There was a lot of slavery in Egypt five thousand years ago. No historian is disputing that. But what archaeologists contest is whether building pyramids was the work of slaves. More on this issue later. First we delve a bit deeper in ancient history. There is some proof that slavery did emerge much earlier, soon after our ancestors shifted from hunting and gathering nomads into farming. In Mesopotamia, about 10.000 years ago, humans built the first solid barn houses for extended families, storing staple food, and stabling domesticated animals. Life became much safer, more predictable and more comfortable. Humans lived longer, families and tribes grew bigger. Surpluses of food enhanced trade between different tribes. It produced more wealth and also a sharp divide between and haves and have-nots.^[1] Poor parents, who could not pay for food or repay their debts saw no other option than to sell themselves, their wife and children. And then there was slavery.

Ancient Egyptians used words like “bak” and “hm,” to indicate different forms of social dependence, describing different type of obligations to work for a master. Egypt was organized like a feudal system. Almost everyone owed service or “bak” to the Pharaoh or a lord. The Pharaoh and government officials had the power to draft workers from the general population, either to fight as soldiers or to work from dawn to nightfall on large plots of farm land, in mines or at construction projects. Quite a large number of these slaves had been prisoners of war or “men in captivity.”^[2] Victors of battles killed or enslaved many men, women and children.[3] In Egypt the number of slaves reached its zenith when the pharaohs successfully campaigned against Nubians, Libyans and Syrians. Their wives and daughters of killed or captured soldiers were gifted to high officials of the crown.^[4] Ramses III, who governed from 1186 BC to 1155 BC, reported:

… I carried away those whom my sword spared, as numerous captives, pinioned like birds before my horses, their wives and their children by the ten-thousand, their cattle in number like hundred-thousands ^[5]

Several captives were quite lucky to become servants of the king, of a high priest or a high ranked government official. This shielded them from exhaustive labour in mines or farms. Their work load of house slaves was relatively light, just doing household chores, preparing food or performing clerical tasks. Their work was far less burdensome than that of free farmers and share croppers. The same was true for the numerous captives that were forced to work in temples. During the reign of Pharaoh Amenhotep II most temple labour was performed by slaves.[6] Pharaoh Ramses III gifted 113,000 slaves to the temples – quite an astonishing number.[7] Some slaves regained their freedom after serving their master in extraordinary ways.

In this context, the Biblical story of Joseph is worth recounting. One day his jealous half-brothers sold him for twenty pieces of silver to a group of Midianite traders heading for Egypt. Back home, they told Jacob, their father, that Joseph had been killed by a ferocious animal. They showed him his beautiful robe, torn to pieces, stained with a lot of blood. They had used the blood from a young goat to make the story convincing.[8] Jacob tore his clothes apart and dressed himself in burlap as a sign of deep mourning. The unfortunate Joseph became the enslaved servant of Potiphar, a prison guard. He turned out to be a smart interpreter of dreams, always claiming that his explanations were inspired by his God. One time, he was asked to explain two dreams of the Pharaoh. The king of Egypt had dreamt of seven fat and healthy cows and then of seven lean and scrawny cows. The dream ended with the sickly and meagre cows eating the fat ones. Next he had dreamt of seven heads of grain, looking good and fully developed. This image was quickly followed by seven thin and withered heads of grain, scorched by the wind. However, the thin and withered grain ate the good grain. Joseph had no difficulty in coming up with a convincing interpretation. He told the Pharaoh that these dreams were two versions of one and the same message. These dreams were God’s way to inform the Pharaoh that Egypt was facing a seven year period of rich harvests and great prosperity, followed by seven years of very poor harvests. This series of meagre years could lead to the starvation of thousands of Egyptians. Joseph advised to put a wise man in charge of the national food production, storage and distribution. That man would need a task group of commissioners to build a huge national reserve of grain, to guide the nation through seven meagre years. The Pharaoh was deeply impressed by Joseph’s interpretation and sensible advice. He put Joseph in charge of all the farm land of Egypt, and made him second in command.[9] He put his signet ring around Joseph’s finger, a gold chain around his neck, and had him dressed in very fine clothes.[10] Pharaoh also offered him one of his precious chariots and ordered everyone to make way and bow their heads when Joseph was riding this chariot. Thus, Joseph was turned into the second mightiest man of Egypt.[11]

According to Genesis, the next seven years produced plentiful harvests. Joseph and his commissioners travelled through the land taking one-fifth of the harvested grain from all farmers. These surpluses were put in huge storage facilities near the cities, to save the Egyptians from starvation during the next seven meagre years. Egypt’s neighbouring countries had not taken similar actions. Apparently God had not warned the Israelites living in Canaan, Joseph’s home country. So, after two years of poor harvests, Joseph’s half-brothers came to Egypt to buy food. They were directed to the national office of food distribution. There they met its top-official, not realizing that this official was Joseph. Now he was dressed like an Egyptian Prince and surrounded by servants and officials, calling him by his new Egyptian name, showing him the greatest respect.[12] However, Joseph had recognized his brothers immediately. In stead of welcoming them in a friendly way, he decided to spite them. He accused them of espionage, took one of them hostage, and ordered them to return to their father, and demanded that they had to come back with his youngest brother Benjamin. Suffice to say, that, after more spiteful hassle, this story ends well for Joseph’s family. His father Jacob, his brother Benjamin and all his other brothers, including their families, their flocks and their herds were invited to come to Egypt, to live in the Goshen region.[13] Thus they survived the meagre years.

