Quote Originally Posted by Grey_Wolf_c View Post
This is slightly wrong.
While I tend to keep the fact that pre-20th centuries were population sinks, even then I don't realize the consequences. While all the offspring of slaves in Rome were slaves (from birth) plenty of them were their master's offspring and eventually freed. But either way, in a few generations all of their offspring (slave or not) would disappear and be replaced by new immigrants to Rome.

I'd expect the great patrician estates to be run by slaves (this was a huge political issue for plebs that voted), and the slaves repopulating themselves (I'm guessing that the "field slaves" weren't the master's or offspring and not freed, thus perpetuating enough slaves for the estate). While the slaves might be able to propagate themselves, the estates would require active slave markets to expand. So every time such an estate failed it would be replaced by free farmers while the Patricians would no longer be able to help themselves to free farmers lands (they probably could grab the land, but couldn't hold it without a slave market to buy enough slaves to run it).

I wonder if anyone knows how long those slave-run estates lasted? It might tell a bit about the dynamics of Roman times.