Slave Generator

[Furt]

Hi,

 

I need a table to generate random slave backgrounds for an RPG game. I need the slave's culture and what type of slave he is. Of particular interest are slaves that could wind up in the arena as gladiators circa 60 a.d.

 

For example I would like to generate something like this :- a Gaul born into slavery working in the mines.

 

I have came up with these broad cultures - I'm sure they could be more accurate?

 

African

Gallic

Germanic

Greek

Latin

Persian

Slavic

[Primus Pilus]

Hi,

 

I need a table to generate random slave backgrounds for an RPG game. I need the slave's culture and what type of slave he is. Of particular interest are slaves that could wind up in the arena as gladiators circa 60 a.d.

 

For example I would like to generate something like this :- a Gaul born into slavery working in the mines.

 

I have came up with these broad cultures - I'm sure they could be more accurate?

 

You may want investigate tribal and regional cultures rather than using such broad labels, at least in some cases.

 

African -Mauretanian, Numidian, Phoenician, Berber, Egyptian, Nubian, Ethiopian, etc.

Gallic While Gallic can generally be understood as Celtic, you may also want to consider Britannic, or other more distinct tribal identifications

Germanic Among the many distinct Germanic tribes, you may want to make a clarify a difference between non Germanics like Sarmartians and Dacians

Greek Macedonian, Illyrian, Thracian, etc

Latin Roman would make more sense here, and Italian

Persian This is rather broad for the only representative culture east of Greece... may want to consider Syrian, Judaean, Armenian, Arabian etc.

Slavic While the origin of the Slavic distinction is highly debatable, it is generally not used as a distinct group until around the 6th century.

[ASCLEPIADES]

For example I would like to generate something like this :- a Gaul born into slavery working in the mines.

If you mean an slave born in Rome from one or both Gaulish parents, he was a Gaul no more (strictly speaking, he or she had never been a Gaul).

[Furt]

African -Mauretanian, Numidian, Phoenician, Berber, Egyptian, Nubian, Ethiopian, etc.

Gallic While Gallic can generally be understood as Celtic, you may also want to consider Britannic, or other more distinct tribal identifications

Germanic Among the many distinct Germanic tribes, you may want to make a clarify a difference between non Germanics like Sarmartians and Dacians

Greek Macedonian, Illyrian, Thracian, etc

Latin Roman would make more sense here, and Italian

Persian This is rather broad for the only representative culture east of Greece... may want to consider Syrian, Judaean, Armenian, Arabian etc.

Slavic While the origin of the Slavic distinction is highly debatable, it is generally not used as a distinct group until around the 6th century.

 

This is exactly the breakdown I was after - thank you PP for this great input. My knowledge of cultural backgrounds are very limited as witnessed by my first broad attempt. I have broken the table down further into sub-tables according to your amendments. Is there anything that could be added to the list?

 

African

Berber

Egyptian

Ethiopian

Mauretanian

Nubian

Numidian

Celtic

Brittanic

Gallic (various Gaulish tribes)

Hispanian

Eastern

Arabian

Armenian

Judaean

Parthian

Syrian

Germanic

Dacian

Germanic (various Germanic tribes)

Sarmatian

Greek

Greek

Illyrian

Macedonian

Thracian

Roman

Italian

Roman

For example I would like to generate something like this :- a Gaul born into slavery working in the mines.

If you mean an slave born in Rome from one or both Gaulish parents, he was a Gaul no more (strictly speaking, he or she had never been a Gaul).

 

You make a great point ASCLEPIADES, one which I was unsure how to define exactly. I think what I really need is the slave's parentage. I understand that a slave does not belong to his culture, but this is for role playing flavor and distinction. A character born from Gaulish parents who was put to work as a miner in Italia is still going to look like a Gaul in the arena. I guess a "true" Gaul would only be a recent prisoner of war?

 

Another problem is how to determine if a slave is of mixed blood or not?

[ASCLEPIADES]

I think what I really need is the slave's parentage. I understand that a slave does not belong to his culture, but this is for role playing flavor and distinction. A character born from Gaulish parents who was put to work as a miner in Italia is still going to look like a Gaul in the arena. I guess a "true" Gaul would only be a recent prisoner of war?

 

Another problem is how to determine if a slave is of mixed blood or not?

I think we should clearly distinguish the particular case.

Edited December 1, 2008 by ASCLEPIADES

[ASCLEPIADES]

Even at the early Republican times we may find some free voluntaries among the gladiators:

Edited December 1, 2008 by ASCLEPIADES

[Furt]

I understand that there were many citizen gladiators who entered the arena, and these were highly prized over "slave" gladiators, but for my purposes I need the characters to begin enslaved. In saying that I now understand a man born into slavery in the Roman Empire has no nationality - he is a Roman slave. For the games purpose though a man born to Gaulish slave parents for example, would look different than a Greek slave regardless whether they are both considered Roman slaves. It is this difference I need for the game.

 

Obviously, as stated, the second best choice to a freeman would be a combatant war prisoner. So maybe I'm going about this the wrong way - what frontiers would provide prisoners of war worthy of the arena circa 60 a.d? Surely Gaul is a Province by now and provides little in the way of war prisoners, as is Hispania and possibly Thrace? I really need help - this is driving me nuts!

[ASCLEPIADES]

I understand that there were many citizen gladiators who entered the arena, and these were highly prized over "slave" gladiators, but for my purposes I need the characters to begin enslaved. In saying that I now understand a man born into slavery in the Roman Empire has no nationality - he is a Roman slave. For the games purpose though a man born to Gaulish slave parents for example, would look different than a Greek slave regardless whether they are both considered Roman slaves. It is this difference I need for the game.

 

Obviously, as stated, the second best choice to a freeman would be a combatant war prisoner. So maybe I'm going about this the wrong way - what frontiers would provide prisoners of war worthy of the arena circa 60 a.d? Surely Gaul is a Province by now and provides little in the way of war prisoners, as is Hispania and possibly Thrace? I really need help - this is driving me nuts!

My best guesses:

 

- Britons (specially Iceni and Silures) from eastern Britannia and Wales (Boudicca's rebellion was at its height).

 

- Persians, Armenians and their allies (Tigranocerta fell the previous year).

 

- Sarmatians (Rhoxolani) from Dacia.

[Furt]

- Britons (specially Iceni and Silures) from eastern Britannia and Wales (Boudicca's rebellion was at its height).

 

- Persians, Armenians and their allies (Tigranocerta fell the previous year).

 

- Sarmatians (Rhoxolani) from Dacia.

 

ASCLEPIADES, thanks for your reply.

 

Wow - that's pretty specific. I guess my above table is rubbish then in regards to generating a worthy gladiator in the time frame. Would there not have been the occasional skirmish with other "nations" (Germania for example) to produce occasional war prisoners?

[ASCLEPIADES]

Would there not have been the occasional skirmish with other "nations" (Germania for example) to produce occasional war prisoners?

By 60 AD the Rhin border had been quiet for almost two decades.

[caldrail]

Prisoners of war weren't usually trained as gladiators. Lets make a distinction here. A gladiator is a trained professional fighter (by AD60 anyway). After a conflict there would be a glut on the market of such men, so the markets weren't really all that interested in selling them. Therefore they were likely to be disposed of. Although some may have attracted the interest of a lanista, the sad truth is most POW's headed for the arena were cannon fodder in the spectaculars or beast hunts.

 

Now to answer your question, in AD60 you might expect the majority to be britons, jews, mauretanians, ex-pirates (cilicians, africans etc) - all possible prisoners, not necessarily of war, but of any anti-social behaviour from roman perspective. Occaisionally roman citizens were so treated. There was an example during Tiberius's reign of a town refusing to allow a centurions burial until a gladiatorial fight had taken place, and the towns people were taken away by legionaries (fate not described).

 

Since trained gladiators were from a relatively small number of slaves considered worthy, from people available on the market, from law-breakers consigned to the training schools, or volunteers, (although suetonius does mention twenty thousand men in the training schools in Caligula's time) there really isn't any need to worry unduly about percentages, and you might just as well assign a broad range of the origins listed above.

[ASCLEPIADES]

Prisoners of war weren't usually trained as gladiators.

Edited December 1, 2008 by ASCLEPIADES