then bred from this stock to maintain their numbers in times of peace. It almost never occurred to anyone that slavery might be dispensed with and to no one at all that it was morally reprehensible. Up to now ancient slavery may have been difficult to fathom: this Roman's-eye view takes us to the heart of the matter and, based on a wealth of original sources, lets us understand just why slaves meant so much to the Romans.

Review: Falx deus domesticus est! Luce sunt clariora sua consilia omnia -- Marcus Tullius Cicero
Entertaining and well-researched -- Patrick Kidd * Times *
Thought-provoking and illuminating -- Orlando Bird * FT *
Toner's commentary ... is excellent ... This book is at its best when Toner analyses Roman attitudes to slavery, and how little they changed even when Christianity began to take hold in the ancient world ... packed with fascinating references to the earliest writings about slavery -- Natalie Haynes * Independent *
Marcus dispenses advice with aplomb ... he is a fascinating creation -- Nick Romeo * TLS *