Slavery was a common practice in ancient Greece,
as in other societies of the time.
Some Ancient Greek writers (including, most
notably, Aristotle) considered slavery natural
and even necessary.
This paradigm was notably questioned in Socratic
dialogues; the Stoics produced the first recorded
condemnation of slavery.Most activities were
open to slaves except politics, which was
reserved for citizens.
The principal use of slaves was in agriculture,
but hundreds of slaves were also used in stone
quarries or mines, and perhaps two per household
were domestic servants.
It is certain that Athens had the largest
slave population, with as many as 80,000 in
the 6th and 5th centuries BC, with average
of three or four slaves per household, except
in poor families.
Modern historiographical practice distinguishes
between chattel slavery (personal possession,
where the slave was regarded as a piece of
property as opposed to a mobile member of
society) versus land-bonded groups such as
the penestae of Thessaly or the Spartan helots,
who were more like medieval serfs (an enhancement
to real estate).
The chattel helot is an individual deprived
of liberty and forced to submit to an owner,
who may buy, sell, or lease them like any
other chattel.
The academic study of slavery in ancient Greece
is beset by significant methodological problems.
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.
Greek comedies and tragedies represented stereotypes,
while iconography made no substantial differentiation
between slaves and craftsmen.
== 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 ἀνδράποδον (andrapodon), (literally,
"one with the feet of a man") as opposed to
τετράποδον (tetrapodon), "quadruped"
or livestock.
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").
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.
Finally, the term οἰκέτης (oiketēs)
was used, as meaning "one who lives in house",
referring to household servants.Other terms
used to indicate slaves were less precise
and required context:
θεράπων (therapōn) – At the time
of Homer, the word meant "squire" (Patroclus
was referred to as the therapōn of Achilles
and Meriones that of Idomeneus); but during
the classical age, it meant "servant".
ἀκόλουθος (akolouthos) – literally,
"the follower" or "the one who accompanies".
Also, the diminutive ἀκολουθίσκος,
used for page boys.
παῖς (pais) – literally "child", used
in the same way as "houseboy", also used in
a derogatory way to call adult slaves.
σῶμα (sōma) – literally "body", used
in the context of emancipation.
== Origins of slavery ==
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 and origin of their bond to the
divinity is unclear.
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 freemen were common and that slaves could
work and own land.
It appears that the major division in Mycenaean
civilization was not between a free individual
and a slave but rather if the individual was
in the palace or not.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 dmōs.
In the Iliad, slaves are mainly women taken
as booty of war, while men were either ransomed
or killed on the battlefield.
In the Odyssey, the slaves also seem to be
mostly women.
These slaves were servants and sometimes concubines.
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; in the winter, he sleeps in
their company.
The term dmōs is not considered pejorative,
and Eumaeus, the "divine" swineherd, bears
the same Homeric epithet as the Greek heroes.
Slavery remained, however, a disgrace.
Eumaeus himself declares, "Zeus, of the far-borne
voice, takes away the half of a man's virtue,
when the day of slavery comes upon him".It
is difficult to determine when slave trading
began in the archaic period.
In Works and Days (8th century BC), Hesiod
owns numerous dmōes although their status
is unclear.
The presence of douloi is confirmed by lyric
poets such as Archilochus or Theognis of Megara.
According to epigraphic evidence, the homicide
law of Draco (c. 620 BC) mentioned slaves.
According to Plutarch, 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,
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."
== 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 economy.
Some small landowners might own one slave,
or even two.
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.
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.Slave labour
was prevalent in mines and quarries, which
had 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 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.
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.
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 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.
The female slave carried out domestic tasks,
in particular bread baking and textile making.
Only the poorest citizens did not possess
a domestic slave.
== Demographics ==
=== Population ===
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, 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.
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.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.
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."
However, the huge slave populations of the
Romans were unknown in ancient Greece.
When Athenaeus 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.Thucydides estimates that the isle
of Chios had proportionally the largest number
of slaves.
=== Sources of supply ===
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.
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.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 and Callicratidas.
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.
Conversely, the emancipation by ransom of
a city that had been entirely reduced to slavery
carried great prestige: Cassander, in 316
BC, restored Thebes.
Before him, Philip II of Macedon enslaved
and then emancipated Stageira.
==== Piracy and banditry ====
Piracy and banditry provided a significant
and consistent supply of slaves, though the
significance of this source varied according
to era and region.
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.
