What was the purpose of slavery in ancient Greece?
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. Slaves were also used as craftsmen and tradespersons. As in agriculture, they were used for labour that was beyond the capability of the family.
Did the ancient Greeks have slaves?
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. The existence of Greek slaves was a constant source of discomfort for Greek citizens. The enslavement of cities was also a controversial practice.
What is in Volume 1 of the history of Greek slavery?
Volume 1 deals with slavery in ancient Greece (types of slaves, their sources, roles, prices, numbers, their place in the family) and also discusses manumission and the views held by the ancient Greeks on slavery. Reprinted from the second edition (Paris: Hachette, 1879).
What did Athens do with its slaves?
Athenian slaves fought together with Athenian freemen at the battle of Marathon, and the monuments memorialize them. It was formally decreed before the Battle of Salamis that the citizens should "save themselves, their women, children, and slaves".
What was the impact of slavery in Greek antiquity?
What did Aristotle say about slavery?
How many slaves were there in Athens?
What is the most common word for slaves?
What was the character of the ancient society?
What rights did the victor have in the war?
What is the disjointed and fragmented documentation of Athens?
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About this website
What was the role of slavery in Greece?
Slaves in ancient Greece played various roles. They performed all the tasks that were degrading to the Greeks. They did all the domestic chores, acted as travel companions, and even delivered messages. Agricultural slaves worked on farms, and industrial slaves worked in mines and quarries.
How did slavery affect Greece?
Servitude was widespread in Greek antiquity. Athens alone was home to an estimated 60,000–80,000 slaves during the fifth and fourth centuries BC, with each household having an average of three or four enslaved people attached to it. Athenian slaves tended to enjoy more freedom than those elsewhere.
How did slavery play a role in the development of Greece's democracy?
For male Athenian citizens, owning slaves was essentially a prerequisite for fully experiencing the freedoms that citizenship offered. Owning slaves allowed citizens to take time away from work to participate directly in the city's government by attending meetings of the assembly and holding public office.
How did slavery work in ancient Greece?
Slavery in ancient Athens Slaves in ancient Athens were the property of their masters under Athenian law. They could be bought, sold, and beaten, but only by their master. There were also people who were considered public slaves, who were the property of the polis, or city-state, thus being a sort of “elite” slave.
What were Greek slaves called?
In Sparta, there were state-owned slaves called helots. Helots were assigned to work a certain piece of land. They were also forced to give part of what they grew to the state. At times, helots outnumbered the free Spartans by twenty to one.
What was slavery like in Athens?
Slaves were the lowest class in Athenian society, but according to many contemporary accounts they were far less harshly treated than in most other Greek cities. Indeed, one of the criticisms of Athens was that its slaves and freemen were difficult to tell apart.
What was the economy like in ancient Greece?
Ancient Greece relied heavily on imported goods. Their economy was defined by that dependence. Agricultural trade was of great importance because the soil in Greece was of poor quality which limited crop production.
Which class in Greece was made of slaves?
The middle classMost homes in ancient Greece had slaves to take on these menial tasks. The middle class was made up of people that may not have been born in Athens but were working hard at their trade.
What was the role of slaves in Sparta?
Slaves in Sparta worked on their lands and produced agricultural products for their masters. They lived in their home country and did not have to work at the homes of their masters. In times of an emergency, the slaves had to serve as light-armed troops.
What is the relationship between Greek philosophy and slavery?
Aristotle. The great Greek philosopher, Aristotle, was one of the first. He thought that slavery was a natural thing and that human beings came in two types - slaves and non-slaves.
How much did slaves cost in ancient Greece?
A slave in fourth century Athens generally cost between 200–500 drachmas, something like 150–200 days' worth of wages for the average skilled craftsman and quite often less; by contrast, a slave in Achaemenid Babylonia during the sixth century cost 375–750 days' wages at the average rate for a skilled craftsman.
Is there still slavery in Greece?
In Greece, an estimated 89,000 people are modern-day slaves - about one in 125 of its 11 million population - according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index by the Walk Free Foundation.
SLAVERY IN ANCIENT GREECE | Facts and Details
Demosthenes wrote in “Against Timocrates” (c. 350 B.C): “If, gentlemen of the jury, you will turn over in your minds the question what is the difference between being a slave and being a free man, you will find that the biggest difference is that the body of a slave is made responsible for all his misdeeds, whereas corporal punishment is the last penalty to inflict on a free man.”
Slavery in ancient Greece: what was life like for enslaved people?