Joseph’s family did not return to Canaan when the good harvests returned. They and their descendants remained in Egypt. Meanwhile many of them were being enslaved. Nonetheless, Jacob’s descendants grew in number, generation after generation. Four centuries later, a new Pharaoh reigned over Egypt. He had never heard of the story of Joseph the great dream interpreter, or the cause of the immigration of the Israelites. This Pharaoh saw a rapidly growing category of Jews[14] that did not mix with Egyptians and always married another Jew. To him the Jews were an alien group that might endanger the Egyptian religion, culture and way of life. He decided to harden their labour and to kill all newborn boys. One of the mothers put her little baby in a basket and hid him amongst the reeds at the riverside. One of Pharaoh’s daughters found this tiny baby, named him Moses, and raised him as her own child. Later Moses becomes aware that he was a kinsman of the Israelites. When he sees an Egyptian task master abusing a Hebrew slave, he gets so angry that he kills the overseer and flees the country. Living in Midian territory he marries Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro, a Midian priest. Years later, when he is tending Jethro’s flock, he sees a burning bush. Through the flames he sees God, who tells him to return to Egypt, to free all Jews from slavery and to lead them to their promised land, to Canaan; now populated by the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites and other tribes.[15]

Moses doubts whether he can deliver this challenging assignment. To give him confidence, the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, performs a few miracles. He transforms the staff of Moses into a snake. Then he demands Moses to grab it by the tail. As soon as Moses grabs it, the snake becomes a staff again.[16] Back in Egypt, and equipped with a few more miraculous powers, Moses convinces the Jewish elders that God has truly ordered him to free the Jews from slavery. Moses and his brother Aaron arrange a meeting with Pharaoh. They ask His Highness to grant the Israelites a three day leave to organize a festival into the desert to praise their Lord. But Pharaoh refused. He needed the many thousands of Israeli slaves for his gigantic building projects. He orders all his taskmasters, including Israeli slave-drivers, to push the slaves to work harder and to produce more bricks.[17] The Israeli overseers know that it impossible to reach the higher quota, but protesting against the mighty Pharaoh is unthinkable. Therefore, they start to blame Moses and Aaron, telling them: “See, what you have done. You only have increased our misery with your demands.” Also Moses is disappointed. He addresses the Lord, saying: “Oh Lord you promised to lead us into freedom, but so far you have not rescued us at all.”[18] The Lord orders him to convince the Pharaoh that it is God’s will that the Israelites must be freed. To persuade the Pharaoh Moses has to perform three Divine miracles. Not only the staff-snake miracle, but also a skin disease that appears and then is healed, as well as some water from the Nile that turns into blood. But Pharaoh refuses again. Why does he remain so stubborn? Because, according to the Bible, it is the almighty God, who hardens Pharaoh’s heart, time and time again. And each time that the Pharaoh refuses to give in, he not only punishes Pharaoh, or his family, but all Egyptians with a terrible disease, death of children or cattle. The first plague changed the water of the Nile in blood. This killed all the fish, producing an unbearable stench. To the great relief Pharaoh, the Nile becomes fresh again after a week. And again he refuse the freeing of the Israelites. This followed by a new plague, infesting Egypt with countless frogs. They are everywhere, overcrowding fields, streets, and market places. They invade houses and kitchen, jumping on bread and other food. . They even leap on dough freshly made for making bread. Pharaoh requests Moses to pray to the God of Israel to end this plague. Then he will grant the Israelis to have their festival. The following day all frogs perish. Seeing this problem being solved, Pharaoh withdraws his promise. Seven more horrific pester Egypt and disappear. Seven more times The King of Egypt breaks his promise. Only, after the tenth plague, in which all first born sons of Egyptians have died, including Pharaoh’s first born son, he allows Moses and his people to leave Egypt in a great hurry, for the Egyptians feared that the next plague would kill them all.[19] The next day all the Israelites leave Egypt on foot, together with their cattle. They had lived in Egypt for 430 years, and expanded to about 600,000 people. Soon Pharaoh regretted his decision again. He realized that such a great exodus of so many people, so many goods, silver and gold, would disrupt the whole economy. He orders his chariot army to chase the Israelites and to bring them back. The Jews try to escape, but are driven towards the Red Sea. When the Egyptian warriors are getting very close, ready to make the kill, the Jews run into the sea. The Bible tells that at that very moment the water of the Red Sea disappears, creating a safe escape route over the bottom of the sea. The flabbergasted Egyptian warriors could believe their eyes. They decide to follow the Israelites, but as soon as the last Israelite has reached the other side, the water returns, the sea closes in, drowning all horses and fighters.[20] Finally, the Egyptian-Israelites have become free again. But their problems are not over. For a thick cluster of reasons, it took the Israelites 40 years to cross the dessert and to reach their country of origin. All these years they have been wandering through the desert, making little progress, often short of food or water. Despite some miraculous appearances of fresh water from a rock and manna-bread from heaven, the wandering Jews tended to loose trust in God’s promise of a safe return to their ancestral land, the land of milk and honey. The Lord did punish them harshly for their lack trust. Moses and his brother Aaron died before the Israelites finally entered Canaan, after having beaten the Midianites, who had populated the land during the four centuries that Jacob’s descendants had worked and lived in Egypt.[21]