In certain areas, piracy was practically a
national specialty, described by Thucydides
as "the old-fashioned" way of life.
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
among the Cilicians by its profitability;
Delos, not far away, allowed for "moving myriad
slaves daily".
The growing influence of the Roman Republic,
a large consumer of slaves, led to development
of the market and an aggravation of piracy.
In the 1st century BC, however, the Romans
largely eradicated piracy to protect the Mediterranean
trade routes.
==== 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 origins have
been ascertained: 13 came from Thrace, 7 from
Caria, and the others came from Cappadocia,
Scythia, Phrygia, Lydia, Syria, Ilyria, Macedon
and Peloponnese.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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;
while a workman at major works was paid one
drachma per day.
Demosthenes' father's cutlers were valued
at 500 to 600 drachmas each.
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 helot 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.
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.
=== Natural growth ===
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.
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 African slaves in the American
South on the other hand demonstrates that
slave populations can multiply.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."
The explanation is perhaps economic; even
a skilled slave was cheap, so it may have
been cheaper to purchase a slave than to raise
one.
Additionally, childbirth placed the slave-mother's
life at risk, and the baby was not guaranteed
to survive to adulthood.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.
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.
== 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:
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 ===
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.
Slaves had fewer judicial rights than citizens
and were represented by their master in all
judicial proceedings.
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.
With several minor exceptions, the testimony
of a slave was not admissible except under
torture.
Slaves were tortured in trials because they
often remained loyal to their master.
A famous example of a 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
/ dikē blabēs).
Conversely, a master who excessively mistreated
a slave could be prosecuted by any citizen
(γραφὴ ὕβρεως / graphē hybreōs);
this was not enacted for the sake of the slave,
but to avoid violent excess (ὕβρις / hubris).Isocrates
claimed that "not even the most worthless
slave can be put to death without trial";
the master's power over his slave was not
absolute.
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?"
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 (dikē phonikē),
demanding punishment for the religious pollution
brought by the shedding of blood.
In the 4th century BC, the suspect was judged
by the Palladion, a court which had jurisdiction
over unintentional homicide; 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.
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.
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, and were allowed initiation
into the Eleusinian Mysteries.
A slave could claim asylum in a temple or
at an altar, just like a free man.
The slaves shared the gods of their masters
and could keep their own religious customs
if any.Slaves could not own property, but
their masters often let them save up to purchase
their freedom, and records survive of slaves
operating businesses by themselves, making
only a fixed tax-payment to their masters.
Athens also had a law forbidding the striking
of slaves: if a person struck what appeared
to be a slave in Athens, that person might
find himself hitting a fellow-citizen, because
many citizens dressed no better.
It astonished other Greeks that Athenians
tolerated back-chat from 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".Slaves
had special sexual restrictions and obligations.
For example, a slave could not engage free
boys in pederastic relationships ("A slave
shall not be the lover of a free boy nor follow
after him, or else he shall receive fifty
blows of the public lash."), and they were
forbidden from the palaestrae ("A slave shall
not take exercise or anoint himself in the
wrestling-schools.").
Both laws are attributed to Solon.
Fathers wanting to protect their sons from
unwanted advances provided them with a slave
guard, called a paidagogos, to escort the
boy in his travels.
The sons of vanquished foes would be enslaved
and often forced to work in male brothels,
as in the case of Phaedo of Elis, who at the
request of Socrates was bought and freed from
such an enterprise by the philosopher's rich
friends.
On the other hand, it is attested in sources
that the rape of slaves was prosecuted, at
least occasionally.
=== Slaves in Gortyn ===
In Gortyn, in Crete, according to a code engraved
in stone dating to the 6th century BC, slaves
(doulos or oikeus) found themselves in a state
of great dependence.
Their children belonged to the master.
The master was responsible for all their offences,
and, inversely, he received amends for crimes
committed against his slaves by others.
In the Gortyn code, where all punishment was
monetary, fines were doubled for slaves committing
a misdemeanour or felony.
Conversely, an offence committed against a
slave was much less expensive than an offence
committed against a free person.
As an example, the rape of a free woman by
a slave was punishable by a fine of 200 staters
(400 drachms), while the rape of a non-virgin
slave by another slave brought a fine of only
one obolus (a sixth of a drachm).Slaves did
have the right to possess a house and livestock,
which could be transmitted to descendants,
as could clothing and household furnishings.
Their family was recognized by law: they could
marry, divorce, write a testament and inherit
just like free men.
