Q: How were slaves in Athens treated? Slaves in ancient Greece were treated like pieces of property. For Aristotle they were ‘a piece of property that breathes’. They enjoyed different degrees of freedom and were treated kindly or cruelly depending on the personality of the owner.
What was life like for Athenian slaves?
In Athens, slaves usually worked in better conditions. There were also more chances for slaves to become free than in Sparta. It seems that most slaves in Athens worked in their master’s households and were treated fairly. Most female slaves in Athens did things like bake bread, cook, and weave.
How did the Athenians view slaves?
Slavery was an accepted practice in ancient Greece, as in other societies of the time. Some Ancient Greek writers (including, most notably, Aristotle) described slavery as natural and even necessary.
What was the role of slaves in Athens?
Slaves in ancient Greece played various roles. They performed all the tasks that were degrading to the Greeks. They did all the domestic chores, acted as travel companions, and even delivered messages. Agricultural slaves worked on farms, and industrial slaves worked in mines and quarries.
How did the Greeks treat their slaves?
Slaves in ancient Greece were treated like pieces of property. For Aristotle they were ‘a piece of property that breathes’. They enjoyed different degrees of freedom and were treated kindly or cruelly depending on the personality of the owner.
What did female slaves do in Athens?
Many female slaves worked as prostitutes in brothels. They also had to weave or do other tasks for brothel owners. On average, most slaves were expected to complete 250 jobs in one day. If these jobs were not completed by the end of the day, the master often times would whip them.
What was unusual about slaves in Athens?
What was unusual about slaves in Athens? Slaves were paid for their work.
Could slaves buy their freedom in Athens?
Next in status were domestic slaves who, under certain circumstances, might be allowed to buy their own freedom. Often looked upon as ‘one of the family’, during certain festivals they would be waited upon by their masters.
What did female slaves do in ancient Greece?
Female slaves are known of in occupations such as woolworking, retail trade and wet-nursing. Female slaves worked in craft shops around the agora. Male slaves were involved in the building of the Erechtheon. Prostitutes were mostly slaves working in brothels.
What were Athenian slaves called?
helots
While the Athenian author and statesman Critias determined that helots were “slaves to the utmost”, helots led a relatively stable domestic life, much less likely to see their family members sold off, unlike enslaved people elsewhere in ancient Greece.
Where did Athens get their slaves?
Slavery was common in antiquity, and the Athenians used thousands of slaves in their private homes, factories, and mines, and also as civil servants. Slaves were usually captured in war and came from all over the Mediterranean, including other Greek cities.
How did Sparta treat their slaves?
Helots were ritually mistreated and humiliated. Every autumn the Spartans would declare war on the helots so they could be mistreated by a member of the Crypteia without fear of religious repercussion. Uprisings and attempts to improve the lot of the helots did occur, such as the Conspiracy of Cinadon.
What race were Greek slaves?
Robin Osborne, in Classical Greece 500 – 323 BC, states that it was Thracians, Anatolians (from Caria, Cappadocia, Phrygia, Lydia etc) and Syrians who were most numerous.
Is there still slavery in Greece?
In Greece, an estimated 89,000 people are modern-day slaves – about one in 125 of its 11 million population – according to the 2018 Global Slavery Index by the Walk Free Foundation.
What race were slaves in ancient Athens?
Enslaving war captives was a common practice in ancient Greece. Most slaves acquired from war were probably non-Greek, although it is probable that Athens also enslaved some Greeks as a result of wars. Often, Greek slaves acquired via war and piracy would be ransomed back to relatives or friends to make a profit.
What did Greek slaves wear?
Exomis. The exomis was a tunic which left the right arm and shoulder bare. It was worn by slaves and the working classes.
How were slaves treated in ancient times?
Their lives were harsh. Slaves were often whipped, branded or cruelly mistreated. Their owners could also kill them for any reason, and would face no punishment. Although Romans accepted slavery as the norm, some people – like the poet and philosopher, Seneca – argued that slaves should at least be treated fairly.
When did slavery end in Greece?
338 bce
Athenian slave society was finally destroyed by Philip II of Macedonia at the battle of Chaeronea (338 bce), when, on the motion of Lycurgus, many (but not all) slaves were freed.