Archaeologists and historians are still looking for proof whether this event ever has taken place. So far, they have found no proof.[22] For the present, it is much more relevant to realize that all practicing Jews keep the remembrance of this event alive. Each year, in the most important celebration of the Jewish calendar, families sit together on the eve of Passover to reminisce about “their” exodus from Egypt. Then they are ‘remembering’ how they personally escaped from slavery in Egypt. For them this is not a show, no fiction. Jewish sages claim that Jehovah had created all Jewish souls, long before they were born. Hence, all those souls were present during the exodus from Egypt and at that memorable day at Mount Sinai. Psychology studies have shown that by retelling the same story time and again eventually causes one to adopt it as a genuine recollection.[23] This has the effect that all Jews, all over the world, see each other as members from the same family that had lived as slaves in Egypt. According to Harari this creates a powerful bond that sustained the Jewish network over many centuries and continents.[24]

Did slaves build pyramids?

Think of Egypt and immediately images pop up of imposing pyramids guarded by huge sphinxes, designed and built by highly talented architects, sculptors and construction engineers. We assume that these huge monsters never could have been built without the help of thousands of slaves and contract labourers, and more or less free manual labourers, artisans and overseers. However, presently some historians and archaeologists debunk this idea as a ‘western myth.’ They don’t trust the work of Greek historian Herodotus (ca 485 – 430 BCE), who after visiting Egypt, travelling along the river Nile, and observing, climbing and touching the pyramids, wrote that the bulk of the hard labour was done by slaves. In his comprehensive history of Egypt, Herodotus reports that one hundred thousand workers were needed to build a king-size pyramid and that it would take twenty years to finish such a project. Another historical source is the Torah. Dorothy Resig, an editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, refers to the Book of Exodus, which says: “So the Egyptians enslaved the children of Israel with backbreaking labour and the Pharaoh put them to work to build buildings.” Exodus does not specifically speak of “pyramids”, but the term “buildings” does not exclude pyramids. Historically correct, Exodus could refer to Israelites being enforced to help build the city of Ramses, not necessarily the pyramids. Further, it is reported that Ramses III donated 113,000 slaves to Egypt’s temples. A figure of that size seems realistic for the building and upkeep of several pyramids, for doing household chores like the preparation and serving of food, for sweeping, cleaning, and the washing and reparation of clothes. Painting, and for taking care of the garden and the herds, the garden and herds.

In 2015, after the team of Egypt’s chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass had unearthed some skeletons in nicely decorated mud-brick tombs nearby a famous pyramid. Zahi Hawass claimed that these bones were the remains of free labourers and not of enslaved workers.[25] Perhaps he was right, but was he also right in concluding that his find proved that there never had been slaves forced to help building pyramids? According to Hawass, slaves building pyramids was a deep-rooted Christian myth, popularized by Hollywood movies.[26] No doubt, he was right to assert that the many hieroglyphs, paintings and other decorative presentations clearly indicate that these small auxiliary tombs in the vicinity of pyramids and sphinxes were burial places for important people, such as inspectors, architects, engineers, maybe even chief bakers, butchers or cooks. But finding several well-preserved, partly deformed non-mummified skeletons in nicely decorated tombs only proves that not all builders were slaves. It is highly likely that the rest of the builders, the enslaved ones, were not deemed worthy of a proper tomb or grave. To save precious time and building material they simply got dumped in ravines to be eaten by scavenger birds or buried in shallow graves beneath a thin layer of sand, to wither away in the following two, four or six thousand years.

In the July-August 2003 issue of Harvard Magazine, Jonathan Shaw wrote that archaeologist Mark Lehner, a close colleague of Zahi Hawass, had unearthed a whole city for pyramid builders, and concluded that the people that had been living there must have been privileged workers, no slaves. He calculated that the building of big pyramids needed many, many years. Everyday about 20,000 workers had to be fed and to be housed in decent dormitories, so that they could recuperate from their hard work. For that day and age, we should think of an urban centre, comparable to the size of Ur and Uruk, then the most important cities in Ancient Mesopotamia. After years of painstaking research, drawing maps, searching for potential transport routes, Lehner found the almost completely eroded remains of workman city he was looking for. After shovelling away several layers of sand for many months, helped by hundreds of workers, he only found the floors and remains of walls. What was left was no more than a foot high. He did not find enough houses or dormitories, so he and his team concluded that the builders must have been working in shifts of 1600 to 2000 workers, to be replaced by a new group of labourers after fixed periods of several weeks or months. The diggers also found tons of cattle bones and other rests of food that showed that these workers had been enjoying high quality food, such as beef, fish, fowl, and bread.[27] This quantity and quality of the food convinced Lehner and Hawass that no slaves had been hired for building these pyramids, based on the straightforward assumption that slaves only would be given inferior types of food; most likely not enough to keep them fit for the hard work that was needed. Does this make sense? Surely, overseers have whipped “lazy” slaves to put in some extra effort, but they can’t endlessly whip energy in malnourished workers. This would only result in more fatal accidents. Also it does not make sense to offer workers, enslaved or not, low quality food in insufficient portions on a daily basis, for weeks, months, even years. Each top vizier, superintendent or overseer is dependent on a strong and healthy workforce. They have no need for weak, ill, and dizzy workers when working with extremely heavy building blocks in risky situations. Many human bones found in the tombs were deformed, proving that building pyramids is a heavy and risky job. To convince everyone that only “free” Egyptians have been building pyramids, and that no slaves were forced to do the heavy lifting, more prove is needed, such as governmental decrees that banned slaves from the “sacred” work of pyramid building. In view of all the evidence, I think, we may hold on to the idea that the pyramids of Egypt could not have been built without mobilizing countless people from all levels of Egyptian society, in particular great numbers of slaves.

