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Slavery In Ancient Greece Information

Slavery was common practice and an integral component of ancient Greece throughout its rich history, as it was in other societies of the time including ancient Israel and early Christian societies.[2][3][4] It is estimated that in Athens, the majority of citizens owned at least one slave. Most ancient writers considered slavery not only natural but necessary, but some isolated debate began to appear, notably in Socratic dialogues while the Stoics produced the first condemnation of slavery recorded in history.[4]

In conformity with modern historiographical practice, this article will discuss only chattel (personal possession) slavery, as opposed to dependent groups such as the penestae of Thessaly or the Spartan helots, who were more like medieval serfs (an enhancement to real estate). The chattel slave is an individual deprived of liberty and forced to submit to an owner who may buy, sell, or lease him or her like any other chattel.

The study of slavery in ancient Greece poses a number of significant methodological problems. Documentation is disjointed and very fragmented, focusing on the city of Athens. No treatise is specifically devoted to the subject. Judicial pleadings of the 4th century BC were interested in slavery only as a source of revenue. Comedy and tragedy represented stereotypes. Iconography made no substantial differentiation between slave and craftsman.

Contents

Terminology

A master (right) and his slave (left) in a phlyax play, Silician red-figured calyx-krater, ca. 350 BC–340 BC. Louvre Museum, Paris.

The ancient Greeks had many words to describe slaves which need to be placed in context to avoid ambiguity. In Homer, Hesiod and Theognis of Megara, the slave was called δμώς / dmôs.[5] The term has a general meaning but refers particularly to war prisoners taken as booty,[6] in other words, property. During the classical period, the Greeks frequently used ἀνδράποδον / andrápodon,[7] literally, "one with the feet of a man", as opposed to τετράποδον / tetrapodon, "quadruped", or livestock.[8] The most common word is δοῦλος / doûlos,[9] an earlier form of which appears in Mycenaean inscriptions as do-e-ro,[10] used in opposition to "free man" (ἐλεύθερος / eleútheros). The verb δουλεὐω (which survives in modern Greek, meaning work) can be used metaphorically for other forms of dominion, as of one city over another or parents over their children.[11] Finally, the term οἰκέτης / oikétês was used, meaning "one who lives in house", referring to household servants.[12]

Other terms used were less precise and required context:

  • θεράπων / therápôn – At the time of Homer, the word meant "squire" (Patroclus was referred to as the therapôn of Achilles[13] and Meriones that of Idomeneus[14]); during the classical age, it meant "servant".[15]
  • ἀκόλουθος / akólouthos – literally, "the follower" or "the one who accompanies". Also, the diminutive ἀκολουθίσκος, used for page boys.[16]
  • παῖς / pais – literally "child", used in the same way as "houseboy",[17] also used in a derogatory way to call adult slaves.[18]
  • σῶμα / sôma – literally "body", used in the context of emancipation.[19]

Origins of slavery

Women as plunder of war: Ajax the Lesser taking Cassandra, tondo of a red-figure kylix by the Kodros Painter, ca. 440-430 BC, Louvre

Slaves were present in the Mycenaean civilization. In the tablets from Pylos 140 do-e-ro can be identified with certainty. Two legal categories can be distinguished: "common" slaves and "slaves of the god" (te-o-jo do-e-ro / θεοιο), the God in this case probably being Poseidon. Slaves of the god are always mentioned by name and own their own land; their legal status is close to that of freemen. The nature and origin of their bond to the divinity is unclear.[20] The names of common slaves show that some of them came from Kythera, Chios, Lemnos or Halicarnassus, and were probably enslaved as a result of piracy. The tablets indicate that unions between slaves and non-slaves were not uncommon and that slaves could be independent artisans and retain plots of land. It appears that the major division in Mycenaean civilization was not between slave and free, but between those attached to the palace and those not.[21]

There is no continuity between the Mycenaean era and the time of Homer, where social structures reflected those of the Greek dark ages. The terminology differs: the slave is no longer do-e-ro (doulos) but dmôs.[22] In the Iliad, slaves are mainly women taken as booty of war,[23] while men were either ransomed[24] or killed on the battlefield. In the Odyssey, the slaves also seem to be mostly women.[25] These slaves were servants[26] and sometimes concubines.[27] There were some male slaves, especially in the Odyssey, a prime example being the swineherd Eumaeus. The slave was distinctive in being a member of the core part of the oikos ("family unit", "household"): Laertes eats and drinks with his servants;[28] in the winter, he sleeps in their company.[29] The term dmôs is not considered pejorative, and Eumaeus, the "divine" swineherd,[30] benefits from the same Homeric epithet as the Greek heroes. In spite of this, slavery remained a disgrace. Eumaeus himself declares that “Zeus, of the far-borne voice, takes away the half of a man's virtue, when the day of slavery comes upon him.”[31]

