The Slave Who Took Rome: Spiculus and the Neronian Trade

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the dark underbelly of the Roman Empire's luxury trade: the traffic in human beings. While previous episodes have covered silk, spices, and incense, this one focuses on the enslaved individuals who were themselves commodities. The conversation centers on Spiculus, a slave who rose to become Nero's favorite gladiator, and the vast networks that supplied the Roman market with human cargo from Britain to Arabia. They examine the scale of the trade under the Pax Romana, the role of major slave markets like Delos, and the legal frameworks that treated people as property. Lucas also draws on the writings of Seneca and the Digest of Justinian to show how Roman jurists debated the ethics of the trade, even as they upheld it. The episode touches on the revolt of Spartacus and the later transformation of the trade under Constantine, but keeps its focus on the everyday realities of the enslaved. The conversation ends with a reflection on how the Roman slave trade foreshadowed later Atlantic systems, and what it means to remember these lives. #Spiculus #Nero #RomanSlaveTrade #PaxRomana #Delos #Spartacus #Seneca #Justinian #Gladiators #Ludi #Venalitium #Lanista #RomanEmpire #AncientHistory #SlaveTrade #FexingoHistory #TradeRoutes #History Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo