The experiences of enslaved women differed from the experiences of enslaved men in ancient Rome; Slavery in ancient Rome can be traced back to the 1st century BC and was primarily based on the chattel slave system. Slavery within ancient Roman society was highly normalized as it was considered part of Roman culture. Slavery within ancient Rome was so heavily normalized that it was considered a “slave society.” Joshel (2010, p. 6) states that “For slaves living in the Roman world, there was no outside – no place without slavery and no movement that declared slavery wrong. Slavery was a normal part of life, and this was true not only for the Romans but for every nearby ancient culture." Not only was slavery considered a normal part of Roman life, but it affected a large portion of the Roman population. According to historian Walter Scheidel (2007, p. 6) “There were between 5 and 8 million slaves in the Roman Empire, and 250,000 to 400,000 new slaves were needed each year to maintain the numbers.” Most of these figures were men, children and women; or be enslaved by birth, kidnapped, or captured during war. Roman slaves were not seen as victims nor was slavery considered a crime at that time, as slavery was considered a 'natural law of nations' as stated by Joshel (2010, p.6) “For the Roman lawyer, the slavery is not a crime and slaves are not victims; rather, like Gaius and the other Roman jurists of the nations. Natural law applies to all animals, not just human beings, but concerns little more than the union of male and female, the procreation of children and their rearing.” With an estimated 5-8 million slaves within the Roman Empire, both...... middle of paper......, (2014) http://www.moyak.com/papers /roman-slavery-war .html, accessed May 13. 2014Melmoth, William 'Letters of Pliny: By Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus', Project Gutenberg [website], (2001) http://www.gutenberg.org/files/2811/2811-h/2811-h.htm, visited May 12th. 2014Mouritsen, Henrik, The Freedman in the Roman World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011). Scheidel, Walter, 'The Roman slave supply', Princeton/Stanford Working papers in Classics, 1/1 (2007), 6-11 Stewart, Roberta, Plautus and Roman Slavery (UK: Wiley – Blackwell, 2012)Urbainczyk, Theresa, 'Roman Slavery', Oxford Bibliographies [website], (2011) http://0-www.oxfordbibliographies.com.alpha2.latrobe. edu.au/view/document/obo-9780195389661/obo-9780195389661-0151.xm, last accessed 13 May. 2014Wiedemann, Thomas, Greek and Roman Slavery (Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 1981)