Fresco at San Martino del Vescovo. The permeable prison structure in Ancient Rome allowed prisoners to maintain their connections to society by leaving to beg for food and clothing, as depicted by the prisoner in green. Courtesy of: Linda de Volder

Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace), 9th century B.C.E. The Romans captured young boys from rival empires—one is seen here wearing a short dress—in order to acculturate them, expand and unify their empire, and exert power over conquered territories. Courtesy of: Steven Zucker

Carmelite Missal of Nantes, Francis I of Brittany. In medieval Europe, captors imprisoned nobles and priests for ransom. Unlike peasant captives who were placed in dungeons, the elites received preferential treatment and were housed in above-ground towers. Courtesy of: Illuminated Manuscript Collection, Princeton University Library

October 1938: A plantation house in Convent, Louisiana. Raised off the ground to create a greater vantage point for surveillance, plantation homes in the Antebellum South represent the architectural control slaveholders created to exert power over slaves. Credit: Russell Lee. Courtesy of: Library Of Congress; Getty Images.

In London’s Pentonville Prison (established 1842), even unproductive labor, as pictured here with prisoners walking on a wheel, was thought to facilitate reform. Courtesy of: The National Archives (UK)