It seems strange that, this month, we commemorate one of the biggest proponents of slavery of all time: August(us). Last month, we commemorated another: Juli(us). Julius apparently enslaved half a million people during his conquest of Gaul. I am reading a history of the Church. But the author, Henri Daniel-Rops, says we need to be more nuanced when we speak about slaves and free. So he compares slavery then with employment now -- or rather, in the last century. He notes that Roman slaves often (not always) had it better than modern employees. OBSERVATION: While I don't know much about Roman slavery, conditions today may be very bad. It is not uncommon -- as we know -- for workers to suffer physical or mental breakdown, even to commit suicide -- among other things. I know it from ministry.
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