=== A specific case: debt slavery ===
Prior to its interdiction by Solon, Athenians
practiced debt enslavement: a citizen incapable
of paying his debts became "enslaved" to the
creditor.
The exact nature of this dependency is a much
controversial issue among modern historians:
was it truly slavery or another form of bondage?
However, this issue primarily concerned those
peasants known as "hektēmoroi" working leased
land belonging to rich landowners and unable
to pay their rents.
In theory, those so enslaved would be liberated
when their original debts were repaid.
The system was developed with variants throughout
the Near East and is cited in the Bible.Solon
put an end to it with the σεισάχθεια
/ seisachtheia, liberation of debts, which
prevented all claim to the person by the debtor
and forbade the sale of free Athenians, including
by themselves.
Aristotle in his Constitution of the Athenians
quotes one of Solon's poems:
And many a man whom fraud or law had soldFar
from his god-built land, an outcast slave,
I brought again to Athens; yea, and some,
Exiles from home through debt’s oppressive
load,
Speaking no more the dear Athenian tongue,
But wandering far and wide, I brought again;
And those that here in vilest slavery (douleia)
Crouched ‘neath a master’s (despōtes)
frown, I set them free.
Though much of Solon's vocabulary is that
of "traditional" slavery, servitude for debt
was at least different in that the enslaved
Athenian remained an Athenian, dependent on
another Athenian, in his place of birth.
It is this aspect which explains the great
wave of discontent with slavery of the 6th
century BC, which was not intended to free
all slaves but only those enslaved by debt.
The reforms of Solon left two exceptions:
the guardian of an unmarried woman who had
lost her virginity had the right to sell her
as a slave, and a citizen could "expose" (abandon)
unwanted newborn children.
=== Manumission ===
The practice of manumission is confirmed to
have existed in Chios from the 6th century
BC.
It probably dates back to an earlier period,
as it was an oral procedure.
Informal emancipations are also confirmed
in the classical period.
It was sufficient to have witnesses, who would
escort the citizen to a public emancipation
of his slave, either at the theatre or before
a public tribunal.
This practice was outlawed in Athens in the
middle of the 6th century BC to avoid public
disorder.The practice became more common in
the 4th century BC and gave rise to inscriptions
in stone which have been recovered from shrines
such as Delphi and Dodona.
They primarily date to the 2nd and 1st centuries
BC, and the 1st century AD.
Collective manumission was possible; an example
is known from the 2nd century BC in the island
of Thasos.
It probably took place during a period of
war as a reward for the slaves' loyalty, but
in most cases the documentation deals with
a voluntary act on the part of the master
(predominantly male, but in the Hellenistic
period also female).
The slave was often required to pay for himself
an amount at least equivalent to his street
value.
To this end they could use their savings or
take a so-called "friendly" loan (ἔρανος
/ eranos) from their master, a friend or a
client like the hetaera Neaira did.Emancipation
was often of a religious nature, where the
slave was considered to be "sold" to a deity,
often Delphian Apollo, or was consecrated
after his emancipation.
The temple would receive a portion of the
monetary transaction and would guarantee the
contract.
The manumission could also be entirely civil,
in which case the magistrate played the role
of the deity.The slave's freedom could be
either total or partial, at the master's whim.
In the former, the emancipated slave was legally
protected against all attempts at re-enslavement—for
instance, on the part of the former master's
inheritors.
In the latter case, the emancipated slave
could be liable to a number of obligations
to the former master.
The most restrictive contract was the paramone,
a type of enslavement of limited duration
during which time the master retained practically
absolute rights.In regard to the city, the
emancipated slave was far from equal to a
citizen by birth.
He was liable to all types of obligations,
as one can see from the proposals of Plato
in The Laws: presentation three times monthly
at the home of the former master, forbidden
to become richer than him, etc.
In fact, the status of emancipated slaves
was similar to that of metics, the residing
foreigners, who were free but did not enjoy
a citizen's rights.
=== Spartan slaves ===
Spartan citizens used helots, a dependent
group collectively owned by the state.
It is uncertain whether they had chattel slaves
as well.
There are mentions of people manumitted by
Spartans, which was supposedly forbidden for
helots, or sold outside of Lakonia: the poet
Alcman; a Philoxenos from Cytherea, reputedly
enslaved with all his fellow citizens when
his city was conquered, later sold to an Athenian;
a Spartan cook bought by Dionysius the Elder
or by a king of Pontus, both versions being
mentioned by Plutarch; and the famous Spartan
nurses, much appreciated by Athenian parents.Some
texts mention both slaves and helots, which
seems to indicate that they were not the same
thing.
