Slaves and freedmen - OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Roman City Life) Exam Questions

Practise 33 exam-style questions on Slaves and freedmen for OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation (Roman City Life). Write your answer as you would in the exam and get it marked in seconds against the mark scheme, point by point, with an AI tutor on hand if you get stuck.

33 questions
1–15 marks each
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20 questions, marked as you go

Sample questions with model answers

Here are 4 of the questions in this topic, each with a model answer, an explanation of why it earns the marks and the mark scheme an examiner would use.

Question 1

1 mark

Source A is a description of a ceremony in Rome.

A master brings one of his slaves before a magistrate, the praetor. A Roman citizen, often one of the magistrate's attendants, touches the slave with a rod and declares that he is free. The master does not object; he takes hold of the slave, turns him round and lets him go. Afterwards the freed man may shave his head and put on a felt cap.

Name this method of freeing a slave.

Model answer

Manumission by the rod (manumissio vindicta).

Explanation

The ceremony was a legal fiction: a citizen claimed in front of the magistrate that the slave was really free, the master did not contest the claim, and so the magistrate declared the slave free. A slave freed formally like this by a citizen master became a Roman citizen. The other formal methods were enrolment on the census list and freedom in the master's will.

Mark scheme

1 mark
Manumission by the rod (manumissio vindicta / vindicta)
Accept 'vindicta', 'by the rod / staff', 'formal manumission by the vindicta'. Do not accept 'formal manumission' on its own, 'census' or 'by will'.

Question 2

2 marks

Source A: a silver coin (denarius) issued in 43-42 BC by Brutus, one of the murderers of Julius Caesar. One side shows Brutus' head. The other side shows a felt cap between two daggers, above the letters EID MAR (the Ides of March, the day Caesar was killed in 44 BC).

What was the felt cap, and why did Brutus put it on his coin?

Model answer

The felt cap is the pilleus, which a slave put on when he was freed. Brutus put it between the daggers to claim that killing Caesar on the Ides of March had freed the Roman people from slavery under a tyrant, just as manumission freed a slave.

Explanation

The pilleus was such a well-known symbol of freedom that Brutus could use it as propaganda: everyone would understand that the daggers had given Rome its liberty back. Freed slaves wore it at their manumission and in their former master's funeral procession, and everyone wore it at the Saturnalia. Answers need both the identification and the link to Caesar's murder.

Mark scheme

1 mark
The pilleus (pileus), the felt cap put on by a slave when he was freed / the symbol of a freed slave
Accept 'cap of freedom', 'cap of liberty', 'freedman's cap'.
1 mark
Brutus claimed that by killing Caesar he had freed the Roman people from slavery / tyranny, just as a slave is freed
Accept 'to show liberty had been restored', 'Caesar was a tyrant / king who had enslaved Rome'. The answer must link the cap's meaning (freedom) to the murder.

Question 3

4 marks

Source A: Pliny, Letters 3.14

'Larcius Macedo, a man of praetorian rank, has suffered a dreadful fate at the hands of his own slaves, a story that deserves more than a letter. He was, it must be said, a proud and cruel master, and one who remembered too little - or rather too much - that his own father had been a slave. ... When they thought he was dead, they threw him onto the scorching floor to find out whether he was still alive. Either because he really felt nothing or because he pretended to feel nothing, he lay stretched out and motionless, and convinced them that he was dead.'

What impressions do you gain of Larcius Macedo from this source? Make two points.

Model answer

Macedo seems to have been arrogant and cruel: Pliny calls him 'a proud and cruel master'. He also seems to have been touchy about his origins, because he remembered 'too much' that his father had been a slave, perhaps treating his own slaves harshly to show how far above them he was. He was also tough and quick-witted: he 'pretended to feel nothing' and lay motionless on the scorching floor until his attackers believed he was dead.

Explanation

Pliny's 'too little - or rather too much' is a deliberate correction: Macedo should have remembered his father's slavery and been humane, but instead it made him harsher. As the free-born son of a former slave he had reached the praetorship, which shows how far a freedman's son could rise. Strong answers use Pliny's own words as evidence and make two clearly different points (e.g. cruelty and endurance), not two versions of 'cruel'.

Mark scheme

2 marks
First impression with supporting evidence from Source A: 1 mark for a valid impression of Macedo, 1 mark for a relevant reference or quotation from the passage that supports it. The evidence mark is awarded for a relevant reference or quotation even if the impression is missing, weak or wrong. The two marks are independent: award 1 for a valid point even if no evidence is given, and 1 for a relevant quotation from, reference to or close paraphrase of the source even if the point is missing, weak or wrong.
Two pairs from, e.g.: proud / arrogant (1) - 'a proud ... master' (1); cruel / harsh to his slaves (1) - 'a cruel master' / his slaves hated him enough to attack him (1); sensitive about his slave ancestry and over-harsh because of it (1) - he remembered 'too little - or rather too much - that his own father had been a slave' (1); a man who had risen high (1) - 'a man of praetorian rank', although his father had been a slave (1); tough / quick-witted / self-controlled (1) - he 'pretended to feel nothing' and lay motionless until they believed he was dead (1); hated by his slaves (1) - they surround him and beat him savagely (1). The second pair must make a different point from the first. Points must come from the passage.
2 marks
Second, different impression with supporting evidence from Source A: 1 mark for a valid impression of Macedo, 1 mark for a relevant reference or quotation from the passage that supports it. The two marks are independent: award 1 for a valid point even if no evidence is given, and 1 for a relevant quotation from, reference to or close paraphrase of the source even if the point is missing, weak or wrong.
As above; must be a different impression from the first point.

