Slavery In Classical Athens

Question 1

\

Slavery in Athens

Answer 1

• Athens in the 5th century had far fewer slaves than Rome in the 1st century BC and 1st century AD
  -This resulted in slaves becoming valued property and receiving good treatment in Athens
• Evidence of this good treatment can be found in the way a new slave entered the home of their master; they were showered with nuts and fruits, similarly to that of a new bride.
• This was intended to show that the slave was part of the family unit

Question 2

Becoming a slave

Answer 2

• The Greeks considered it normal and right to keep non-Greeks as slaves
• Prisoners captured in war were enslaved
• The gaining of slaves was never the motivation for entering into warfare; it was merely a bonus of being the victor
• Often prisoners of war would be ransomed back, but those who were not ransomed were sold at auction
• Slave traders kidnapped and forced people into slavery from Asia, the Black Sea coastline and Northern Greece
• Some slaves were born into slavery
• If your mother was a slave you were a slave
• Many people became slaves by being kidnapped by priates
• Travelling by sea was dangerous and piracy was common
• Some people were reduced to slavery as a punishment for a crime or to pay a debt
• Citizens were eventually forbidden from selling themselves into slavery
• The slave trade centred on the island of Delos slaves would be transported here and sold at auction

Question 3

Deracination

Answer 3

• However, deracination would also take place for new slaves and this is an example of bad treatment
• for a new slave deracination meant that they had to give up their identity this included their;
• original name
• family
  -home
• language
• culture
• religious beliefs
• They were given a new name and were expected to follow the beliefs and customs of their new family

Question 4

Legal Attitude

Answer 4

• In Athens the Greek word for slave andrapadon which translates as man footed thing
• This word helps us to understand that slaves were viewed as possessions, things and property
• They were legally owned property that could be bought, sold and inherited
  -As a slave you had no rights, but your master had rights over you as his property and the following could be applied;
• If you were murdered your master was obliged to find out who had killed, you and to prosecute them
• If you were damaged then the master had the right to sue for damage to his property
• In Athens slaves had the right if they felt they were being badly treated to claim sanctuary in the temple of Theseus
• As a slave you did not gain your freedom in this was as you would be sold to someone else, slaves had to hope for a better master

Question 5

Aristotle and Slavery

Answer 5

• The common held view and attitude towards slaves was that they were naturally inferior
• Aristotle the 5th century BC philosopher put this idea into words, “from the hour of their birth, some are marked out to be ruled, others for rule”
• Aristotle decided that slavery was not contrary to nature, but something that occurred naturally in society and the animal kingdom
• He also decided that slavery was essential to the running of any successful society
• Aristotle suggested that the leisure time freed up for citizens by the use of slavery allowed cultural and political development of societies
• Aristotle considered the nature of slavery in relation to his own society and therefore his view is useful as it provides us with an understanding of the Athenian attitude towards slaves

Question 6

Slavery According to Aristotle; the below was also the common attitude of most Athenians

Answer 6

• some people were born to be slaves others to be rulers
• in all societies there are those such as kings or leaders who rule over others , kings have their subjects; subjects have their slaves and so on
• Aristotle believed that slavery was an extension over the natural order of society where the superior ruled over the inferior
• He believed that slavery was not an evil concept but a good one, as according to him slaves were useful and often led better lives than they would if they had been free
• Aristotle believed slaves were like tame animals that they were better off than wild ones, as he thought a wild animal must always fight off hunger and need shelter whereas a tame one had these provided and had no such worry
• Tame animals also provided useful services as did slaves
• Aristotle claimed that slaves were as they were because they excelled at manual labour, whereas freeborn citizens were useless in these capacities but possessed the intelligence and soul required to be a citizen
• Aristotle concluded that slaves were slaves because they were naturally inferior
• He admits that slaves were capable of feeling emotions and of forming relationships, in light of this Aristotle advocated treating slaves well

Question 7

How reliable are our sources for understanding slavery in Athens?

