1. Imagine that you are either an urban household slave or a rural farm slave in the ancient Roman world who is forced to perform specialized work (of your choice for purposes of this response). Describe your approach to surviving/negotiating everyday life as a slave. Do you think you mostly would seek ways to accept and/or normalize your experience, so as to make your life tolerable? Assuming it is not possible for you to escape, would you find ways to rebel against or resist your enslavement to assert your own will, agency, and personality/humanity?
2. Incorporating what you’ve learned about slavery in this course and your own experience, what aspects of slavery seem to – conceptually, not literally/legally – exist/operate in some interpersonal relationships today? Please restrict your response to one type of relationship (e.g. employer/employee, romantic, pet/caretaker) that assumes some of the social and psychological aspects of a master/slave relationship marked by imbalance of power and control.
3. Write an imaginative biography or personal confession of the minor character of Stalagmus (in Plautus’ Captivi), the slave who kidnaps the young Tyndarus when he runs away from his master’s house. Be sure to base your account on what little we learn of Stalagmus’ personal history in the play, and include a rationale for why Stalagmus is so unremorseful for his actions.
4. Discuss to what extent Terence’s Adelphoe is a potentially useful source/guide for parents considering how to raise their children today, or explain why you think the play holds little to no relevance for parents today. Does the ancient play usefully raise or address pertinent and complex issues still relevant to nurturing and educating children in the 21st century (e.g. in what ways can effective parenting possibly resemble but be distinct from slavery)?