So-called chattel slaves were those owned by a master who viewed them as his possession, while dêmosioi were public slaves owned by the state and who worked for the civic good, whether in non-manual roles, such as clerks, or undertaking more physical work, such as road construction. All, though, were united in being denied civic rights and disqualified from participating in politics.
Slavery and Women in Ancient Greece - The Role of Women in The Art of ...
Slavery and Women in Ancient Greece Questions and Answers. Question: Did women own slaves and how often did the men and women have sex and could the men have sex with more thatn on e woman at one time??
Ancient Greece for Kids: Slavery - Ducksters
History >> Ancient Greece. It may seem strange (and horrible) to us today, but slavery was a common practice during the time period of Ancient Greece. Most Greek families owned at least one slave and slaves were an important part of the culture and economy of Ancient Greece.
Trojan Women by Euripides - Greek Mythology
Produced in 415 BC for the City Dionysia, Euripides’ Trojan Woman was the third tragedy of a second-prize winning trilogy dealing with the Trojan War.It follows the fates of four renowned Trojan women – Hecuba, Cassandra, Andromache, and Helen – after the immediate sack of Troy.The play, however, opens with a “divine prologue” featuring a discussion between the sea-god Poseidon, who ...
What was the impact of slavery in Greek antiquity?
Slavery in Greek antiquity has long been an object of apologetic discourse among Christians, who are typically awarded the merit of its collapse. From the 16th century the discourse became moralizing in nature. The existence of colonial slavery had significant impact on the debate, with some authors lending it civilizing merits and others denouncing its misdeeds. Thus Henri-Alexandre Wallon in 1847 published a History of Slavery in Antiquity among his works for the abolition of slavery in the French colonies.
What did Aristotle say about slavery?
Some Ancient Greek writers (including, most notably, Aristotle) described slavery as natural and even necessary. This paradigm was notably questioned in Socratic dialogues; the Stoics produced the first recorded condemnation of slavery. The principal use of slaves was in agriculture, but they were also used in stone quarries or mines, ...
How many slaves were there in Athens?
It seems certain that Athens had the largest slave population, with as many as 80,000 in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, 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, corresponds to one slave per family. Between 317 BC and 307 BC, the tyrant Demetrius Phalereus ordered a general census of Attica, which arrived at the following figures: 21,000 citizens, 10,000 metics and 400,000 slaves. However, some researchers doubt the accuracy of the figure, asserting that thirteen slaves per free man appear unlikely in a state where a dozen slaves were a sign of wealth, nor is the population stated consistent with the known figures for bread production and import. The orator Hypereides, in his Against Areistogiton, recalls that the effort to enlist 15,000 male slaves of military age led to the defeat of the Southern Greeks at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), which corresponds to the figures of Ctesicles.
What is the most common word for slaves?
The most common word for slaves is δοῦλος ( doulos ), used in opposition to "free man" ( ἐλεύθερος, eleútheros ); an earlier form of the former appears in Mycenaean inscriptions as do-e-ro, "male slave" (or "servant", "bondman"; Linear B: 𐀈𐀁𐀫 ), or do-e-ra, "female slave" (or "maid-servant", "bondwoman").
What was the character of the ancient society?
According to Karl Marx, the ancient society was characterized by development of private ownership and the dominant (and not secondary as in other pre-capitalist societies) character of slavery as a mode of production.
What rights did the victor have in the war?
By the rules of war of the period, the victor possessed absolute rights over the vanquished, whether they were soldiers or not. 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. 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.
What is the disjointed and fragmented documentation of Athens?
Documentation is disjointed and very fragmented, focusing primarily on the city-state of Athens. No treatises are specifically devoted to the subject, and jurisprudence was interested in slavery only as much as it provided a source of revenue.
How is slavery believed to have started in Greece?
Q: How did people become slaves in ancient Greece? People became slaves in ancient Greece after they were captured in wars. They were then sold to their owners. Other slaves were, by nature, born into slave families.
What roles were Greek slaves assigned in Roman society?
The Greeks and Romans used slave labor for farming, mining, building, and domestic work. Slaves were mostly war captives, people kidnapped and sold by slave traders, and the children of slave women.
What were slaves not allowed to do in Greece?
Slaves participated in most occupations in Greece, but were not allowed to participate in politics. The worst job for a slave was working in the mines. This was dangerous and hard work. Slaves working in the mines didn’t live very long.
When did slavery start in ancient Greece?
