On one occasion, hearing a great noise from belowdecks where the blackswere chained together, the sailors opened the hatches and found the slaves indifferent stages of suffocation, many dead, some having killed others indesperate attempts to breathe. Slaves often jumped overboard to drown ratherthan continue their suffering. To one observer a slave-deck was “so coveredwith blood and mucus that it resembled a slaughter house.”

Romans did have a taste for physical cruelty which Greeks didn't share. Besides the well known gladiatorial shows and feeding-of-Christians-to-lions, the Romans were also fond of making statements like crucifying the 6,000 survivors of Spartacus' army along the roads leading out of Rome.