Greek and Roman Slaveries

4 Slaving Strategies

Ancient societies exhibited a variety of ways in which slaves were employed and of purposes served by these employments. These diverse slaving strategies often co-existed in the same slave system. But while some of them could be compatible with each other, others were deeply contradictory: by using slavery for widely different purposes, they created different kinds of slaves. As a result, these various uses were both fundamental for ancient societies and at the same time created important contradictions and tensions within them.⁵⁸

Slaves could be used in labor processes under the direct control of their masters, either to produce wealth in estates, workshops and mines (4.2–7) or to provide the enormous amount of drudgery required for the everyday maintenance of households and the personal service of their masters (4.8–9). But slaves could also be employed as a source of revenue; such slaves lived and worked on their own but surrendered to their masters a portion of their products or earnings (4.10–2); such slaves were often indistinguishable from free people. Apart from labor and revenue, slaves were used for a variety of other aims. Slaves could create prestige for their masters, advertising their masters’ wealth and power through their exotic origins (4.19), their participation in large slave retinues (4.20), or their grave monuments (4.21). Slaves were also used for the gratification of the diverse sensory pleasures. They were thus involved in some ...