= = = = =

Slavery in Ancient Israel

There are several biblical verses that show that slavery was common in Israel and was practiced by the prophets. Priests shared in the spoils of war and were allowed to select the fittest men to do heavy jobs, like construction.

From the soldiers who fought in the battle, set apart as tribute for the Lord one out of every five hundred, whether people, cattle, donkeys or sheep. Take this tribute from their half share and give it to Eleazar the priest as the Lord’s part. From the Israelites’ half, select one out of every fifty, whether people, cattle, donkeys, sheep or other animals. Give them to the Levites, who are responsible for the care of the Lord’s tabernacle.”

The plunder remaining from the spoils that the soldiers took was 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys and 32,000 women who had never slept with a man. [28]

Priests responsible for the tabernacle got endowed with cattle, donkeys and virgin maidens. Clearly, priesthood was not linked to celibacy then. Celibacy of the ordained was an innovation of the Catholic Church introduced in 1022.^[29] This shows that the same religious origin can lead to very different and practices, and that the same sacred texts can engender very different interpretations.[30] Christians, for example, have legitimized slavery for ages. They liked to present it as an element in the grand scheme of God. But a few centuries ago a growing number of Christians began to argue that all slavery is evil. They had come to a different interpretation of Biblical texts. They stressed that God had created all humans as equal. This interpretative revolution did not happen overnight. It took generations of courageous efforts to convince people that their views were wrong; imagine, the very views that had been handed over to them by their parents, friends, teachers, priests or pastors. In the beginning few believers were prepared to accept these new interpretations, derived from the words of Jesus. The words and deeds of these first abolitionists will be discussed later. Traditional and conservative Christians remained referring to the Old Testament, to verses that convey how one should treat one’s slaves, how to buy and sell them and how to punish them whenever they commit major or minor criminal acts. There even are specific rules that allow men having sex with female slaves. No one dared to think about free women wanting sex with their male slave. Yet, The Bible mentions this highly tabooed subject in relation to an incident with the already mentioned Joseph, the son of Jacob, who was sold to Egyptian merchants and became the enslaved servant of Potifar. One day the wife of Potifar tried to seduce him, but Joseph declined the offer. Out of loyalty to his master? Did he fear for the consequences? We will never know. What we do know is that the scorned lady accused Joseph of rape, but Potifar did not trust his wife and spared Joseph’s life; again, a very exceptional story about very exceptional men.[31]

In ancient Israel male Jewish slaves did regain their freedom after six years.

If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free. “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl.^{^[32]}Then he will be his servant for life.[33]

For many people it will be shocking to read that in Old-Testament times, freed slaves could be forced to leave their wife and kids behind in case their master had arranged their marriage, apparently for the sole purpose of breeding child slaves. In this respect, masters viewed and treated their slaves like farmers treat their cattle.

The Bible tells masters to give their freed bondmen a share of their flock, food, and wine, to facilitate a new and independent start in life.^[34] This stands in sharp contrast to the treatment given to colonial slaves on the day of abolition. They were sent away empty handed.

It might surprise us that slaves could buy and own slaves. Reportedly, the slave Ziba had 15 sons and 20 slaves.^[35] The Bible does not even mention his daughters, reflecting the fact that daughters were considered to be of little value. But if a man has 15 sons we may assume that his total number of children must have been about 30. This implies that he must have had more than one wife and probably more than one concubine.

The Bible commands harsh punishments if one has harmed another person or his life stock. The general rule is that wrongdoers must pay with a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a foot for a foot, a burn for a burn, a wound for a similar wound, …[36] The following rule applies to physical harm done to a slave:

“When a man strikes the eye of his slave, male or female, and destroys it, he shall let the slave go free because of his eye. If he knocks out the tooth of his slave, male or female, he shall let the slave go free because of his tooth.”

The Bible offers other explicit punitive laws regarding slaves and slaveholders. When a master strikes his slave with a rod, and the slave dies under his hand, the killed slave must be avenged.[37] According to a recent American translation, this means that the master also should be killed.^[38]

In the Israel of old, slavery was standard practice, and so was discrimination. There was discrimination of men and women, sons and daughters, first son and other sons, slaves and non-slaves, Jews and non-Jews, wives and concubines, children of espouses and children of concubines. Within this discriminatory logic Leviticus forbids harsh treatment of Jewish slaves, but not for non-Jewish slaves.[39] Foreign male slaves did not earn their freedom after six years of slavery. They would remain enslaved for the rest of their life. The same holds true for their children. Children of slave owners inherited the slaves of their parents, including their children.