Answer 7

• It is difficult to understand the views of slaves in 5th century Athens as little evidence from this group exists to examine
• The majority of our information is provided by slave owners and archeological evidence
• As a result when we examine how useful a written source is, it is best to remember that it will almost always have been written by slave owners who will represent slavery from their point of view
• It is difficult to determine how content or unhappy slaves would have been in Athens
• It should also be remembered that at this point in history the use of slaves was widespread and accepted as part of the makeup of society
• In saying this, at no point did Athens have to deal with a slave rebellion which suggests that many slaves must have been content with their treatment

Question 8

Gaining your freedom as an Athenian slave;

Answer 8

• purchasing your freedom; slaves would have held on to some of the money they earned whilst working in the workshops and would eventually pay for their own freedom
• This was another way for the master to make money out of his slaves, the old slave paid for his new replacement, it was also an incentive for the slave to work harder
• A statement in a Masters will was a cast iron legal means to gain freedom as a slave
• A public announcement in a theatre or law court was also another strong legal means to gain your freedom as a slave in Athens

Question 9

Other legitimate ways to earn your freedom as a slave

Answer 9

• On occasion Athens allowed slaves to fight for Athens, but this was only in times of great emergency eg Battle of Arginusae
• The slaves were given motivation to fight by the promise that any slave who survived would be given freedom
• By giving evidence against their master who had been committed of an offence against the state
• It was important that the act of freedom being granted was done in front of witnesses for example at a public event or having a witness sign as a will
• This made it legally binding

Question 10

Running away in an attempt to gain freedom as a slave;

Answer 10

• This would not have been common, slaves had no means to support themselves away from their masters and if foreign it would have been difficult to blend in
• However there was more chance of success during times of war
• many would have been deterred by the severe punishments that were inflicted on runaways such as being branded with hot irons, having your legs broken or even executed
• Even if you managed to escape you would have been poor postition as you would have given up all of the security of being looked after eg no food, clothing, money or shelter

Question 11

Being a free person; after a slave was free;

Answer 11

• they legally become a person not a thing
• they gained the protection of the law but they were no responsible for their own actions
• No one could lay hands on them unless in self-defence
• they could go anywhere and live anywhere, they were not at the beck and call of someone else
• they could work where they wanted and when they wanted
• Not all freed slaves gained the above four at the same time. For example a master could have given freedom on the condition that a slave worked for them Forna certain amount of days each year

Question 12

Status of an Athenian Freedman

Answer 12

• Freed slaves in Athens were classed as metics and never given full citizenship

As metics they were restricted from the below;
- They could not own residential property or land
- They were deprived any involvement in the running of the city
- They could not vote, take up a governmental post or even represent themselves legally
- They had to pay taxes whereas citizens did not
- Metics were also not part of army or navy but could be called upon got boost funds for building ships

• Being a metic was inferior to being a citizen, but many foreigners chose to live in Athens which proves that the quality of life for metics must have been fairly pleasant and profitable

Question 13

Pasion

Answer 13

• Pasion was the slave of a banker
• he managed and ran the bank for his master
• He was so good at his job that he was given his freedom and upon his masters death the bank was left to him rather than to the masters two sons
• Pasion became a wealthy man and carried out an act of service for Athens as a reward he was unusually granted citizenship

Question 14

Typical occupations of freedom

Answer 14

• Freed slaves would have most commonly carried on with the job that they had done as slaves eg metal workers, potters, bakers, construction etc
• They were jot all employed in manual labour some were accountants, bankers and teachers

Question 15

Contact with Ex Master

Answer 15

• Freed slaves in Athens remained closely attached to their master after gaining their freedom
• The master would have acted as their representative in legal matters for example if the freed slave was called to court he had to represent his ex-slaves in court

Question 16

Domestic Slaves

Answer 16

• In ancient Athens the ownership of slaves was an accepted practise and therefore slavery made up an important part of any Athenian hosuehold
• The use of slaves in the household was considered essential for the following reasons
• They ere used to free up time for citizens to further their studies in education which allowed citizens to make development in science, philosophy and drama
• They also used the time slaves freed up to carry out their democratic and civil citizen duties
• However, they also used slaves to make their lives more comfortable
• Slaves could be used to complete all the tiring, repetitive and difficult work
• This would make the life of an Athenian wife more pleasant and less arduous