Only a handful of societies made slavery the dominant labor force. The first true slave society in history emerged in ancient Greece between the 6th and 4th centuries. In Athens during the classical period, a third to a half of the population consisted of slaves. Rome would become even more dependent on slavery.
What were slaves called in Sparta?
They were the helots, the subjugated and conquered people, the slaves of Sparta. Nobody knows exactly what the term “Helot” actually means. Some say it came from the village called Helos that was conquered by the angry Spartans.
Where did ancient Greek slaves sleep?
Living Quarters Slaves usually lived on their master’s property, most often in communal structures that tended to be primitively constructed and furnished. Some domestic slaves might have been privileged to sleep in the master’s house, such as a wet-nurse, the children’s primary caregiver, or a female concubine.
What did Roman slaves eat for breakfast?
The Romans ate a breakfast of bread or a wheat pancake eaten with dates and honey. At midday, they ate a light meal of fish, cold meat, bread, and vegetables. Often the meal consisted of the leftovers of the previous day’s Cena.
Summary
This chapter assesses the location of slavery within the ancient Greek economy or, rather, economies. Its approach will be quite different from the little that the Greeks themselves, although surrounded by slaves, had to say about slavery as an institution.
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What was the main use of slaves in Athens?
Register to read the introduction… The principal use of slaves was in agriculture, the foundation of the Greek economy. Some landowners might own one or even two slaves, just for themselves. It is certain that rural slavery was very common in Athens. Slaves were not just used in agriculture, they were also used in mines and quarries (as mentioned before). In mines and quarries, slave labour was prevalent, with fond 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 Philomides, 300. They were also used as craftsmen and tradespersons. The slave population was greatest in workshops: the shield factory of Lysias employed 120 slaves, and the father of Demosthenes owned 32 cutlers and 20 bedmakers. Slaves were used in agriculture, mines and quarries, as craftsmen and tradespersons, and also employed in the home. The domestics main role was to stand in for his master at his trade and to accompany him on trips. The female slave carried out domestic tasks, in particular bread baking and textile making. Therefore, slaves had a huge impact on Greek society, and could be found working in agriculture, as craftsmen and tradespersons, in mines and quarries, or in the home as a domestic …show more content…
What is forced labor?
Forced labor includes farming, construction, manufacturing, prostitution, and market trading. These “jobs” are very dangerous but they are forced to do them. Organizations have been made to help get these people the help they need but it will take many years before the world is slave free. Americans contribute to the slave manufacturing companies. If an American buys a knockoff name brand item the money goes to these slave lords.…
Introduction
The earliest Greek texts known to us already attest to the existence of unfree labor. Despite being widespread and considered essential for the well-being of the dominant elite, even in Antiquity slavery in its various forms sparked debates, and writers speculated about its origins, nature, and justification.
General Overviews
The number of books that offer a general overview is vast. A good starting point is Fisher 1993 and Garlan 1988 (a fuller and thorough account), both specifically on Greek slavery, and Wiedemann 1987 on both Greek and Roman slavery. A dated but still useful study of slavery in both Greece and Rome is Wallon 1974.
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What was the impact of slavery in Greek antiquity?
Slavery in Greek antiquity has long been an object of apologetic discourse among Christians, who are typically awarded the merit of its collapse. From the 16th century the discourse became moralizing in nature. The existence of colonial slavery had significant impact on the debate, with some authors lending it civilizing merits and others denouncing its misdeeds. Thus Henri-Alexandre Wallon in 1847 published a History of Slavery in Antiquity among his works for the abolition of slavery in the French colonies.
What did Aristotle say about slavery?
Some Ancient Greek writers (including, most notably, Aristotle) described slavery as natural and even necessary. This paradigm was notably questioned in Socratic dialogues; the Stoics produced the first recorded condemnation of slavery. The principal use of slaves was in agriculture, but they were also used in stone quarries or mines, ...
How many slaves were there in Athens?
It seems certain that Athens had the largest slave population, with as many as 80,000 in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, 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, corresponds to one slave per family. Between 317 BC and 307 BC, the tyrant Demetrius Phalereus ordered a general census of Attica, which arrived at the following figures: 21,000 citizens, 10,000 metics and 400,000 slaves. However, some researchers doubt the accuracy of the figure, asserting that thirteen slaves per free man appear unlikely in a state where a dozen slaves were a sign of wealth, nor is the population stated consistent with the known figures for bread production and import. The orator Hypereides, in his Against Areistogiton, recalls that the effort to enlist 15,000 male slaves of military age led to the defeat of the Southern Greeks at the Battle of Chaeronea (338 BC), which corresponds to the figures of Ctesicles.
