man slavery, there is some evidence to suggest that female slaves were manumitted more often than males and marriageable females were manumitted most often of all. The principal reason for this is thought to be marriage. Some slaves in Greece were upwardly mobile. These slaves were not bound to servitude for life. All slaves were not outsiders of the community. In fact, some slaves actually had better standing and were privy to better things that some free men were not privy to. Middle-level, managerial slaves held visible positions. Because they had connections with powerful people based on their position, there were opportunities for social advancement that some of the free poor did not have. There are also examples of slaves in the Roman context that amounted great wealth, obtained freedom, and became the head of the treasury. There were different types of slaves in Rome. One type of slave slave, the aquarii, were slaves who carried water for bathing into the female apartments. They were also called aquarioli, These slaves were held in great contempt and did not fit into society such as slaves of Caesar. It is also said that this name applied also to slaves who had the care of the fountains and ponds in gardens. The aquarii were also public officers who attended to the aqueducts. There was another class of slaves known as anteambulones. These were slaves who were to go before their masters, in order to make way for them through the crowd. They usually called out to the crowd. If this were not sufficient to clear the way, they used their hands and elbows to make way. A story is even told of a slave that accosted a Roman knight in order to make way for the master. Because the slave touched the knight, the master was accosted by the knight. While some slaves lived life better than the free poor, others were confined to what was known as an ergastulum. This was a private prison attached to most Roman farms. The slaves were made to work i...