Question 17

Working in the home

Answer 17

-Female slaves would have assisted the wife with the domestic work inside the house, for example they would have helped with;
- the cooking and cleaning
- they would have ground corn into flour, which would have been used to make bread to feed the family
- They would have helped with the cloth making process, spinning and weaving
- they would have washed the clothes
- they would have also helped out with the care of the children as wet nurses, where they could breast feed the children, genera supervision and care for he children
- Apart form domestic work, female slaves provided all forms of entertainment at diner parties as singers, dancers and prostitutes which can be seen on many vase paintings
- They would collect water from the public fountains if required

Question 18

Male slaves and some female slaves, would have helped with all the outside work, for example they would have;

Answer 18

• planted, managed and harvested crops of wheat, grapes, olives and vegetables
• pressed the olives to make olive oil and the grapes to make wine
• tented the livestock of chicken, pigs, sheep, goats and cattle
• milked the goats and made cheese
• they would have sheared the sheep of the wool
• they would have butchered animals for the heart and leather

Question 19

The Paidagogos

Answer 19

• A trusted male slave would not work outside, but would become a paidagogos or boy keeper
• it was his job to take the young boys to school
• he had to make sure they did not truant or misbehave
• he carried a stick which he was allowed to hit them with
• he was also expected to help them with their homework
• none of the above work is dangerous but it is time consuming and monotonous
• time saving devices such as washing machines or tractors did not exist 2500 years ago; slaves were used instead

Question 20

slaves as an investment

Answer 20

• for the majority of the time slaves were brought to assist in making more money for the owner, to enhance productivity or to assist in the completion of arduous and dangerous work
• due to the smaller number of slaves in Athens we don not find many jobs that were confined to slaves
• freemen more often than not worked alongside slaves in Athens

Question 21

Workshops of slaves

Answer 21

• Male slaves worked in all sorts of work in crafts and trades
• slaves worked alongside freemen in many trades for example shoemaking, pottery, furniture, sculptures and metalworking
• the fact they worked alongside freemen shows the good working conditions must have been good
• the slaves in the workshops could earn their own money and save to purchase their freedom

Question 22

Farming

Answer 22

• both male and female slaves would have been purchased to help with the running of the farm
• they would have worked alongside their owners sowing and harvesting or tending to vines, olive trees or livestock

Question 23

Public slaves, four categories of public slaves can basically be 1

Answer 23

1. some public slaves worked for the civic constrictions or in some of the civic workshops
   - the accounts of construction in the sanctuary of Demeter in Eleusis in the fourth century BC list in twenty-eight public slaves working at the same time in the sanctuary
   - some of them carried the stone to the sanctuary while some others controlled the expenses of the officials of the sanctuary
   - the workers of the argurokopeion, the workshop which made the coins of the civic money would belong to the same category

Question 24

Public slaves, four categories of public slaves can basically be distinguished 2

Answer 24

2. All public slaves assisting the magistrates in their administrative task would constitute a second category
   - these public slaves worked for most of the institutions of the cities like the courts, the council and even the assembly in some cities of Asia Minor
   - some of the managed the archives of the city when others took part in the organisation of trials and the sessions of the council

Question 25

Public slaves, four categories of public slaves can basically be distinguished 3

Answer 25

3. The famous Scythian archers the only police force that the Classical Athens has ever known would belong to third category
   - their main mission was to keep order in Assembly, in the courts, but also in the markets of the city
   - Nevertheless,those archers were not the only public slaves to embody the repressive function of the state in classical Athens
   - the public executioner in the city called the coins as well as those who guarded the prion, in Athens and in Asia Minor were recruited among the public slaves

