Runaway Slave Narratives in the Roman World
Who were Runaway Slaves?
Runaway slaves (servi fugitivi) were those servile men and women who decided to permanently escape their master’s authority. Slaves who temporarily left their owner’s service were not considered runaways. Instead, Roman lawmakers considered such bondspeople erronis, or “truants.” Here we will focus solely on servi fugitivi.
Why did Slaves Abscond?
Slaves (servi) in the Roman world had good reason for mounting escape attempts. Violence was a key factor in motivating slaves to abscond. Bondspeople subject to poor treatment at the hands of their master often felt they had no choice but to run away. Other servi escaped in fear of physical punishment, as with Dionysius, discussed below. Newly captured slaves seem to have been particularly prone to flight, occasionally attempting to return to their native country. Highly personal reasons are also attested, with some servi fugitivi absconding on opportunistic, or even religious grounds. Ultimately, all runaways were unified by a desire to alter their immediate circumstances, something their servile status naturally prevented.
A pencil drawing of the slave boy Giton, from Petronius’ novel The Satyricon. In chapter 97 of the novel Giton escapes from his new master and is pursued by the local authorities. Illustration by Norman Lindsay.
Mapping Escape Routes
Now let us examine four real life runaway slave narratives, exploring their motivations for flight aswell as mapping out their escape routes. Each story is taken from a different period of Romanhistory. We begin in the final days of the Republic, moving through to the high empire and finishing in the late Roman world. Taken collectively, the episodes underscore the fact slaves continually escaped across localities and epochs.
Two Fugitives from the Letters of Cicero
Dionysius
Cicero, Epistulae ad Familiares, 5.9.2, 10a.1, 13.77.3
In the Autumn of 46 BCE, Cicero penned a letter to his friend and fellow Roman aristocrat Publius Sulpicius Rufus. After exchanging pleasantries, Cicero relates the disappearance of his slave librarian Dionysius. According to Cicero’s report, Dionysius had recently absconded from his service, making off with an assortment of expensive books.
Portrait of Cicero
We may assume, as Cicero was writing from Rome, that Dionysius had made his escape from the capital or Cicero’s nearby villa at Tusculum. In either case, it seems clear that Dionysius had no intention of returning, not least to avoid punishment. Perhaps the books Dionysius had stolen were sold or exchanged for provisions in expectation of the uncertain road ahead.
Tusculum
Dionysius, managing to pass through Italy undetected, reached the Greek trading town of Narona, nestled in the Neretva valley, modern-day Croatia. It is unclear if Dionysius traveled overland to Narona or jumped ship on Italy’s eastern coast, both possibilities are visualised here.
Marble relief depicting two captive slaves being led by helmeted soldiers. Recovered from Smyrna and now held at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
Cicero further describes how his friend Bolanus had come across the fugitive, but had made no attempt to detain him, Dionysius having skilfully claimed to be free. As Rufus was at this time governor of Dalmatia , Cicero was keen to enlist his help in tracking down his escaped slave.
Dalmatia
Remarkably, in July the following year (45 BCE), Publius Vatinius, another of Cicero’s friends, writing from , notes that Dionysius may have joined the Vardaei, an Illyrian tribe occupying territory along the Adriatic coast. Perhaps Dionysius hoped to find asylum with the Vardaei, or at least a period of respite from his relentless pursuers. Vatinius rounds off his letter by promising to take whatever means necessary to recapture Dionysius, stressing that both land and sea routes will be scoured for any signs of the fugitive.
Our final mention of Dionysius comes in another letter from Vatinius, dated January 44 BCE. Dionysius by this time had headed north, braving the winter and wondering deeper into the wilds of Dalmatia. Vatinius stresses that any further recovery efforts would have to be postposed till the weather had cleared, but reaffirms his commitment to hunting down and subjugating Cicero’s slave. Ultimately we do not know what became of Dionysius, but in a world where policing was minimal and surveillance non-existent, there is a good chance he managed to find his freedom.
Licinus
Cicero, Epistulae ad Quintum, 1.2.14
Writing to his brother Quintus in the winter of 59 BCE, Cicero remarks on a runaway slave named Licinus, belonging to a mutual friend of theirs, Aesopus.
According to Cicero’s account, Licinus had been posing as a free man in Athens before hopping ship to Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey.
The provinces of the Roman Empire
Having disembarked in the Levant, it seems as though Licinus had travelled down along the coast and wound up in Ephesus .