Plato in Alcibiades I cites "the ownership
of slaves, and notably helots" among the Spartan
riches, and Plutarch writes about "slaves
and helots".
Finally, according to Thucydides, the agreement
that ended the 464 BC revolt of helots stated
that any Messenian rebel who might hereafter
be found within the Peloponnese was "to be
the slave of his captor", which means that
the ownership of chattel slaves was not illegal
at that time.
Most historians thus concur that chattel slaves
were indeed used in the Greek city-state of
Sparta, at least after the Lacedemonian victory
of 404 BC against Athens, but not in great
numbers and only among the upper classes.
As was in the other Greek cities, chattel
slaves could be purchased at the market or
taken in war.
== 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's advice is to treat slaves as domestic
animals, that is to say punish disobedience
and reward 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
capable of understanding reasons when they
are explained.Greek literature abounds with
scenes of slaves being flogged; it was a means
of forcing them to work, as were control of
rations, clothing, and rest.
This violence could be meted out by the master
or the supervisor, who was possibly also a
slave.
Thus, at the beginning of Aristophanes' The
Knights (4–5), two slaves complain of being
"bruised and thrashed without respite" by
their new supervisor.
However, Aristophanes himself cites what is
a typical old saw in ancient Greek comedy:
"He also dismissed those slaves who kept on
running off, or deceiving someone, or getting
whipped.
They were always led out crying, so one of
their fellow slaves could mock the bruises
and ask then: 'Oh you poor miserable fellow,
what's happened to your skin?
Surely a huge army of lashes from a whip has
fallen down on you and laid waste your back?'"
The condition of slaves varied very much according
to their status; the mine slaves of Laureion
and the pornai (brothel prostitutes) lived
a particularly brutal existence, while public
slaves, craftsmen, tradesmen and bankers enjoyed
relative independence.
In return for a fee (ἀποφορά / apophora)
paid to their master, they could live and
work alone.
They could thus earn some money on the side,
sometimes enough to purchase their freedom.
Potential emancipation was indeed a powerful
motivator, though the real scale of this is
difficult to estimate.Ancient writers considered
that Attic slaves enjoyed a "peculiarly happy
lot": Pseudo-Xenophon deplores the liberties
taken by Athenian slaves: "as for the slaves
and Metics of Athens, they take the greatest
licence; you cannot just strike them, and
they do not step aside to give you free passage".
This alleged good treatment did not prevent
20,000 Athenian slaves from running away at
the end of the Peloponnesian War at the incitement
of the Spartan garrison at Attica in Decelea.
These were principally skilled artisans (kheirotekhnai),
probably among the better-treated slaves.
The title of a 4th-century comedy by Antiphanes,
The Runaway-catcher (Δραπεταγωγός),
suggests that slave flight was not uncommon.Conversely,
there are no records of a large-scale Greek
slave revolt comparable to that of Spartacus
in Rome.
It can probably be explained by the relative
dispersion of Greek slaves, which would have
prevented any large-scale planning.
Slave revolts were rare, even in Rome.
Individual acts of rebellion of slaves against
their master, though scarce, are not unheard
of; a judicial speech mentions the attempted
murder of his master by a boy slave, not 12
years old.
== Views of Greek slavery ==
=== Historical views ===
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 "War 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 does also state that it might have a few
issues though,”For what if the cause of
war be unjust?”
If the war was because of an unfair or incorrect
reason, should the victors of that war be
allowed to take the losers as slaves?
During the classical period the main justification
for slavery was economic.
From a philosophical point of view, the idea
of "natural" slavery emerged at the same time;
thus, as Aeschylus states in The Persians,
the Greeks "[o]f no man are they called the
slaves or vassals", while the Persians, as
Euripides states in Helen, "are all slaves,
except one"—the Great King.
Hippocrates theorizes about this latent idea
at the end of the 5th century BC.
According to him, the temperate climate of
Anatolia produced a placid and submissive
people.
This explanation is reprised by Plato, then
Aristotle in Politics, where he develops the
concept of "natural slavery": "for he that
can foresee with his mind is naturally ruler
and naturally master, and he that can do these
things with his body is subject and naturally
a slave."