Question 26

Public slaves, four categories of public slaves can basically be distinguished 4

Answer 26

4. Finally, many public slaves assisted some priests to manage the sanctuaries and sometimes do some sacrifices
   - but public slaves could also become in exceptional circumstances priests of some divinities for public cults which means that the public slaves could be like any other priest in a position of intermediate between the civic community and the god

Question 27

Scythian Archers

Answer 27

• these were publicly owned slaves who helped police Athens
• slaves were given this job as it allowed all citizens to remain equal
• if a citizen had the power to arrest another citizen, then this would have not been so
• Scythian archers if ordered would arrest a citizen
• Another duty was to round up citizens to go to the ecclesia
• to do this they would carry a rope dipped in red paint and carry it through the Agora
• if anyone showed up to the ecclesia with he mark of red paint on them then they were fined
• they would also help to maintain public order
• the Scythian archers were not an investigative police force, citizens were expected to police and report on the misbehaviour of their fellow citizens
• Scythian Archers were well looked dafter but had little chance of gaining their freedom

Question 28

Mining slaves

Answer 28

• Working in the mines was hard and dangerous and many slaves died due to the unsafe conditions
• it is by far the worst place to work as a slave in Athens
  Conditions in the Mines:
• very cramped, slaves and to crawl on their hands and feet or lie on their fronts to work
• it was very hot, with poor ventilation
• cave ins were very common and no one would attempt a rescue
• slaves worked very long hours in the dark of the mines, slaves would hardly ever see daylight
• they were provided very little food or drink
• the dust and toxic fumes from the mining caused health problems and death
• slaves had no chance of gaining freedom, they had no relationship with their masters

Question 29

Nicias and Silver Mines

Answer 29

• not many athenians would have had large numbers of slaves but one example to the contrary was Nicias
• Nicias owned 1000 skaves, he mad this money by hiring them out to Athens who set these slaves down into the silver mines at Laureion
• He made ten talents a year, Nicias was unusual
• it was more common to be in the position of a man called Timarchos the shoemaker
• he owned 9 or 10 slaves and used them to make his shoe making business more profitable

Question 30

Other slave owned slaves

Answer 30

• mint workers
• Clerks to Public officials
• Public executioner
• Herald
• Construction workers eg Parthenon and the Acropolis

Question 31

Slavery and the success of Athens; Exports produced by slaves

Answer 31

• Athens was a city which grew wealthy through exporting the following goods to other cities around the Mediterranean
• Pottery
• Furniture
• Olive oil
• Honey
• Athens pottery, olive oil and homey were particularly desirable
• slaves were used to increase productivity and profits
• therefore, the work of slaves carried out in workshops and farms helped Athens to become economically successful
• in the mines slaves extracted silver which made Athens wealthy and allowed them to build a fleet of ships
• these hips then enabled Athens to become the strongest naval force in Greece and it also assisted them in controlling the empire that they had gained after the Persian wars
• the members of the empire paid tax called tribute to Athens and the threat of the Athenian navy ensured that it was paid on time
• This tribute made Athens very wealthy for a period of time
• the city became wealthier through the use of slaves as did pirate individuals such as Nicias or those who owned workshops

Question 32

Business and Enterprise

Answer 32

• in business, the slaves managed the shops for absentee owners, for example in the barber shops where customers had their hair cut and their nails manicured the slaves performed all services and aided managers
• some slaves managed shops on a full time basis, they were in charge of duties like shop keeping, lending money, buying and selling of merchandise
• while the slaves were managing the shops, the masters concentrated on establishing new businesses which resulted in wealth
• slaves were not only performing the tasks but taking control of everything for their masters and freeing up time for their masters