We should remember that Biblical descriptions reflect life in the Middle East as it occurred thousands of years ago. Then, conquerors were allowed many things that we now view as crimes of war, though that does not stop numerous war crimes being committed nowadays. Deuteronomy 21:10-14 states the following about marrying female captives:

“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God gives them into your hand and you take them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and you desire to take her to be your wife, and you bring her home to your house, she shall shave her head and pare her nails. And she shall take off the clothes in which she was captured and shall remain in your house and lament her father and her mother a full month.[40] After that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. But if you no longer delight in her, you shall let her go where she wants. But you shall not sell her for money, nor shall you treat her as a slave, since you have humiliated her.

We should have no illusions about this regained freedom. The woman’s reputation had been stained for ever. Her chance of a respectable job or a decent marriage will be close to zero. One hated option might be prostitution, the other: taking refuge with another slave owner. Close reading of the Old Testament can be shocking, but we can find surprisingly humane prescriptions too:

If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master. Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them.[41]

When a Jewish slave owner had had sex with a married slave, this was considered a misdemeanour. To repent his crime he had to sacrifice an animal. Also the woman would be punished. However, because she was not in the position to refuse sexual favours to her master, her punishment would be moderate: “only” six lashes with a whip.Apparently, she was found guilty of having triggered uncontrollable desires, just by being there and looking attractive.

The Code of Hammurabi – Slavery in Babylon

The excavated remains of Babylon, the capital city of the Babylonian Empire, can be found in Iraq, about 75 kilometres from Baghdad. Four thousand years ago Babylon was highly reliant on slavery. It played an important role in the running of private households, temples, palaces and kingdoms. Around 1750 BCE, King Hammurabi ruled over Babylon. When his empire and his royal position got attacked by other kings, he evolved into a highly skilled warlord and defeated them all. He ordered all conquered people to pay obeisance to Marduk, the Supreme God of Babylon. Hammurabi asserted that Marduk had ordered him to govern the land and to develop a legal system. To do so, his judicial counsels copied laws from Moses and from the Assyrians.[42] To ensure that these laws would never get lost, the Code was inscribed in a big chiselled rock that looked like a warning finger. On the nail we see images of King Hammurabi as well as Shamash the Babylonian God of Justice. Yet, this highly valuable rock of more that two meters in height was stolen by the Elamites and transported to Susa, the capital city of Elim.[43] In spite of its size, weight and importance it did get lost. Fortunately, in 1901, it was found in Khuzestan (Persia) by archaeologist Gustave Jéquier. On the surface of this stele are 282 rules of law concerning financial affairs, matrimony, fatherhood, sexual behaviour, and the responsibilities of contractors. Also there are rules regarding the punishment for murder and violence, always based on proportionality: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a leg for a leg, et cetera. They were designed to keep punishment closely related to the level and type of harm done by offenders. For slaves rules were different. The laws stipulated that they ought to be punished more severely than other people.^[44]

Already Hammurabi’s code entails the principle that one is considered not to be guilty as long as the court has not passed the verdict. This sounds familiar. Less modern are the horrible punishments proscribed by the code. For instance, if a surgeon has created a serious complication that has led to the death of a free patient, his hands will be chopped off. If the victim was a slave, he will survive, but his is obliged to buy a new slave for his or her master.^[45] The code also states that those who help a slave escape will be sentenced to death. Slaves did have certain rights. They were allowed to earn and save money, to become home owners, and to possess valuables like golden rings and necklaces. Texts from the time of King Nebuchadnezzar, ca 600 BCE, reveal that slaves also could own slaves, borrow money to do business and make profits.^[46]

Slavery in Greek Antiquity

Historians know a lot about Ancient Greece. Now we know that city-states like Athens and Sparta could not function without large numbers of slaves or helots. Otherwise it would never have been able to produce the great accomplishments that we still admire to-day.

The helots of Sparta were members of conquered nations that lived nearby. The word helot refers to humans being captured and enslaved. They had no citizen rights and were treated as a kind of state-owned serfs. Today, the Greek use the denigrating term helot for men and women that have to work very hard for very low wages. In Ancient Sparta, the status of Spartan helots was only slightly higher than that of slaves. Many helots still lived on the piece of land they had inherited from their parents, though the ground no longer was theirs. They had to hand over large portions of their harvest to their master. The rest was for them. This was more than enough to feed themselves and to live rather well.[47] Helots had certain rights that are characteristic for agrarian societies. They lived in a kind of symbiosis with their masters. Though, being descendants of former enemies, they had to be watched all the time. Especially, since helots outnumbered Spartans big way. Historians even mention a ratio of 7 to 1. And, because of their inhumane treatment, frustrations could easily spark rebellions. Everyday, helots were being reminded of their inferior status.[48] Female helots must have short cropped hair and wear simple clothing. The free women could shine with more beautiful clothing and their well-kempt long hair. Male-slaves had to wear a dog skin cap. Helots had to do the most demeaning jobs. And each year, during a public ceremony, they received a fixed number of beatings, to remind them of their low status and servile position. On the other hand, to appease them, they were treated more humanely than the slaves. Sometimes, the state freed small groups of helots. Others were allowed to join the army. After each victory, they shared in the spoils.[49] But it was a bit risky to give those men weapons and military training. What would happen if they would participate in a revolt against the state? Take in mind that these helots shared a collective identity, worshipped their own gods, and were ethnically quite homogenous. And indeed, in 464 BCE, the helots began a large scale rebellion. It took the Spartans five years to quell this insurgency. As far as we know this was the only big slave rebellion in Sparta.[50]