Question 4

8 marks

Source A: Petronius, Satyricon 29. Arriving at Trimalchio's house, Encolpius looks at the paintings on the walls.

'There was a slave market painted there, with the slaves' labels, and Trimalchio himself, with long hair, holding a herald's staff and entering Rome with Minerva leading him. Next, the careful painter had shown in detail, with captions, how he had learned to keep accounts and then been made steward. Where the colonnade came to an end, Mercury was lifting him by the chin and carrying him up onto a high platform. Fortune was there with her overflowing horn of plenty, and the three Fates spinning threads of gold.'

To what extent could a Roman slave hope to rise as Trimalchio did? Use Source A as a starting point and your own knowledge.

Model answer

Source A shows an extraordinary rise. The wall painting shows Trimalchio as a long-haired slave boy being sold in the slave market, then learning to keep accounts and being made steward (dispensator), until Mercury lifts him up onto a high platform. Elsewhere Petronius shows the result: the fasces on his doorposts are inscribed to him as a sevir Augustalis, and he wears gold, owns hundreds of slaves and has a vast fortune. Some real slaves did rise in this way. A skilled household slave who handled money, as Trimalchio did, could build up a peculium, buy his freedom or be freed in his master's will, and go into business. Naevoleia Tyche and her husband Munatius Faustus, an Augustalis honoured with a bisellium, the freedmen who probably owned the House of the Vettii, and imperial freedmen such as Pallas and Narcissus, who became rich and powerful under Claudius, show that freedmen could gain great wealth and status.

However, such success was rare. Most slaves worked on farms, in mines or in unskilled jobs with little chance of a peculium or of catching their master's eye; Diodorus describes mine slaves who longed for death. Augustus passed laws limiting how many slaves could be freed by will. Even after freedom a freedman could not hold office or serve in the legions, and he owed obsequium and operae to his patron. The painting itself suggests that Trimalchio owed his rise to luck and divine favour - Mercury, Fortune with her horn of plenty and the Fates spinning golden threads - rather than to anything an ordinary slave could count on. Petronius is also writing satire for an elite audience who laughed at upstart freedmen, so Trimalchio is an exaggerated figure, although the joke only works because some freedmen really did become very rich.

Overall, a rise like Trimalchio's was possible, since real freedmen did become rich and honoured, but only for a small minority of skilled, trusted and lucky slaves in rich urban households; for most slaves it was a fantasy, as Petronius' gods of luck suggest.

Explanation

The best answers read the painting closely - the stages of the career and the gods of luck - and set Trimalchio against real evidence (Naevoleia Tyche, the Vettii, imperial freedmen) and against the majority of slaves in farms and mines. They also consider Petronius' purpose: satire exaggerates, but it needs a recognisable target. A balanced, supported judgement is needed for Level 4.

Mark scheme

8 marks
Levels of response (8 marks). AO1 (4) and AO2 (4) are equally weighted.
Level 4 (7-8 marks): consistently accurate and detailed knowledge of Trimalchio's career and of the real opportunities and limits for slaves and freedmen, using both Source A and own wider knowledge; very good understanding of the cultural context (jobs, manumission, the peculium, the limits on freedmen) and of possible interpretations, including Petronius' satire; a well-argued response with a clear judgement on how far a slave could hope to rise as Trimalchio did, supported by a range of well-selected evidence, including critical analysis.
Level 3 (5-6 marks): accurate knowledge, using both Source A and own knowledge; a focused response with relevant analysis and a judgement on how far such a rise was possible.
Level 2 (3-4 marks): sound, mostly accurate knowledge; engages with the general topic of slaves and freedmen; limited range of evidence; some analysis.
Level 1 (1-2 marks): limited knowledge, may only use Source A; isolated analysis.
0 marks: no response or no response worthy of credit.
A mainly descriptive or narrative answer with little analysis or judgement cannot go above Level 2.
Indicative content (not a checklist; credit other valid points): AO1: Source A - Trimalchio sold in a slave market with a label; a long-haired slave boy (a favourite); learned accounts; made steward (dispensator); Mercury (god of profit) lifts him to a high platform; Fortune and the Fates. Petronius elsewhere - the fasces inscribed to him as sevir Augustalis (30), his gold rings and huge household (32), his fellow freedmen who made fortunes from nothing (38). Real opportunities - skilled household slaves handling money could build a peculium and buy their freedom or be freed by will; freedmen ran businesses with their patrons' backing; Naevoleia Tyche and Munatius Faustus (Augustalis, bisellium); the freedmen owners of the House of the Vettii; imperial freedmen such as Pallas and Narcissus; Cicero's secretary Tiro. Limits - most slaves worked on farms, in mines or in unskilled jobs; mine slaves were worked to death (Diodorus); Augustus' laws limited manumission by will and set minimum ages; freedmen could not hold office or serve in the legions and owed obsequium and operae; social contempt for upstart freedmen. AO2: the painting itself credits luck and the gods, suggesting such a rise was exceptional; Petronius writes satire for an elite audience who laughed at rich freedmen, so Trimalchio is exaggerated - but satire needs a basis in reality; opportunity depended on the job, the master and the city; Trimalchio could become rich but not truly respected; his sons, not he, could have entered politics. Judgement: e.g. possible for a lucky, skilled minority; a fantasy for most.

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