Untouchables And Roman Slaves Similarities

During the Classical period, Roman slaves and Indian untouchables were primarily different with some important similarities. They differed in that Roman slaves took all kinds of jobs while untouchables only got jobs considered “impure.’ Additionally, slaves would revolt against romans while untouchables remained tame. However, one similarity is they both were not respected by others.

Roman slaves were given jobs that others did not want, however, untouchables were given jobs considered “impure.” Slaves were given any job that their owner wanted them to do. Slaves could do simple tasks, such as dressing their owner, but they could also do tasks such as be gladiators in gladiatorial combat. Untouchables, however, had a very small pool of jobs

they could do. Most of their jobs were jobs not wanted by the upper classes, which included things such as cleaning up dead bodies. The reason untouchables had such a small pool of jobs is because their job pool is mostly determined by their religion. Upper Classes would often reject tedious tasks leaving it to the lower class, and eventually the untouchables, who were the lowest.

Slaves tended to oppose their owners due to hate and resentment, while untouchables did not revolt whatsoever. Slaves were always treated horribly. Although some owners were kind, most owners were inhumane and abusive, doing things such as being forced into prostitution, or having to fight as a gladiator, caused a rift of hate between slaves and their owners. However, because untouchables just did the job they were supposed to and moved on. The reasons that untouchables did not revolt is because they were bound to their class by religion instead of ownership. Untouchables usually worked hard so that they could be reincarnated into a higher class in their next life, or they converted to Buddhism, as Buddhism did not support the caste system.