Sometime after his arrival, a certain Plato of Sardis had learnt of Licinus’ whereabouts and his status as a fugitive slave. Acting on thisinformation Plato had overseen Licinus’ capture, having him incarcerated in a prison or put to work in a mill. Cicero is unsure of which, but expresses his desire for Quintus to instigate his return to Aesopus.
The Fugitive Monk
Malchus (Jerome, Vita Malchi monachi captivi, 2–10)
From the writings of the Christian author Saint Jerome we learn of the ascetic monk Malchus. The only son of a farming family, Malchus grew up on a homestead near the frontier town of Nisibis , modern-day Nusaybin.
Having come of age, Malchus’ parents wished for their son to marry. However, desiring neither a spouse nor the agricultural life, Malchus resolved to become a monk. Shortly after, Malchus departed from his hometown and wandered into the deserts of Chalcis, joining a monastic commune on the steppe between Imma , twenty miles east of Antioch , and Beroea , present day Aleppo.
The Saracen brigands carried Malchus and his fellow captives on camelback for several days, before fording a large river, most likely the Khabur.
Typical landscape in northern Iraq
Upon reaching the Saracen heartland, Malchus was made a slave shepherd, tending to a heard of goats on the arid pastures bordering his master’s encampment. Due to his diligence, Malchus’ owner decided to reward him with a wife. However, owing to his monastic vows, Malchus refused. Enraged at his obstinance, Malchus’ master threatened him at sword point to accept a spouse. At length, Malchus conceded, though lived secretly in abstinence with his new wife.
As time passed, Malchus and his helpmate began to tire of their slavery, both longing to live in ascetic devotion to God. Together they formulated an escape plan, slaughtering two he-goats, making water skins from their hides and dried meat from their flesh. With their preparations complete, the couple slipped away under the cover of darkness, walking ten miles back to the Khabur , before inflating their water skins to assist them in crossing the river.
After traveling for three further nights, Malchus and his wife caught sight of their master and two armed servants, tracking them on dromedaries. Fearing for their lives they hurried into the darkness of a nearby cave. On the verge of capture the couple were miraculously saved by a lioness who, emerging from the cave at the opportune moment, attacked and killed their pursuers.
Thanking God for their good fortune, Malchus and his spouse repurposed their master’s camels, travelling for a further seven days before entering Roman territory. With their trials behind them, both took up residence in the wildness around the hamlet of Maronia, some thirty miles to the east of Antioch , modern-day Antakya.
An Experienced Runaway
Callidromus (Pliny, Epistulae, 10.74)
In a letter to the emperor Trajan (dated 111 CE), the aristocrat Pliny , then serving as governor of Bithynia, reported garrison troops stationed at Nicomedia had taken into custody a runawayslave named Callidromus. The fugitive had escaped from his owners, two local bakers, beforetaking refuge at an imperial statue, a known site of asylum for slaves in ancient cities.
An artist’s impression of Pliny the Younger
When brought before the magistrates, Callidromus explained he had formally belonged to the senator Manius Laberius Maximus .
During the First Dacian War (101–102 CE), Manius had served as a Roman general, at which point Callidromus claimed to have been captured by the Roxolani tribesman Susagus in Moesia . However, it is unclear how Manius had come into possession of Callidromus in the first place. Perhaps he had been subjugated while Manius’ was on campaign, or had accompanied his master from Italy.
Shortly after his capture, Callidromus was transferred to the ownership of a certain Decebalus, who in turn sent him as a gift to the Parthian king Pacorus . It appears as though Callidromus spent some years serving in the Parthian court, presumably in the capital Hecatompylos .
Tiring of his enslavement, Callidromus mounted a successful escape back to Nicomedia , where he eventually found employment in the service of the bakers Maximus and Dionysius. Why Callidromus decided to abscond from his new masters is unclear, though poor treatment or alonging for home seem plausible motives.
What Can We Learn?
From these four narratives we might draw a handful of tentative conclusions. Evidently, with the exception of Malchus’ wife, all of the escapees discussed above were male. This is no coincidence, with young men being the most likely demographic to abscond. Slave women and girls were at a disadvantage when it came to running away, often being involved in professions affording less mobility, or weighed down by family life. Bondsmen working as shepherds, like Malchus, or slaves employed in prestigious roles, such as Dionysius, had greater opportunity to execute escape plans Equally, it is clear servi fugitivi sometimes traveled vast distances in an attempt to hinder recapture efforts. Only wealthy well-connected patriarchs, such as Cicero, would have had recourse to pursue runaways who fled to remote localities. Finally, the four stories highlight the diverse reasons why slaves opted to run away, though all servile escape motives are, in some shape or form, unified by a desire for personal freedom.
