Author: Southon, Emma Ancient RomePublished on 21 May 2026 by Hodder & Stoughton (Hodder Press) in the United Kingdom.Hardback | 448 pages, Integrated b&w illustrations and maps, plus 1x8pp. colour inset163 x 243 x 39 | 686g THE 'ELECTRIFYING' UNTOLD STORY OF SLAVERY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE BY THE AUTHOR OF A FATAL THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM. 'Excellent . . . a thoughtful and refreshing, intimate and disturbing insight into the workings of the Roman Empire' - Sunday Times'The most important book you'll ever read about ancient Rome.' - Rebecca Wragg Sykes, author of KINDREDWe associate the Romans with majesty and greatness: we marvel at their straight roads and innovative underfloor heating, at the dominance of their army and navy, at the grandeur of their palaces and temples. But the Romans were also enslavers. They built an empire on the backs of millions of people snatched from their homes in the aftermath of war, kidnapped from the streets, sold into slavery as punishment or, simply, born enslaved.Servus takes us into the invisible spaces of the Roman world, where millions of enslaved lives were unwillingly dedicated to the perpetuation of the empire that owned them. From the fields of wheat required to give every Roman their daily bread, to the actors and gladiators who provided their circuses, and the miners who kept Rome a city of gold and marble, enslaved people were the bedrock of the Roman Empire. These enslaved people were ubiquitous, but silenced. Through the fragments they left behind, historian Emma Southon traces the pain and tragedy of their lives alongside the love stories, lifelong friendships, small victories and hard-won freedoms.Servus tells the truth about the Roman empire and the unseen lives that made it so dominant.---ACCLAIM FOR SERVUS:'A much-needed corrective to centuries of obfuscations and misunderstandings. Servus is a challenging read yet a simultaneously sensitive and even entertaining one, striking that peculiar balance that . . . only Emma can fully achieve.' Jane Draycott, author of FULVIA'Electrifying, rousing and flowing with passion, this deeply researched book zips along in a way that defies expectation. What a skill Southon has for maintaining an energetic yet empathetic tone while bringing such dark realities to light.' - Daisy Dunn, author of THE MISSING THREAD'Forget white marble statues and philosophical debates: Emma Southon takes you on a journey through the hell of ancient slavery that defined the classical world as few other things - a true masterwork of historical enquiry. - Gabriel Zuchtriegel, Director General of Pompeii'From the gladiators forced to entertain to the miners who sourced Rome's marble, this illuminating piece of revisionist history looks at just how much the Roman Empire was built on the back of the people they enslaved.' -I Paper'One cannot fault the author for the passion with which she tackles this subject, or the vividness of her descriptions' - Literary Review
