ergastulumn.
/əːˈɡastjʊləm/ Roman History.
A prison-like building on a large estate, used for housing slave workers (in quot. 1891, an urban prison for slaves).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > restraint or restraining > restraint depriving of liberty > confinement > [noun] > place of confinement > for slaves
ergastulum1833
barracoon1851
1833 W. Blair Inq. Slavery amongst Romans v. 100 When Columella wrote, some distinction appears to have existed between the ergastulum for ordinary workmen, and that for ill-behaved slaves, as he directs the latter to be built under ground.
1865 W. T. Brande & G. W. Cox Dict. Sci., Lit. & Art (new ed.) I. 808/2 Ergastulum, a workhouse, or a dwelling place for the slaves.
1885 R. S. Storrs Divine Orig. Christianity v. 159 As workers on farms, they [sc. slaves]..slept at night in the cells of the ergastula, under-ground.
1891 F. W. Farrar Darkness & Dawn I. xxxi. 303 The ergastulum is half-subterranean. Its windows are narrow, and high above our heads.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2019).
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n.1833