Question 33

cultural progression

Answer 33

• it could be argued that the use of slaves was necessary for the cultural success of Athens
• by using slaves to carry out work in and outside the home, free time was created for citizen men to participate in the running of the city by attending the assembly or carrying out the duties required of a governmental post eg a member of the council or serving in the army/navy for long periods of time
• citizens could devote themselves fully to other tasks trusting in their slaves to complete the necessary work at home
• Also the use of slaves assisted the rebuilding of the acropolis after the destruction carried out by the Persians in 480 BC
• this helped to glorify Athens and make it an appealing place to live
• the free time provided by the use of slaves also furthered advancements in education, philosophy, science, art and drama
• Many of these achievements still impact societies to this very day
• slaves were used to make the daily lives of athenians more comfortable and pleasurable
• although this idea is not key to the success of society it was a definite benefit which Athenians would have enjoyed and this would have also motivated them to continue to find the use of slaves as a necessary evil
• the wealthy could use slaves to assist in all manner of chores and also benefit from the opportunity to apply themselves to other tasks due to the time freed up
• however, some historians have suggested that the use of slaves held back the success of scientific and technological developments which may have occurred without the use if slave labour

Question 34

Treatment of slaves

Answer 34

• in Athens evidence from sources suggest that slaves were comparatively well treated
• the old oligarch wrote as pamphlet which criticised Athenian society and democracy, it is an anonymous source, but many believe that it may be Xenophon a historian, pro-Spartan and student Socrates
• Within his criticisms we can form the impression that the life of a slave in Athens was not unpleasant, he suggests you cannot tell slaves apart from citizens and that violence towards slaves does not seem to be common
  -Xenephon exaggerates and claims that slaves lived luxuriously and this exaggeration suggests that perhaps Athens treated its slaves better than was usual

Question 35

what affected the treatment of a slave?

Answer 35

• if you had a good master and had formed a personal relationship with them it is likely that you would have been treated well
• it depended on the views of the master; you would always be treated as an inferior but to what extent would be determined by the master
• however, slaves with bad masters could be legally been subject to all sorts of ill treatment and punishment including; beating, whipping, withdrawal of food, poor working conditions, branding and even execution
• slaves were seen as things or as property they were deprived of all legal and political rights, from our modern perspective slavery cannot be justified
• treatment would also depend on the job that saves carrie out eg mining was dangerous but a household slave in a wealthy town house would probably have had a better standard living than most freemen
• slaves had to be torutred before they could give evidence in court as it believed the truth had to be forced out of them
  -many greek thinkers, such as Aristotle, believed slavery was acceptable because they believed that the Greeks were far superior to those who became slaves, a conceited notion
• also you were less likely to obtain your freedom
• slaves had no choice or control over their lives in regard to where they lived, worked, what they wore, which gods they worshipped and even their own bodies.

Question 36

Good treatment of slaves

Answer 36

• you were accepted into the family, you worshipped the same gods and could be initiated into the Eleusinian Mysteries
• you could work in a workshop and live on your own, living almost as a freeman merely having to pay a certain amount to your master each day or month
• benefit clubs existed that helped slaves buy their freedom, Pasion is an example of a slave who received good treatment
• most Greeks seemed to be of the opinion that if you looked after your slaves and kept them happy then they would work well for you and not run away
• you had very few rights as a slave in both Greece and Rome and most of the rights you did have were to protect you as the property of a master or to stop the wrath of the gods falling on a community
• there were no slave revolts in Athens, even the heavily armed Scythian Archers never revolted on the city of Athens this suggests that many slaves must have been content with their situations

Question 37

Slave punishments

Answer 37

• a master could punish his slaves as he saw fit, whipping was common
• if you were really bad or lazy you could be sold to the mines
• if you ran away and were caught you would be branded to let everyone know that if you were a runaway, you could have your legs broken
• food could be withdrawn as a punishment

Question 38

Slavery in the modern world

Answer 38

• In the modern world slavery is condemned as a violation of human rights, in the UK and in the most of the world slavery is an illegal act
• unfortunately, this does not mean that slavery does not exist, there are numerous cases of modern day slavery existing in the UK and throughout the world
  Common work places where slavery occurs are;
• private homes with the sue of domestic slaves
• Brothels (forced sex workers)
• Labourers on cocoa farms on the Ivory Coast
• Rug makers in India
• Sweat-shop workers producing cheap clothing
• Treatment is always horrendous as the only people using slaves in the present day are criminals