Previous Roman actions raised the question of whether they recognized their slaves as things or people. Of course, slavery had economic benefits. However, when human lives are constantly threatened and tortured, the economic benefits must be forgotten. Although slaves in ancient Rome played a central role in society, their actions were never approved of. Upon careful examination, it is evident that the Romans viewed slaves as things rather than people. This conception is mainly due to three factors. They include: slaves being put on the market, physical cruelty to slaves, and slaves being mistreated to the point of revolt. First, slaves were treated as things rather than people due to their placement on the market. In today's society, products and objects are put on the market to be purchased. Human beings do not fall into this category. Human beings are not put on the market, simply because it is not appropriate or acceptable. However, in ancient Rome, it was common to put slaves on the market. This process got to the point where slaves began buying or selling other slaves on the market. In Westermann's diary it is written: "Cato the censor, in the first half of the second century BC, began to allow his older slaves to purchase and train young boys with the money he gave them provided.” Obviously, it was common to buy slaves. Although it was ordinary, it was completely wrong to treat human beings in this way. Furthermore, there were also certain ways of selling a slave on the market in ancient Rome. The previous nationality of a slave was the presumption of his character. This included their work ethic, attention span, attitude, etc. It was a...... middle of paper ......Works CitedBradley, Keith. “The regular and daily traffic in slaves”. The Classical Journal 87 (1991): 127. www.jstor.org (accessed March 17, 2014). Martial. [Epigrams 3.94. As the Romans Did 2nd ed.] ed. Jo-Ann Shelton. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 174. Pliny the Elder. [Letters 3.14. As the Romans Did 2nd ed.] ed. Jo-Ann Shelton. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1988), 178. Pliny the Elder. [Natural History 9.39.77. As the Romans Did 2nd ed.] ed. Jo-Ann Shelton. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), 174. Ripat, Pauline, Matt Gibbs, and Milorad Nikolic. “Roman slavery.” In Topics in Roman Society and Culture: An Introduction to Ancient Rome. Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2014. 86. Westermann, William Linn. “Industrial history in Roman Italy”. The Journal of Economic History 2 (1942): 153. www.jstor.org (accessed March 17, 2014).