Around 400 BCE up to a quarter of Athenian residents had been enslaved. A minority were local citizens who could not pay their debts. The majority of slaves were foreigners. They came from various regions outside Greece, bought from international slave traders or captured during a long series of war activities in Thrace, Macedonia, Anatolia, Persia, Egypt, and Ethiopia. Therefore, the enslaved workers in Athens formed a very heterogeneous mass. In Athens, the legal status of slaves was linked to type of work. Slave labour in the mines was worst of all, extremely unhealthy and exhaustive. Fortunately, there were only a few mines around Athens. The majority of slaves served in private households. As long as they maintained a good relation with their master or mistress, and worked diligently they could live quite comfortably. Of course, they lacked the comforts of modern times. Enslaved women had to clean the rooms with brooms, mops and brushes. Washing clothes was done with one’s bare hands. Preparing food could be very boring and tiresome.

It was quite common that heterosexual masters picked their most beautiful slave girls as their concubine, though this did not stop them to demand sexual favours from other enslaved girls too. Homosexual masters selected their most handsome male slaves. In Athens, prostitution was wide spread. All prostitutes were enslaved and came from foreign stock. Male house slaves could become the head of the housekeeping staff or take care of the financial and legal affairs of their master. Despite these highly responsible jobs they were always looked down upon. The Greek elite did not work at all, definitely not the work that required strong muscles.

Since wealthy Athenians had all their work done by enslaved servants, they became strongly dependent on them. Quite a few enslaved servants used this advantageous position to get rich and powerful. Take for instance Pasion, probably originating from Syria. He was bought by a pair of bankers, served his masters well and quickly became chief clerk in charge of the money-changing table at the port of Piraeus. By 394 BCE, he was manumitted by his thankful masters and granted resident alien status of Athens. When his owners retired, he inherited the bank and established a shield factory. Under his leadership the bank and the factory fared well. He got so rich that he could offer huge gifts to the government of Athens. He donated no less than one thousand shields and a costly warship: a trireme.[51] Ultimately he was granted full Athenian citizenship. Alas this could never erase the fact that he had been enslaved and served as such. Within Ancient Greek society the manumitted people would always be seen as “manumitted slave of master X.”

Because of other examples of successful freed ex-slaves, most probably far less exceptional than Pasion, and because of the frequent interaction with their own loyal house slaves, all ancient Greek knew that slaves are humans and that most of them had good hearts and brains. So, eventually, they might get the upper hand in industry, commerce and politics. Yet, there always was the possibility that strong and clever, but frustrated slaves could start dangerous insurgencies. To control such fears and to maintain a safe social distance, the enslaved were represented as aliens, never to be trusted. Since most of them originated from far away countries, it was rather easy to present them as barbarians, speaking incomprehensible languages, never able to speak Greek perfectly. From here, it was only a small step to think that certain categories of people were born for slavery, lacking the capacity to succeed in higher offices. This latter view was propagated by renowned philosopher Aristotle (384 BCE – 322 BCE). He saw them as people born with a submissive nature, lacking the potential for being good masters.^[52]

“… those who are as different [from other men] as the soul from the body or man from beast — and they are in this state if their work is the use of the body, and if this is the best that can come from them — are slaves by nature. For them it is better to be ruled in accordance with this sort of rule …”[53]

In his book Politics, Aristotle describes a “natural” slave as:

“anyone who, while being human, is by nature not his own but of someone else …”

In his view, their main features include being pieces of property, tools for actions, and belonging to others.[54]

The Stoics denounced this. They were convinced that all humans were born equal, but some people had been struck by bad luck to find themselves in an enslaved position. Stoics found that all people had to accept such bad lot and to execute their tasks dutifully and without protest.^[55] Stoicism was founded by Zeno of Citium (ca 334 BCE till ca 262 BCE ).[56] The idea of the equality of mankind was a great step forward. But advising everyone, including serfs and slaves, to accept what fate had in store for them did not help slaves very much. Hence, it is understandable that in Antiquity slave rebellions did occur, in which enslaved fighters killed their masters or soldiers summed up to quell these insurgencies. Even then very few, if any, politician or intellectual started to criticize slavery; to draw attention to the atrocities that emerged after the strong rise in big farms. At most they made a plea for a return to the good old days when farms were small and slaves were seen as part of the extended family and treated as such. Greek historian Theopompus distinguished between good slavery “according to nature”- patriarchal and domestic, integrated into kinship ties – and a “degenerate” one, spawned by the development of trade, mining, and large scale agriculture, based on a ruthless abuse of enslaved workers. Posidonius believed that only degenerate slavery will trigger revolts, since it fuels hatred and a strong desire for revenge.[57] He came to this conclusion when travelling through Spain. There, he witnessed such a pitiless organization of labor, that many miners became suicidal. Not all learned members of the elite shared his view. They were convinced that there always had been slave revolts and for a reason.[58]

