Transcript Enslavement in the Classical World

Using documents to compare how
Classical Greece, Rome and India
developed the idea of slavery and the
treatment of slaves
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In both the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty family was the basic social unit with
Rome’s paterfamilias and Han’s Scholar-gentry. Rome, however would have
increasingly more social mobility as the twelve tables would provide legal
protections for both the patricians as well as the plebeians while Han peasants
rarely had access to higher institutions. Merchants in Rome, too, held higher
position through Mediterranean trade while merchants in China were looked
down upon having contributed anything to society but greed.
In both Athens and India in the classical age merchants enjoyed greater access to
wealth and privilege facilitated by their respective empires desire for goods
through trade, both denied women property and inheritance rights, however
Athens denied all non-citizens access to government decisions while both Mauryan
and Gupta empire extended citizens privileges to peoples beyond their borders.
Why did slavery emerge in the First Civilizations?
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domestication of animals provided a model for
human slavery
war, patriarchy, and private property ideas
encouraged slavery
women captured in war were probably the first
slaves
patriarchal “ownership” of women may have
encouraged slavery
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Political Docs # 7,6,5,3,
Economic Docs# 1 and 2
Cultural Docs # 1,2 and 7
Negative view Docs# 6,5,4
Duty and Rights Docs # 2,5,7
By Nature Docs # 1,2,3
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Utilized for Empire building(literally)
Aristotle “Men were slaves by nature”
1/3 of Classical Athens was enslaved
No slaves had legal rights
Emancipation (manumission) was common
War, patriarchy and private property encouraged slavery
Massive enslavement of war prisoners
No social critique of slavery in Christianity
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Prisoners of war, debtors and criminals were
enslaved
Largely domestic
Religion and law (laws of Manu) gave some
protection
Society wasn’t economically dependent on
slavery as was the Mediterranean (why?)
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Convicts were earliest slaves but slavery made
up one percent of labor force
Poor peasants sold their children sometimes
into slavery
Why did China and India rely less on Slavery
than did Greece and Rome?
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Thesis
Evidence
Analysis
Meaning
Grouping
Additional documents
Point of View
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Where is the document from (Greece, Rome,
India)?
How does the document view slavery
(political, economic, cultural)?
What is the source (bias, narrative, POV)?
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By region
By time
By theme (political-economic-cultural)
By positive negative both
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Doc # 1 Hesiod the Greek poet views the labor performed by both slave and master alike as for
the purpose of farming in relation to the Gods (Zeus and Demeter)
Doc #2 Plato in the Republic views the procurement and nature of slavery as something to be
done with foreign prisoners and not the Greek Race ( ethnocentric)
Doc #3 Aristotle the polymath ( great at multiple subjects) rationalizes ( very Hellenic thing to
do) about the nature of mankind as either free or slave ( no ethnic or other distinction)
Doc #4 Tacitus, the Roman Senator illustrates a need to control the slaves after a murder of a
city official (prefect) and the need to stop future rebellions (insurrections) . The document
quotes Gaius Cassius as identifying slaves from foreign households as motley rabble (
xenophobic or ethnocentric)
Doc #5 from a jurist continues illustrating the need for legal reforms by provide doctrines and
rights for slaves whether punishment or manumission ( freeing slaves for desired Roman
citizen behaviors)
Document #6 From the Emperor Constantine, is an exceptionally punitive (punishing)
treatment of a slave and provides responsibilities of slave masters to harshly treat recalcitrant (
misbehaving) slaves.
Document #7 from the Code of Manu provides Hindu guidelines treatment of enslaved ( not
dissimilar from doc 6) , however, identifies the role of sin ( perhaps poor Dharma) that the
master has also responsibilities to care for the enslaved ( not dissimilar from doc # 5)
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What is the document saying in three sentences
Break a long-winded comment down to its
very essence
Perhaps some context might help
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In at least four documents you must:
Identify rank
Identify religion
Identify education
Identify geographic region
Identify gender
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While the Greeks saw the nature of slavery as an essential component of human nature to
provide the labor essential to build a society and the spoils of war, Rome on the other hand
created legislation to prevent sometimes more than half of the population from overwhelming
the roman Republic/Empire. India, however, through the Code of Manu provided a religious
justification for the society which had fewer slaves than the Mediterranean due to its caste
system and the role of each varna especially the untouchables.
While politically, the Greeks and Romans needed to regulate the treatment and
behavior of the enslaved to distinguish themselves from themselves, economically
India, Rome and Greece needed the enslaved to provide a reliable and vital source
of labor and property. India, however would value religious explanation of caste
and afterlife ( reincarnations) whilst Greece and Rome viewed the nature of slavery
as one of spoils of victory in conquest