It is difficult to determine when slave trading began in the archaic period. In Works and Days (8th century BC), Hesiod owns numerous dmôes,[32] although their status is unclear. The presence of douloi is confirmed by lyric poets such as Archilochus or Theognis of Megara.[33] According to epigraphic evidence, the homicide law of Draco (c. 620 BC) mentioned slaves.[34] According to Plutarch,[35] Solon (c. 594-593 BC) forbade slaves from practising gymnastics and pederasty. By the end of the period, references become more common. Slavery becomes prevalent at the very moment when Solon establishes the basis for Athenian democracy. Classical scholar Moses Finley likewise remarks that Chios, which, according to Theopompus,[36] was the first city to organize a slave trade, also enjoyed an early democratic process (in the 6th century BC). He concludes that “one aspect of Greek history, in short, is the advance hand in hand, of freedom and slavery.”[37]

Economic role

See also: Economy of ancient Greece Agriculture, a common use for slaves, black-figure neck-amphora by the Antimenes Painter, British Museum

All activities were open to slaves with the exception of politics.[38] For the Greeks, politics was the only activity worthy of a citizen, the rest being relegated wherever possible to non-citizens.[39] It was status that was of importance, not activity.

The principal use of slaves was in agriculture, the foundation of the Greek economy. Some small landowners might own one slave, or even two.[40] An abundant literature of manuals for landowners (such as the Economy of Xenophon or that of Pseudo-Aristotle) confirms the presence of dozens of slaves on the larger estates; they could be common labourers or foremen. The extent to which slaves were used as a labour force in farming is disputed.[41] It is certain that rural slavery was very common in Athens, and that ancient Greece did not know of the immense slave populations found on the Roman latifundia.[42]

In mines and quarries slave labour was prevalent, with found large slave populations often leased out by rich private citizens. The strategos Nicias leased a thousand slaves to the silver mines of Laurium in Attica; Hipponicos, 600; and Philomidès, 300. Xenophon[43] indicates that they received one obolus per slave per day, amounting to 60 drachmas per year. This was one of the most prized investments for Athenians. The number of slaves working in the Laurium mines or in the mills processing ore has been estimated at 30,000.[44] Xenophon suggested that the city buy a large number of slaves, up to three state slaves per citizen, so that their leasing would assure the upkeep of all the citizens.[43]

Slaves were also used as craftsmen and tradespersons. As in agriculture, they were used for labour that was beyond the capability of the family. The slave population was greatest in workshops: the shield factory of Lysias employed 120 slaves,[45] and the father of Demosthenes owned 32 cutlers and 20 bedmakers.[46]

Slaves were also employed in the home. The domestic's main role was to stand in for his master at his trade and to accompany him on trips. In time of war he was batman to the hoplite; it has been argued that their actual role was far greater.[47] The female slave carried out domestic tasks, in particular bread baking and textile making. Only the poorest citizens did not possess a domestic slave.[48]

Demographics

Population

Ethiopian slave attempts to break in a horse, date unknown, National Archaeological Museum of Athens

It is difficult to estimate the number of slaves in ancient Greece, given the lack of a precise census and variations in definitions during that era. It is certain that Athens had the largest slave population, with as many as 80,000 in the 6th and 5th centuries BC,[44] on average three or four slaves per household. In the 5th century BC, Thucydides remarked on the desertion of 20,890 slaves during the war of Decelea, mostly tradesmen. The lowest estimate, of 20,000 slaves, during the time of Demosthenes,[49] corresponds to one slave per family. Between 317 BC and 307 BC, the tyrant Demetrius Phalereus ordered[50] a general census of Attica, which arrived at the following figures: 21,000 citizens, 10,000 metics and 400,000 slaves. The orator Hypereides, in his Against Areistogiton, recalls that the effort to enlist 150,000 male slaves of military age led to the defeat of the Greeks at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), which corresponds to the figures of Ctesicles.[51]

According to the literature, it appears that the majority of free Athenians owned at least one slave. Aristophanes, in Plutus, portrays poor peasants who have several slaves; Aristotle defines a house as containing freemen and slaves.[52] Conversely, not owning even one slave was a clear sign of poverty. In the celebrated discourse of Lysias For the Invalid, a cripple pleading for a pension explains "my income is very small and now I'm required to do these things myself and do not even have the means to purchase a slave who can do these things for me."[53] However, the huge slave populations of the Romans were unknown in ancient Greece. When Athenaeus[54] cites the case of Mnason, friend of Aristotle and owner of a thousand slaves, this appears to be exceptional. Plato, owner of five slaves at the time of his death, describes the very rich as owning 50 slaves.[55]

Thucydides estimates that the isle of Chios had proportionally the largest number of slaves.[56]

Sources of supply

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There were four primary sources of slaves: war, in which the defeated would become slaves to the victorious unless a more objective outcome was reached; piracy (at sea); banditry (on land); and international trade.

