Yesterday I mentioned the immense archaeological record at Delos and some of the problems of searching for historical information on slaves there. I explained why looking for slave in the market places aren’t a possibility, we can look for other possible sources. One of those places are the houses at Delo.
The Delian houses are good place to test ideas about the practice of domestic cult in both the Greek and Roman world. Domestic cult is important to slavery because, in a peculiar way, slaves were part of Greek and Roman households and therefore it is reasonable to expect that they would participate in domestic cult rituals.
Unfortunately the evidence for the participation of slaves in the Greco-Roman world is quite slight. Some of the important sources are the wall paintings at Pompeii, including a particular wall painting called the Lararium of the Suitoria Primigenia I.13.2. This wall painting shows a group, two of which are significantly taller than the others. The small stature of the other figures suggests that they are likely slaves, a visual motif that is followed in other Roman arts. These slaves appear to be worshipping the Roman spirits called Lares with their master and mistress.
There are lararia elsewhere in Italy and also, importantly for us, in Delos. The wall painting in particular is of a Compitalia festival, a distinctly Roman festival.
I’ll talk more about the Greek and Roman interactions on Delos tomorrow.
The Delian houses are good place to test ideas about the practice of domestic cult in both the Greek and Roman world. Domestic cult is important to slavery because, in a peculiar way, slaves were part of Greek and Roman households and therefore it is reasonable to expect that they would participate in domestic cult rituals.
Unfortunately the evidence for the participation of slaves in the Greco-Roman world is quite slight. Some of the important sources are the wall paintings at Pompeii, including a particular wall painting called the Lararium of the Suitoria Primigenia I.13.2. This wall painting shows a group, two of which are significantly taller than the others. The small stature of the other figures suggests that they are likely slaves, a visual motif that is followed in other Roman arts. These slaves appear to be worshipping the Roman spirits called Lares with their master and mistress.
There are lararia elsewhere in Italy and also, importantly for us, in Delos. The wall painting in particular is of a Compitalia festival, a distinctly Roman festival.
I’ll talk more about the Greek and Roman interactions on Delos tomorrow.