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The Death Row Baseball Team and Other Odd Episodes in History

Khalid Elhassan May 18, 2020 34 min

Death Row All Stars: A Story of Baseball, Corruption, and Murder - State Penitentiary — Alston's All Stars. Daily Mail

19. Whatever Your Complaints About Your Dad, At Least He Didn’t Sell You Into Slavery

The law of ancient Rome also granted fathers the right to sell their children into slavery. It was not the kind of thing that was done as a matter of routine, but typically happened only in dire circumstances, when hard-pressed patriarchs sought to ease their burdens. While the practice was not widespread, it did take place from time to time.

For what it was worth for the kids, a Roman father’s right to sell his children was not absolute. Three times was the charm: a Roman father could only sell his kids thrice. Assuming the kids regained their freedom after each instance of their dad selling them into slavery, they were deemed forever free from his familial authority after the third time.

Also Read: The Weirdest Ways Children Were Treated in History.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.