War

By the rules of war of the period, the victor possessed absolute rights over the vanquished, whether they were soldiers or not.[57] Enslavement, while not systematic, was common practice. Thucydides recalls that 7,000 inhabitants of Hyccara in Sicily were taken prisoner by Nicias and sold for 120 talents in the neighbouring village of Catania.[58] Likewise in 348 BC the population of Olynthus was reduced to slavery, as was that of Thebes in 335 BC by Alexander the Great and that of Mantineia by the Achaean League.[59]

The existence of Greek slaves was a constant source of discomfort for free Greeks. The enslavement of cities was also a controversial practice. Some generals refused, such as the Spartans Agesilaus II[60] and Callicratidas.[61] Some cities passed accords to forbid the practice: in the middle of the 3rd century BC, Miletus agreed not to reduce any free Knossian to slavery, and vice versa.[59] Conversely, the emancipation by ransom of a city that had been entirely reduced to slavery carried great prestige: Cassander, in 316 BC, restored Thebes.[62] Before him, Philip II of Macedon enslaved and then emancipated Stageira.[63]

Piracy and banditry

Piracy and banditry provided a significant and consistent supply of slaves,[64] though the significance of this source varied according to era and region.[65] Pirates and brigands would demand ransom whenever the status of their catch warranted it. Whenever ransom was not paid or not warranted, captives would be sold to a trafficker.[66] In certain areas, piracy was practically a national specialty, described by Thucydides as "the old-fashioned" way of life.[67] Such was the case in Acarnania, Crete, and Aetolia. Outside of Greece, this was also the case with Illyrians, Phoenicians, and Etruscans. During the Hellenistic period, Cilicians and the mountain peoples from the coasts of Anatolia could also be added to the list. Strabo explains the popularity of the practice amongst the Cilicians by its profitability; Delos, not far away, allowed for "moving a myriad of slaves daily".[68] The growing influence of the Roman Republic, a large consumer of slaves, led to development of the market and an aggravation of piracy.[69] In the 1st century BC, however, the Romans largely eradicated piracy to protect the Mediterranean trade routes.[70]

Slave trade

There was slave trade between kingdoms and states of the wider region. The fragmentary list of slaves confiscated from the property of the mutilators of the Hermai mentions 32 slaves whose origin have been ascertained: 13 came from Thrace, 7 from Caria, and the others came from Cappadocia, Caria, Scythia, Phrygia, Lydia, Syria, Ilyria, Macedon and Peloponnese.[71] The mechanism was similar to that later seen in the African slave trade: local professionals sold their own people to Greek slave merchants. The principal centres of the slave trade appear to have been Ephesus, Byzantium, and even faraway Tanais at the mouth of the Don. Some 'barbarian' slaves were victims of war or localised piracy, but others were sold by their parents.[72] There is a lack of direct evidence of slave traffic, but corroborating evidence exists. Firstly, certain nationalities are consistently and significantly represented in the slave population, such as the corps of Scythian archers employed by Athens as a police force—originally 300, but eventually nearly a thousand.[73] Secondly, the names given to slaves in the comedies often had a geographical link; thus Thratta, used by Aristophanes in The Wasps, The Acharnians, and Peace, simply signified Thracian woman.[74] Finally, the nationality of a slave was a significant criterion for major purchasers; the ancient advice was not to concentrate too many slaves of the same origin in the same place, in order to limit the risk of revolt.[75] It is also probable that, as with the Romans, certain nationalities were considered more productive as slaves than others.