Slavery in Ancient Rome: To Rebel or not to Rebel
Like Athens, ancient Rome could never have flourished without slavery.^[59] Victorious Roman legions forced all captured soldiers into slavery. They either became galley slaves or had to work themselves to death with the construction of roads, defensive city walls, fortresses, palaces, and amphitheatres. The grandeur of the Ancient City of Rome, which still is visible today, was created with the help of numerous slaves captured from foreign abroad. In 1994, famous historian Edward Gibbon published a six volume book on the history of Rome, almost completely neglecting slavery. He only mentioned that that Rome’s slaves lived in miserable circumstances.^[60] In no way this meagre attention does reflect the importance of slavery for the rise of Rome. His approach completely ignores the hard labour of thousands and thousands enslaved foreigners. For Rome it was essential. Their non-paid activities hugely lowered the cost of labour. Of course cheap labour was crucial for a continually expanding and ambitious city, dreaming of becoming the centre of the universe.

For Rome slavery was vital. For its expansion slaves were indispensable. At the beginning of the Imperial Era, around 27 BCE, there were tree times more slaves than free men and women. For reasons of status Rome’s senators owned many more servants than they needed. Consul Marcus Licinius Crassus possessed 500 extra slaves just for acquiring and rebuilding property, making him the richest man of Rome. Even plebeians and ex-slaves owned slaves.[61] The system was so widespread and so crucial that it had to be institutionalized. The Twelve Tables (451-450 BCE) formed the basis for Roman law for more than thousand years. This code set out much harsher punishments for thievery committed by slaves than by free persons. Slaves could be sold in Rome, but local debt bondsmen could only be sold outside Rome, across the Tiber. Whether this was a helpful privilege is open for debate. When the rights of bondsmen were enlarged employers began to exchange them for slaves. This generated a growing demand. In a series of wars against nations south of Rome its legions enslaved large numbers of people.[62] They also defeated nations around the Mediterranean Sea. They also conquered several nations in east, central and west Europe. Thousands of captured men and women were brought to Rome. Besides, enslaving prisoners of war and kidnapping conquered people, there were other sources such as piracy and international slave trade. There also was a steady supply of children abandoned by their poor parents. Estimates of the enslaved population of Rome vary. Sandra Joshel estimates that about 25 per cent of the populace was enslaved. Other prominent historians present lower estimates, ranging from 10 to 20 per cent.[63]

In the fourth century BCE Carthage had become an important City-State on the northern coast of Africa, now modern Tunisia. According to the standard foundation myth, Carthage was established in 814 BCE by Phoenicians colonists from Tyre, a city state on the coast of Lebanon. These colonists were led by princess Dido. She and her allies had fled from their home country, after her brother Pygmalion had murdered her husband, the high priest of Tyre. Under the clever leadership of Dido, also known as Queen Elissa, the settlement evolved into a large city. Thus she laid the basis for a growing empire. In the following centuries Carthage became independent and gradually expanded its economic and political influence across the western Mediterranean.[64] Thus Rome and Cartage did become each other’s arch enemy. At stake was dominance over Maritime commerce in and around the Mediterranean. The first of the Punic wars started in 264 BCE. Each war produced immense material, human losses and added fuel to an ever growing cancer of mutual hatred. Senator Cato the Elder (234-149 BCE) finished all his political debates with the phrase: “Carthage must be destroyed.” His career started in 214, when he became a military officer (tribune). Thirty years became censor. This was the highest public office. The power of the censor was absolute: no magistrate could oppose his decisions. Only the censor who succeeded him could cancel his decisions. He was responsible for supervising public morality. Cato the Elder was a farmer, a soldier, a politician, a magistrate and a writer; always working hard, always favouring a conservative and sober lifestyle.[65] In 215 BCE he introduced the Lex Oppia, intended to restrict the

the luxury and extravagance of women in order to save money for the public treasury, was passed. The law specified that no woman could own more than half an ounce of gold, nor wear a garment of several colours,

His regulations against luxury were very stringent. He imposed a heavy tax upon dress and personal adornment, especially of women, and upon young slaves purchased as favourites.

His manual on running a farm (De agri cultura or “On Agriculture”) (c. 160) is his only work that survives complete. It is a miscellaneous collection of rules of husbandry and management, including sidelights on country life in the 2nd century BC. Adopted by many as a textbook at a time when Romans were expanding their agricultural activities into larger scale and more specialized business ventures geared towards profitability, De agri cultura assumes a farm run and staffed by slaves. Cato advises on hiring gangs for the olive harvest,^[40] and was noted for his chilling advice on keeping slaves continually at work, on reducing rations for slaves when sick, and on selling slaves that are old or sickly.^[41] Intended for reading aloud and discussing with farm workers,

In 146 BCE, during the Third Punic War, General Scipio Africanus the Younger besieged and conquered Carthage. At the time it might have housed 700,000 free and enslaved citizens. In a serious diplomatic effort to make peace and to prevent bloodshed, Carthage handed over all its weapons. To the shock and horror of Carthage’s leaders and populace, the scrupulous General Scipio ordered his troops to destroy the defenceless city. They destroyed the palaces, libraries and archives. The Roman troops killed more than 250,000 people. Defeated survivors were enslaved and brought to Rome. This mass influx lowered prices.

