Slavery in ancient Greece

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Slavery was a widely accepted practice in ancient Greece, as it was in contemporaneous societies.^[2] The principal use of slaves was in agriculture, but they were also used in stone quarries or mines, and as domestic servants.^[3]

Modern historiographical practice distinguishes between chattel slavery (where the slave was regarded as a piece of property, as opposed to a member of human society) and land-bonded groups such as the penestae of Thessaly or the Spartan helots, who were more like medieval serfs (an enhancement to real estate).^[4] The chattel slave is an individual deprived of liberty and forced to submit to an owner, who may buy, sell, or lease them like any other chattel.^[5]

The academic study of slavery in ancient Greece is beset by significant methodological problems.^[6] 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.^[7]

^ A traditional pose in funerary steles, see for instance Felix M. Wassermann, "Serenity and Repose: Life and Death on Attic Tombstones" The Classical Journal, Vol. 64, No. 5, p.198.
^ Polakoff, Murray E.; Dhrymes, Phoebus J. (1958). "The Economic and Sociological Significance of Debt Bondage and Detribalization in Ancient Greece". Economic Development and Cultural Change. 6 (2): 88–108. doi:10.1086/449759. ISSN 0013-0079. JSTOR 1151738. S2CID 154209570.
^ Morris, Sarah P.; Papadopoulos, John K. (2005). "Greek Towers and Slaves: An Archaeology of Exploitation". American Journal of Archaeology. 109 (2): 155–225. doi:10.3764/aja.109.2.155. ISSN 0002-9114. JSTOR 40024509. S2CID 147684885.
^ Hunt, Peter (2016-12-19). "Slaves or Serfs?: Patterson on the Thetes and Helots of Ancient Greece". On Human Bondage. pp. 55–80. doi:10.1002/9781119162544.ch3. ISBN 9781119162483.
^ "Modern Day Abolition – National Underground Railroad Freedom Center". freedomcenter.org. Retrieved 2023-03-12.
^ Hunt, Peter (2017). Ancient Greek and Roman slavery. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-78785-697-4. OCLC 1176434948.
^ "Review of: Reconstructing the Slave: the Image of the Slave in Ancient Greece". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. ISSN 1055-7660.

[1] A traditional pose in funerary steles, see for instance Felix M. Wassermann, "Serenity and Repose: Life and Death on Attic Tombstones" The Classical Journal, Vol. 64, No. 5, p.198.

[2] Polakoff, Murray E.; Dhrymes, Phoebus J. (1958). "The Economic and Sociological Significance of Debt Bondage and Detribalization in Ancient Greece". Economic Development and Cultural Change. 6 (2): 88–108. doi:10.1086/449759. ISSN 0013-0079. JSTOR 1151738. S2CID 154209570.

[3] Morris, Sarah P.; Papadopoulos, John K. (2005). "Greek Towers and Slaves: An Archaeology of Exploitation". American Journal of Archaeology. 109 (2): 155–225. doi:10.3764/aja.109.2.155. ISSN 0002-9114. JSTOR 40024509. S2CID 147684885.

[4] Hunt, Peter (2016-12-19). "Slaves or Serfs?: Patterson on the Thetes and Helots of Ancient Greece". On Human Bondage. pp. 55–80. doi:10.1002/9781119162544.ch3. ISBN 9781119162483.

[5] "Modern Day Abolition – National Underground Railroad Freedom Center". freedomcenter.org. Retrieved 2023-03-12.

[6] Hunt, Peter (2017). Ancient Greek and Roman slavery. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated. ISBN 978-1-78785-697-4. OCLC 1176434948.

[7] "Review of: Reconstructing the Slave: the Image of the Slave in Ancient Greece". Bryn Mawr Classical Review. ISSN 1055-7660.

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