Slavery In The Ancient World

Introduction

Slavery in the ancient world began in Archaic Greece, and continued until the end of the Roman Empire, although it was still in use during the Medieval period. The Athenian and Roman Empires have been defined as slave societies, reflecting the institutionalisation of slavery in the ancient world. Slavery was not based on physical traits, although most slaves were barbarians to the country in which they were enslaved. The huge scale of ancient slavery has been attributed to the Empires’ conquests.

Origins

Many ancient societies, including Athens and Rome, were slave societies relying heavily on slave labour. It is also evident that they were agrarian; wealth was made from the land, so slaves became important for exploiting this.

Views on Slavery

Although slavery was a widely debated topic, with philosophers Aristotle and Plato making commentaries on the issues, a society without slavery was not conceived. Jameson argues that slavery in Athens was tied to the specific social and economic roles of all members of society, and that obtaining the ideal of a model Athenian citizen had the ability to own slaves as a prerequisite, tying slavery tightly within the norms of Greek society. One of the leading figures scholars draw on when looking at the philosophy of slavery is Aristotle and his ‘theory of natural slavery’. Aristotle’s theory rested on his assertion that all people had a place in the polis and that every polis was made up of parts working together, including slaves. This justified the moral difficulty of slavery by defining certain people, barbarians, as natural slaves, because barbarians lacked a place in the polis and therefore lacked virtue unless taken in by a master. Aristotle also claimed that slavery was a mutually beneficial relationship; slaves are naturally inclined to belong to another person and are allocated only enough logos and virtue to perform the tasks given to

This, along with loss of name effectively erased the identity of a slave. However, that within a familia slaves maintained ‘slave relationships’ anyway, both blood ties and surrogate family. Slave marriages were common, although not legally binding, often a privilege granted by their owner. Slaves were divided into familia urbana (city household) and familia rustica (country household). Slaves did not have a uniform, rather they were to wear clothes less prestigious than those of their owner, meaning it was difficult to differentiate slave from free, particularly as there were no physiognomic indicators. Quality of clothing varied significantly based on the job of the slave – those who served at parties wore clothes far superior to those who worked the fields. Likewise, there seems to have been variation in the food and accommodation offered to slaves, although in this case it was influenced more by the generosity of the owner rather than the role of the slaves themselves. Unlike the free population, slaves were forbidden from attending religious festivals, although there were separate religious festivals specifically for slaves. Owners controlled their slaves through rewards and punishments. Common was the prospect of freedom through manumission, used to incentivise slaves to work and behave. Another reward was the peculium, personal property belonging to the slave. Under