II.

Slavery in the Ancient World

Slavery was an accepted feature, often essential to the economy and society, of all ancient civilizations. The ancient Mesopotamian, Indian, and Chinese civilizations employed slaves, either domestically in homes and shops or in gangs for large-scale construction or agriculture. The ancient Egyptians used slaves on a mass scale to build the royal palaces and monuments. The ancient Hebrews also used slaves, but they were required by religious law to free slaves of their own nationality at certain fixed times. In the civilizations of pre-Columbian America, those of the Aztec, Inca, and Maya, for example, slave labour was also used on a large scale in both agriculture and warfare.

In the Homeric epics, slavery is the ordinary destiny of prisoners of war. The later Greek philosophers did not consider the condition of slavery as morally objectionable, although Aristotle went so far as to suggest that faithful slaves might be freed in reward for loyal service. With few exceptions, slaves in ancient Greece were humanely treated. However, the Helots of Sparta, descendants of an earlier, conquered group of inhabitants who were forced to labour on large estates and to fight with the Spartan armies, were severely treated, mainly because they far outnumbered their dependent rulers. More typically, slaves were employed in domestic service, in trades, as labourers on country estates, and as sailors and rowers. Where they were employed in private domestic service, it was not uncommon to find them on friendly terms with their owners.

Roman slavery differed in several important aspects from that of ancient Greece. Roman masters had more power over their slaves, including, by law, the power of life and death. Slavery was also far more necessary to the economy and social system of Rome, especially during the period of the empire, than it had been in Greece. Wealthy Romans, often maintaining large city and country homes, depended on numerous slaves for the efficient operation of these households. Imperial conquests and expansion eventually strained the native Roman workforce, so great numbers of foreign slaves had to be imported to fill agricultural labour needs. The primary means of acquiring slaves was through war; tens of thousands of captured prisoners of war were brought to Rome as slaves. Other sources of slaves were people convicted of serious crime and debtors, who sold themselves or members of their families into slavery to pay their debt.