The history of Rome is synonymous with conquest and empire. In a regime that based its power on the subjugation of others, there are stories of survival, adaptation, happiness and even victory. This exhibition, on loan from the Museum of Lisbon - Roman Theatre, reveals some of these stories, which took place in the same setting almost 2000 years ago.

Slavery, or servitude, the more correct term for Roman times, is a phenomenon that encompasses a wide variety of situations, and is quite different from the slave regimes of later times. It is this distinctive panorama that is offered throughout this exhibition, praising the freedom won through the stories of men and women who left their names and actions written in stone.

At MASMO, this exhibition is interlinked with the permanent exhibition itself, revealing the ‘stories’ of Roman slaves and freedmen who lived in our territory at the time - almost 2000 years ago - in the agricultural fields of the Roman city of Olisipo.