Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire

I have to admit that having two children since April of 2020 has put me behind on blogging. But I was also working on a book that I am quite proud of and one which will be out in a few months. It is called Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire and it is now available or preorder from Yale University Press. It will be out officially on February 4, 2025, but preorders are incredibly helpful to the success of a book and for getting it reviewed in more popular venues. In terms of what the book is about? It is a retelling for Roman history with a focus on work, labor, and collectives:

Historian Sarah E. Bond retells the traditional story of Ancient Rome, revealing how groups of ancient workers unified, connected, and protested as they helped build an empire
 
From plebeians refusing to join the Roman army to bakers withholding bread, this is the first book to explore how Roman workers used strikes, boycotts, riots, and rebellion to get their voices—and their labor—acknowledged. Historian Sarah E. Bond retells the traditional story of Ancient Rome to show that the history of labor conflicts and collective action goes back thousands of years, revealing a world far more similar to our own than we realize.
 
Workers often turned to their associations (e.g., collegia) for solidarity and shared identity in the ancient world. Some of these groups even negotiated contracts, wages, and work conditions in a manner similar to modern labor unions. As the world begins to consider the value—and indeed the necessity—of unionization to protect workers, this book demonstrates that we can learn valuable lessons from ancient laborers and from attempts by the Roman government to limit their freedom.

Happy to chat with readers about how to adapt the book for undergraduate courses. We are currently working on a teaching guide. Thanks for sticking with me all these years, and hopefully I will now get a bit more time for blogging after the book tour.