Slavery
Slaves were considered property under Roman law and were not legally people. Unlike Roman citizens, they could suffer corporal punishment, sexual exploitation (sex workers were often slaves), torture, and summary execution. A slave's testimony could not be accepted in a court of law unless the slave was tortured. This was because they thought that slaves would be too loyal to their masters to reveal damaging evidence unless coerced. Over time, however, slaves gained some legal protection, including the right to file complaints against their masters. Attitudes changed in part because of the influence among the educated elite of the Stoics, whose egalitarian views of humanity extended to slaves, and also because of slave rebellions. Better treatment meant fewer rebellions.