Servus: The Untold Story of Slavery in the Roman Empire

Historian Emma Southon delivers an electrifying and deeply researched examination of the millions of enslaved lives that formed the bedrock of the Roman Empire. Moving beyond the familiar narratives of Roman majesty, Servus traces the invisible spaces where enslaved people toiled—from the wheat fields feeding the populace to the mines producing Rome's wealth—uncovering their pain, tragedy, small victories, and hard-won freedoms through the fragments they left behind.

This work offers an intimate, disturbing, yet sensitive insight into the true workings of the Roman world, challenging centuries of historical obfuscation regarding the human cost of Roman dominance.

• Examines the ubiquitous, yet silenced, lives of enslaved people in the Roman Empire.
• Traces the roles of the enslaved in agriculture, entertainment (gladiators), and resource extraction (mining).
• Authored by Emma Southon, known for A Fatal Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
• A challenging yet sensitive historical corrective to traditional Roman narratives.
• Print Length: 448 pages.

• Author: Southon, Emma
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Publication Date: May 21, 2026
• ISBN-10: 139974125X
• ISBN-13: 978-1399741255
• Dimensions: 158 x 40 x 238 mm
• Weight: 686 g
• Publisher: Hodder Press

Servus is essential reading for those studying Historiography and the true social foundations of ancient Rome, offering a necessary and passionate account of the unseen lives that built an empire.