"Get up now," a tall burly man with an angry face demands.
He grabs the shoulders of the nearest girl, lifting her roughly onto her feet. The girl whimpers as the metal chain pulls the skin around her ankle. The man does not notice, nor care as he continues to drag the next person beside her up as well. The metal chain jangles along the line of sitting slaves. Slowly, one by one, we get to our feet. I watch as one man tries to be defiant and refuses to move. Our captor swiftly administers a few rough kicks to his ribs before dragging him up by his throat. The pained expression on the mans face deters the rest of us. We stand silently, waiting for our new fate to begin.
I know how this will soon unravel before me. If the men looked reliable and were in good physical form, then they would be hired to work as labourers for their master. The men's prices would rise if they looked like they were able to: lift, carry, build, or mend. Or if they were capable of a trade that the masters possessed. If a man looked like he would be too much trouble, he had two choices. Option one, he would join the gladiators, where his body would be sorely used in battle and he would soon die. Option two, he would be doomed to die in the darkness; the man would be sent to the mines where the sun will never touch his eyes after entering the caves.
The girls had different fates but none less daunting. The older women who had run a home before would be introduced to new households as; cleaners, maids, or cooks. Their past trades were vital now as it could improve the quality of the home and the master they were sent to. For the younger girls, they could be placed as maids and cleaners. Many masters preferred the younger girls as they lived longer, 'more for their money', as they liked to call it. But if a woman's beauty was seen as the most ideal treasure throughout the male crowd, then she could end up in a whore house or a man's personal mistress.
Perhaps mistress was too strong a word, as her master's plaything is a more accurate description.