Final answer:
Roman slaves in the Pompeii and Herculaneum region worked as gladiators, laborers, artisans, and assistants in various roles.
Step-by-step explanation:
Slavery was a fundamental part of Roman daily life. Enslaved people came from many parts of the large empire and had been enslaved in many different ways. They worked in a variety of contexts and were subject to their master's whims and punishment. Many were trained as gladiators, professional fighters paid to battle before an audience, sometimes to the death, but others worked in the cities and countryside in a variety of roles. They worked as unskilled laborers, artisans, and assistants to merchants and shopkeepers. Others helped build public works such as bridges and roads and even served as imperial administrators. In the city, and in the household especially, they had more advantages and avoided the brutal physical labor demanded in mines, quarries, and latifundia across the empire. There, more than one hundred enslaved persons might labor, their harsh life evidenced by their poor clothing, cruel treatment, and inability to raise funds to buy their freedom.