5 facts about the life of slaves in ancient Greece
Funerary loutrophoros; on the right a bearded slave carries his master's shield and helm, 380–370 BC, National Archaeological Museum of Athens
How did one become a slave?
There were two main ways: the first was to be the child of a slave and the second was captivity in war. In some ancient societies, there was a third way, free people could be enslaved within their community and end up as slaves. In some cities this was forbidden, for example with Solon's reforms in Athens it was impossible for an Athenian to be enslaved due to debt.
For what purposes were slaves used?
A basic purpose was domestic work such as washing, mopping, going to the spring to carry water, chopping wood. Another category of slaves were those who were used for labor and production of wealth in the fields, mines, workshops. Also in a house, there was a slave who was the steward of all the other slaves, so something like a manager. Almost all the officials in the ancient states were slaves. In ancient Athens, for example, the policemen were slaves who belonged to the state.
Agriculture, a common use for slaves, black-figure neck-amphora by the Antimenes Painter, British Museum
Corinthian black-figure terra-cotta votive tablet of slaves working in a mine, dated to the late seventh century BC
Were there consequences for abusing a slave?
A master could do whatever he wanted with his servant, including killing him. On the other hand, slaves were property and there was a limit because if you killed your slave, you would destroy your property. Therefore, masters were very inventive in the forms of punishment and did not destroy their property. There are cases where a master could be put in trouble for the way he treated his slave by other members of society who had their own reasons for denouncing him. There were such cases that were brought to the courts.
What were the numbers of freemen and slaves in the population of a city?
The difference from society to society in ancient times could be enormous. In Sparta, for example, slaves outnumbered Spartans by 5 to 7 times. They were perhaps over 70% of the total population. In other societies, the percentage of slaves was most likely small, on the order of 5-10%. In Athens, it was about 30% of the population, and it is quite possible that it could have been as high as 50%.
Were there slaves who won their freedom?
Most slaves who gained their freedom did so in two ways: the first was by cashing in their freedom. Most notably, those slaves who worked alone or engaged in occupations that allowed them to save some of their earnings were eventually able to redeem their freedom from their masters. The second has to do with the mass manumission of slaves, especially under conditions of internal unrest and war. When a state was in great danger, it could free slaves and use them as soldiers. We know that in 406 BC, during the Peloponnesian War, because the very critical naval battle with the Spartans of Arginousa was being prepared in Athens and there were not many Athenians left to man the fleet, they freed thousands of slaves and at the same time made them Athenian citizens, in order to fight in the naval battle.