What is the most common word for slaves?
The most common word for slaves is δοῦλος ( doulos ), used in opposition to "free man" ( ἐλεύθερος, eleútheros ); an earlier form of the former appears in Mycenaean inscriptions as do-e-ro, "male slave" (or "servant", "bondman"; Linear B: 𐀈𐀁𐀫 ), or do-e-ra, "female slave" (or "maid-servant", "bondwoman").
What was the character of the ancient society?
According to Karl Marx, the ancient society was characterized by development of private ownership and the dominant (and not secondary as in other pre-capitalist societies) character of slavery as a mode of production.
What rights did the victor have in the war?
By the rules of war of the period, the victor possessed absolute rights over the vanquished, whether they were soldiers or not. 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. 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.
What is the disjointed and fragmented documentation of Athens?
Documentation is disjointed and very fragmented, focusing primarily on the city-state of Athens. No treatises are specifically devoted to the subject, and jurisprudence was interested in slavery only as much as it provided a source of revenue.
Who Were Slaves in Ancient Greece?
Slavery in Ancient Athens
- it is estimated that Athens had as many as 80,000 slaves in the 6th and 5th centuries BC with an average household possessing three to four slaves; the only exception to that rule would be impoverished families. Slaves in ancient Athens were the property of their masters under Athenian law. They could be bought, sold, and beaten, but only by their master. There were also people wh…
Slaves in Sparta
- Critias described the situation of slaves in Sparta with these words: “The free were more free, and the slaves more fully slaves, than elsewhere.” In the Sparta city-state, all slaves were owned by the state. They were viewed as enemies and forced to wear humiliating clothes to distinguish them from Spartan citzens. Spartans called them helots (είλωτες), a word still used in Greece today to …
Slave Revolts in Ancient Greece
- Slave revolts were uncommon in Ancient Greece, although slave escapes were not. Slaves who escaped did so merely to be free. Slave miners worked under extraordinarily harsh conditions in the dark although many were needed to perform skilled and unskilled tasks outside of the pits, as well. Many slaves were constantly overworked and surely worked to death at times. Furthermore…
Overview
Slavery was an accepted practice in ancient Greece, as in other societies of the time. Some Ancient Greek writers (including, most notably, Aristotle) described slavery as natural and even necessary. This paradigm was notably questioned in Socratic dialogues; the Stoics produced the first recorded condemnation of slavery.
The principal use of slaves was in agriculture, but they were also used in stone quarries or mines…
Economic role
All activities were open to slaves with the exception of politics. For the Greeks, politics was the only occupation worthy of a citizen, the rest being relegated wherever possible to non-citizens. It was status that was of importance, not occupation.
The principal use of slavery was in agriculture, the foundation of the Greek eco…
Terminology
The ancient Greeks had several words to indicate slaves, which leads to textual ambiguity when they are studied out of their proper context. In Homer, Hesiod and Theognis of Megara, the slave was called δμώς (dmōs). The term has a general meaning but refers particularly to war prisoners taken as booty (in other words, property). During the classical period, the Greeks frequently used ἀνδρ…
Pre-classical Greece
Slaves were present through the Mycenaean civilization, as documented in numerous tablets unearthed in Pylos 140. Two legal categories can be distinguished: "slaves (εοιο)" and "slaves of the god (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 an…
Demographics
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 seems certain that Athens had the largest slave population, with as many as 80,000 in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, 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 …
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. The common ground was the deprivation of civic rights.
Moses Finley proposed a set of criteria for different degrees of enslavement:
Slavery conditions
It is difficult to appreciate the condition of Greek slaves. According to Aristotle, the daily routine of slaves could be summed up in three words: "work, discipline, and feeding". Xenophon notes the accepted practice of treating slaves as domestic animals, that is to say punishing them for disobedience and rewarding them for good behaviour. For his part, Aristotle prefers to see slaves treated as children and to use not only orders but also recommendations, as the slave is capabl…
Views of Greek slavery
Very few authors of antiquity call slavery into question. To Homer and the pre-classical authors, slavery was an inevitable consequence of war. Heraclitus states that "[w]ar is the father of all, the king of all...he turns some into slaves and sets others free." Aristotle also felt this way, stating "the law by which whatever is taken in war is supposed to belong to the victors." He also states t…