Greek and Roman Slaveries. Eftychia Bathrellou
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implications does this passage have for slavery as a relationship? Did it involve only masters and their slaves?
1.25 Gerontius, Life of Melania, 10: Saint’s Life in Greek (Fifth Century CE)
A little before the sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 CE, the extremely wealthy Roman aristocrats Melania the Younger and her husband Pinianus are planning to liquidate their property to donate the money to the Church. Cf. 11.14.c, on the reaction of some slaves to the Visigothic invasion.
Literature: Roth 2005; Harper 2011: 192–5; Vlassopoulos 2018a.
And while Melania and Pinianus were making these plans, the enemy of truth, the devil, raised a most challenging trial for them. He felt envy at the young couple’s godly fervor and suborned Severus, the brother of the blessed Pinianus, and he convinced the slaves of Melania and Pinianus to say: “By no means are we being put up for sale! If we are forced, rather than being put on the market, we will have your brother Severus as our master, and he will buy us himself.” This disturbed them greatly, seeing their slaves in their estates around Rome revolting.
How do the slaves react to the news of their being put on the market? Why? What difference would it make to them?
What proposal do they make? Why?
How do the wishes of Severus and the slaves fit in together?
What does the intervention of Severus tell us about the factors that shape slavery as a negotiation?
1.26 Aristophanes, Clouds, 1–7: Greek Comedy (Late Fifth Century BCE)
This comedy was written in Athens during the course of the Peloponnesian War. The speaker is an old Athenian man.
Literature: Hanson 1992; Demont 2007.
Oh dear, oh dear! Oh, king Zeus, what a piece of work this night has been! Unending. Won’t day ever come? Yet, I heard a cock crow long ago. But the slaves are snoring. They wouldn’t have done this before. Oh war, be damned, for the many evils you’ve brought. For now, I can’t even punish my slaves.
Why can the speaker not punish his slaves as he used to?
Is this comic exaggeration? Cf. 11.11.c.
Which factors can affect slavery apart from slaves and masters?
How can these factors affect slavery as an asymmetrical negotiation?
MODALITIES OF SLAVERY
1.27 Artemidorus, The Interpretation of Dreams: Greek Dream Book (Second Century CE)
Literature: Annequin 1987, 2005; Kudlien 1991; Pomeroy 1991; Vlassopoulos 2018a; Thonemann 2020.
1.48: To dream that one’s own feet are on fire is a bad sign for everyone equally and signifies loss and destruction of what one has, including one’s children and slaves. For, similar to slaves, children submit to their parents and serve them like slaves. This point is missed by many dream interpreters, who hold that feet signify only slaves.
1.62: If a slave competes in a sacred contest, wins, and receives a garland, he will be proclaimed free. For these achievements are characteristic of free men.
1.78: Having sex with one’s own slave, male or female, is good. For slaves are the possessions of the person who has had the dream. They thus signify that he will get pleasure from his possessions, which naturally happens when they increase in quantity and value. To be penetrated by a slave is not a good sign for it signifies that one will be harmed by the slave and become the object of the slave’s contempt.
2.8: Rain, hurricane, and stormy weather bring on dangers and harm. Only to slaves, poor men, and those who are in difficulty do they foretell relief from their present troubles. For great storms are followed by fair weather.
2.9: Being struck by lightning will result in the manumission of those slaves who are not in a position of trust, but slaves who are trusted and honored by their masters or who own many possessions will lose the trust, the honor, and the possessions.
2.12: Seeing a tame lion wagging its tail and approaching harmlessly could be a good sign and bring benefits: to a soldier from his king, to an athlete from his bodily vigor, to a citizen from a magistrate, to a slave from his master. For the lion resembles them in power and strength.
3.28: A mouse signifies a slave. For mice too live with us, are fed on the same food as us, and are cowardly. It is therefore good to see many mice inside one’s house, especially if they are joyful and having fun. For they foretell much merriment and further acquisition of slaves.
4.30: Together with their other effects, slaves (in dreams) can also be references to the body of their masters. One who sees in his dream his slave suffering from fever will probably fall ill himself. For the relationship of the slave to the man who has the dream is analogous to that of the body to the soul.
With what other categories of people are slaves associated in each passage? Are they different or the same?
What conceptions of slavery are present in these various passages?
Are these various conceptions of slavery compatible with each other?
1.28 Herodotus, 4.1–4.4: Greek Historiography (Fifth Century BCE)
The fourth book of Herodotus is devoted to the Scythians, a major power in the north coast of the Black Sea. After reporting a Scythian expedition against the Medes in the Near East, Herodotus narrates the consequences of the long absence of the Scythians from home.
Literature: Harvey 1988; Hunt 1998: 42–52.
After 28 years away from their own land and upon their return home after such a long time, the Scythians were met by a task no less laborious than their war against the Medes, for they found a substantial army opposing them. To be more specific: the wives of the Scythians, as their husbands had been away from them for a long time, were having relations with the slaves. […] From these slaves and the Scythian wives, a generation of youths was reared, who, when they learnt of their origins, were opposed to the Scythians returning from the land of the Medes. First, they dug a wide trench, stretching from the Taurian mountains to lake Maiotis, at the point where it is broadest, and thus cut off the land. Then, when the Scythians attempted to invade, they camped opposite them and started fighting them. As they met in battle many times and the Scythians could not manage to gain the upper hand in this manner, one Scythian said the following: “What are we doing, Scythians? We are fighting against our own slaves, so we get killed and thus become fewer, and we kill them and will thus rule over fewer men in the future. Therefore, I think that we should now leave aside spears and bows, and each one should take his horse whip and draw near them. Until now, they have seen us bearing arms and thought of themselves as the same as us and of the same origin. But when they see us bearing whips rather than arms, they will learn that they are our slaves. When they realize this, they will not stand their ground.” The Scythians heard this and proceeded to do it. The others, shocked at what was going on, forgot the battle and started to flee. This then is how the Scythians ruled over Asia and, when driven out again by the Medes, it was by such means that they returned to their own land.
How did the Scythians overcome the resistance of the sons of their slaves?
Did the children of the Scythian women and the Scythian slaves grow up as slaves?
If not, why did the stratagem of the Scythians work on these young men, according to the passage? What does this imply about how masters thought of slaves?
What conception of slavery is evident in this passage? Cf. 1.1.
1.29 Xenophon, Memorabilia, 1.3.10–11: Greek Collection