Particularly in America and Europe in the 1600s+, I know that blacks were held as slaves and such. Were they free in Ancient Rome? I tried to word the title by being concise and tried not to be racist.
Yes. Slavery in Rome was not tied to race/skin color like it was in the United States during the 1700-1800s
The Roman Empire was massively cosmopolitan. The Empire controlled area in which lived a huge number of different cultures and ethnicities. There was a lot of opportunity for people to move about and participate in society, especially by serving in the army.
this may not be the right place to ask but does anyone know of a good answer for racism against blacks in the roman world (or lack thereof)? it seems like this should be a stickied thing on the faq but i can't think of a really good response