The price of slaves varied in accordance with their ability. Xenophon valued a Laurion miner at 180 drachmas;[43] while a workman at major works was paid one drachma per day. Demosthenes' father's cutlers were valued at 500 to 600 drachmas each.[76] Price was also a function of the quantity of slaves available; in the 4th century BC they were abundant and it was thus a buyer's market. A tax on sale revenues was levied by the market cities. For instance a large slave market was organized during the festivities at the temple of Apollo at Actium. The Acarnanian League, which was in charge of the logistics, received half of the tax proceeds, the other half going to the city of Anactorion, of which Actium was a part.[77] Buyers enjoyed a guarantee against latent defects; the transaction could be invalidated if the bought slave turned out to be crippled and the buyer had not been warned about it.[78]

Natural growth

Funerary stele for two young children and their pedagogue, killed in an earthquake, Nicomedia, 1st century BC, Louvre

Curiously, it appears that the Greeks did not "breed" their slaves, at least during the Classical Era, though the proportion of houseborn slaves appears to have been rather large in Ptolemaic Egypt and in manumission inscriptions at Delphi.[79] Sometimes the cause of this was natural; mines, for instance, were exclusively a male domain. On the other hand, there were many female domestic slaves. The example of black people in the American South on the other hand demonstrates that slave populations can multiply.[80] This incongruity remains relatively unexplained.

Xenophon advised that male and female slaves should be lodged separately, that "…nor children born and bred by our domestics without our knowledge and consent—no unimportant matter, since, if the act of rearing children tends to make good servants still more loyally disposed, cohabiting but sharpens ingenuity for mischief in the bad."[81] The explanation is perhaps economic; even a skilled slave was cheap,[82] so it may have been cheaper to purchase a slave than to raise one.[83] Additionally, childbirth placed the slave-mother's life at risk, and the baby was not guaranteed to survive to adulthood.[84]

Houseborn slaves (oikogeneis) often constituted a privileged class. They were, for example, entrusted to take the children to school; they were "pedagogues" in the first sense of the term.[85] Some of them were the offspring of the master of the house, but in most cities, notably Athens, a child inherited the status of its mother.[84]

Status of slaves

The Greeks had many degrees of enslavement. There was a multitude of categories, ranging from free citizen to chattel slave, and including Penestae or helots, disenfranchised citizens, freedmen, bastards, and metics.[86] The common ground was the deprivation of civic rights.

Moses Finley proposed a set of criteria for different degrees of enslavement:[87]

  • Right to own property
  • Authority over the work of another
  • Power of punishment over another
  • Legal rights and duties (liability to arrest and/or arbitrary punishment, or to litigate)
  • Familial rights and privileges (marriage, inheritance, etc.)
  • Possibility of social mobility (manumission or emancipation, access to citizen rights)
  • Religious rights and obligations
  • Military rights and obligations (military service as servant, heavy or light soldier, or sailor)

Athenian slaves

Funerary loutrophoros; on the right a bearded slave carries his master's shield and helm, 380–370 BC, National Archaeological Museum of Athens

Athenian slaves were the property of their master (or of the state), who could dispose of them as he saw fit. He could give, sell, rent, or bequeath them. A slave could have a spouse and children, but the slave family was not recognized by the state, and the master could scatter the family members at any time.[88] Slaves had fewer judicial rights than citizens and were represented by their master in all judicial proceedings.[89] A misdemeanour that would result in a fine for the free man would result in a flogging for the slave; the ratio seems to have been one lash for one drachma.[85] With several minor exceptions, the testimony of a slave was not admissible except under torture.[90] Slaves were tortured in trials because they often remained loyal to their master. A famous example of trusty slave was Themistocles's Persian slave Sicinnus (the counterpart of Ephialtes of Trachis), who, despite his Persian origin, betrayed Xerxes and helped Athenians in the Battle of Salamis. Despite torture in trials, the Athenian slave was protected in an indirect way: if he was mistreated, the master could initiate litigation for damages and interest (δίκη βλάβης / dikê blabês).[85] Conversely, a master who excessively mistreated a slave could be prosecuted by any citizen (γραφὴ ὕβρεως / graphê hybreôs); this was not enacted for the sake of the slave, but to avoid violent excess (ὕβρις / hubris).[91]

Isocrates claimed that “not even the most worthless slave can be put to death without trial”;[92] the master's power over his slave was not absolute, as it was under Roman law.[93] Draco's law apparently punished with death the murder of a slave; the underlying principle was: “was the crime such that, if it became more widespread, it would do serious harm to society?”[94] The suit that could be brought against a slave's killer was not a suit for damages, as would be the case for the killing of cattle, but a δίκη φονική (dikê phonikê), demanding punishment for the religious pollution brought by the shedding of blood.[95] In the 4th century BC, the suspect was judged by the Palladion, a court which had jurisdiction over unintentional homicide;[96] the imposed penalty seems to have been more than a fine but less than death—maybe exile, as was the case in the murder of a Metic.[95]

However, slaves did belong to their master's household. A newly-bought slave was welcomed with nuts and fruits, just like a newly-wed wife.[88] Slaves took part in most of the civic and family cults; they were expressly invited to join the banquet of the Choes, second day of the Anthesteria,