1. Why was slavery so much more prominent in
Greco-Roman civilization than in India or China?
WHAP
Unit 2 - THE CLASSICAL ERA
Eurasian Social Hierarchies
500 b.c.e. – 500 c.e.

2. Why was slavery so much more prominent in
Greco-Roman civilization than in India or China?
Hadrian’s Wall was built by legionaries, and much of the labor on Greek temples was undertaken by free skilled artisans, but Rome had large numbers of state-owned slave laborers to build aqueducts, palaces, ports, etc.

3. Why was slavery so much more prominent in
Greco-Roman civilization than in India or China?
Compare the lot of slave gangs working on latifundia or in mines to that of household slaves.
Could slaves revolt? (See Spartacus!)
What if a slave killed his master?
(All the slaves of that master would be put to death!)

4. Were slaves ever actually necessary???
Why was slavery so much more prominent in Greco-Roman civilization than in India or China?
Modern conveniences have made domestic servants unnecessary.
Discuss the role of domestic slaves.
Were slaves ever actually necessary???

5. Growing Inequality & Unrest in Rome
For all its success – Rome was unstable.
Power switches from the many to the few.
Landed aristocracy governed Rome
Wealthy, powerful families in the Senate & political offices

6. Slavery in the Classical Era: A Historical Investigation
Why did slavery emerge in 1st Civs?
1. domestication of animals provided a model for human slavery
2. war, patriarchy, and private property ideas encouraged slavery
3. women captured in war were probably the first slaves
4. patriarchal “ownership” of women may have encouraged slavery

7. Slavery in the Classical Era: A Historical Investigation
Slavery and Civilization
“Social death”: lack of rights or independent personal identity
Long-established tradition by the time of Hammurabi (around b.c.e.)
Almost all civilizations had some form of slavery
varied considerably over place and time
classical Greece and Rome: slave emancipation was common
Aztec Empire: children of slaves were considered to be free
type labor of slaves varied widely

8. Slavery in the Classical Era: The Case of the CHINA & INDIA
Less common in China (1 % of pop.)
convicts and their families were earliest slaves
poor peasants sometimes sold their children into slavery
India: criminals, debtors, war captives were slaves
largely domestic
religion and law gave some protections
society wasn’t economically dependent on slavery

9. The Making of a Slave Society: The Case of Rome
Mediterranean/Western civilization: slavery played immense role
Greco-Roman world was a slave society
1/3 of pop. of classical Athens was enslaved
Aristotle: some people are “slaves by nature”
Beginning of Common Era, Italy’s population was 33 to 40 percent slaves
wealthy Romans owned hundreds or thousands of slaves
people of modest means often owned 2 or 3 slaves
Massive enslavement of war prisoners
piracy
long-distance trade for Black Sea, East African, and northwest European slaves
natural reproduction
abandoned/exposed children
Not associated with a particular ethnic group
Little serious social critique of slavery, even within Christianity

10. The Making of a Slave Society: The Case of Rome
Slavery was deeply entrenched in Roman society
Slaves did all sorts of work except military service
Performed both highly prestigious and degraded tasks
Slaves had no legal rights
could not marry legally
if a slave murdered his master, all of the victim’s slaves were killed
manumission was common; Roman freedmen became citizens
Resistance and Rebellion
cases of mass suicide of war prisoners to avoid slavery
“Weapons of the weak”: theft, sabotage, poor work, curses
Flight, Occasional murder of owners, & Rebellion
most famous was led by Spartacus in 73 b.c.e.
Nothing on similar scale occurred in the West until Haiti in the 1790s
Roman slave rebellions did not attempt to end slavery; participants just wanted freedom for themselves