As opposed to an animal, a slave can comprehend
reason but "…has not got the deliberative
part at all."Alcidamas, at the same time as
Aristotle, took the opposite view, saying:
"nature has made nobody a slave".In parallel,
the concept that all men, whether Greek or
barbarian, belonged to the same race was being
developed by the Sophists and thus that certain
men were slaves although they had the soul
of a freeman and vice versa.
Aristotle himself recognized this possibility
and argued that slavery could not be imposed
unless the master was better than the slave,
in keeping with his theory of "natural" slavery.
The Sophists concluded that true servitude
was not a matter of status but a matter of
spirit; thus, as Menander stated, "be free
in the mind, although you are slave: and thus
you will no longer be a slave".
This idea, repeated by the Stoics and the
Epicurians, was not so much an opposition
to slavery as a trivialization of it.The Greeks
could not comprehend an absence of slaves.
Slaves exist even in the "Cloudcuckooland"
of Aristophanes' The Birds as well as in the
ideal cities of Plato's Laws or Republic.
The utopian cities of Phaleas of Chalcedon
and Hippodamus of Miletus are based on the
equal distribution of property, but public
slaves are used respectively as craftsmen
and land workers.
The "reversed cities" placed women in power
or even saw the end of private property, as
in Lysistrata or Assemblywomen, but could
not picture slaves in charge of masters.
The only societies without slaves were those
of the Golden Age, where all needs were met
without anyone having to work.
In this type of society, as explained by Plato,
one reaped generously without sowing.
In Telekleides' Amphictyons barley loaves
fight with wheat loaves for the honor of being
eaten by men.
Moreover, objects move themselves—dough
kneads itself, and the jug pours itself.
Similarly, Aristotle said that slaves would
not be necessary "if every instrument could
accomplish its own work... the shuttle would
weave and the plectrum touch the lyre without
a hand to guide them", like the legendary
constructs of Daedalus and Hephaestus.
Society without slaves is thus relegated to
a different time and space.
In a "normal" society, one needs slaves.
Aristotle argues that slaves are a necessity
though, saying "Property is part of the household,
... For no man can live well or indeed live
at all, unless he be provided with necessaries."
He also argues that slaves are the most important
part of the property as they "take precedence
of all the instruments."
This would suggest that at least some slaves
would be treated well for the same reason
one would take great care of their most important
tools.
By viewing slaves as tools of a household,
it creates another reason for acceptance of
slavery.
Aristotle says "indeed the use of slaves and
of tame animals is not very different," showing
as well that at least in part, some slaves
were thought of no higher than the common
tamed animals in use at the time.
Antiphon viewed slaves as a bit more than
common animals or tools.
On the topic of a man killing his own slave,
he says that the man should "purify himself
and withhold himself from those places prescribed
by law, in the hope that by doing so he will
best avoid disaster."
This suggests that there still is some sense
of inappropriateness in killing a slave, even
one owned by the killer.
Punishment of slaves would have been swift
and harsh.
Demosthenes viewed punishment for slaves as
acceptable in the form of physical harm or
injuries for all that they may have done wrong,
stating "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."
This was spoken about in legal proceedings,
suggesting that it would have been a widely
accepted way of treating slaves.
=== Modern views ===
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.
In the 19th century, a politico-economic discourse
emerged.
It concerned itself with distinguishing the
phases in the organisation of human societies
and correctly identifying the place of Greek
slavery.
The influence of Marx is decisive; for him
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.
The Positivists represented by the historian
Eduard Meyer (Slavery in Antiquity, 1898)
were soon to oppose the Marxist theory.
According to him slavery was the foundation
of Greek democracy.
It was thus a legal and social phenomenon,
and not economic.Current historiography developed
in the 20th century; led by authors such as
Joseph Vogt, it saw in slavery the conditions
for the development of elites.
Conversely, the theory also demonstrates an
opportunity for slaves to join the elite.
Finally, Vogt estimates that modern society,
founded on humanist values, has surpassed
this level of development.In 2011, Greek slavery
remains the subject of historiographical debate,
on two questions in particular: can it be
said that ancient Greece was a "slave society",
and did Greek slaves comprise a social class?
== Notes ==
== References ==
== Further reading ==
== External links ==
GIREA – The International Group for Research
on Slavery in Antiquity (in French)
Greek law bibliographic database at Nomoi
Documents on Greek slavery on the Ancient
History Sourcebook.
Manumission records of women at Delphi at
attalus.org
Index thématiques de l'esclavage et de la
dépendance – subject index on slavery and
related topics, by author (in French)
Bibliothèque numérique ISTA – free library
(in French)