Now, also the less rich Romans could buy one or two slaves. The richest Romans did select the most able and highly talented ones. This pushed the prices for slaves with special skills. Child slaves that might develop into extraordinary good looking adolescents became a lucrative investment. Highly skilled slaves got treated with great respect. Many of them became rich too; in particular those that managed their master’s financial affairs. After years of saving and smart investments some were able to buy their freedom. Some became slave traders buying young slaves cheaply and selling them with a profit.^[66]

When Rome became wealthier still, it needed more household slaves. For reasons of status, the elite “needed” a platoon of servants. Keeping up the extravagant lifestyle of the Roman Elite, one must have proper waiters, body guards, doormen, table servants, excellent cooks, room servants, chamber maids, attendants, child nurses, and even hairdressers and masseurs. The rich never went outdoors without the company of a large group of attendants, just to show their wealth. The prefect of Rome employed about four hundred household slaves. Men banned from Rome could take “only” twenty servants with them. This added more shame to their punishment.[67]

In 146 BCE, after the destruction of Carthage, Rome suddenly had to deal with a huge number of newly enslaved people. This influx formed a huge risk for national security. They all spoke the same foreign language and shared the same culture. This made the planning of an uprising relatively easy. It also helped that many of them had been trained as soldiers. Their military leaders were still among them and always eager and ready to lead revolts. Sicilian cities were demolished; countless men and children died, and many women got raped.[68] The first revolt started at a local level. Land owners denied their slaves proper food. So, to survive slaves were forced to rob and steal. This went from bad to worse. Small bands of bolted slaves started to raid small estates, killing farmers and stealing everything. After a while, the entire island of Sicily got plundered. But this rebellion was small compared with the revolt led by Spartacus, a revolt made famous by Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film.

Spartacus (111 – 71 BCE) was from Thrace. He had been captured and enslaved by Roman legions. Because of his strength he was selected and trained to become a gladiator. The insurgency started in 73 BCE when 70 gladiators escaped from their training school in Capua. These Thracians, Gauls, and Germans, many of them recently enslaved, killed their guards with kitchen knives and ran off with a cart load of proper weapons. The group camped first near Mount Vesuvius. Others joined them in the hope to regain their freedom. Soon they conquered Mount Vesuvius and defeated two legions sent from Rome. Rome’s response was hampered, because other legions were busy countering a revolt in Hispania. At first, Roman leaders did not take the rebellion seriously and lost many men. Realizing their mistake they sent new troops that cornered and besieged the rebel army. Spartacus and his men climbed down the cliff side of the volcano, using ropes made of vines. They attacked the Romans by surprise and killed most of them.[69] The rebels also destroyed a second expedition from Rome, slaying many officers and seizing all military equipment. Ever more slaves joined Spartacus’ army. They spent the following winter training. At some point in time, the rebels totalled 70,000 troops.[70] But Spartacus knew that even such a big army could be defeated by the imperial troops. So, he opted for a way out. He led his army to the north with the intention to cross the Alps and to travel back to Thrace. Other ethnic groups could return to Gaul or Germany. Unfortunately, Spartacus lost control over his loosely coupled troops. They dispersed all over Italy, plundering and looting everywhere. This time, the alerted Senate took things very serious. They sent two legions to stop Spartacus and Crixus, the other rebel leader. Initially they were successful and defeated Crixus. However, Spartacus vanquished both Roman legions.

The alarmed Senate appointed Marcus Licinius Crassus, to command a successful counterattack. He was put in charge of eight legions. They totalled around 40,000 well trained troops. Still furious about the cowardice of the two defeated legions and the loss of their weapons, he first made perfectly clear that he tolerated no retreat, nor cowardice. To make his point, Crassus used the method of decimation. This meant that within two legions one in ten was chosen to be killed by the other nine. After witnessing this ultimate horror show, his scared soldiers were prepared to give it all. Commander Crassus successfully pushed Spartacus back south. The latter failed to cross the Strait of Messina to Sicily, organized a counterattack and failed again. His army got slaughtered by Pompey’s legion. In this battle Spartacus got killed. Hundreds of rebels got killed. Six thousand insurgents got captured. To deter all future wannabe rebels, Crassus ordered to crucify them and to expose their corpses along the long road from Rome to Capua. And indeed, from then on, very few slaves dared to contemplate a new revolt.[71] The Spartacus uprising was the last great slave revolt in Europe.

= = = =

Julius Caesar was born 100 BCE in a Patrician family that descended from Alban, a city south of Rome. If historian Plutarch is right, Emperor Julius Caesar (100 BCE – 44 BCE) became world champion of enslavement. Plutarch claimed Julius Caesar’s legions killed one million people during his seven-year-long Gallic campaign and that they also captured and enslaved one million Gallic and Germanic troops and civilians.[72] The Romans discriminated between Greek and barbarian slaves. This made some sense, because many enslaved Greeks were well educated. They could teach Romans about rhetoric, philosophy, medicine, mathematics, physics and astronomy. Highly talented slaves became favoured singers and dancers. Thus, enslaved Greeks made a significant contribution to Roman civilization. In contrast, slaves from northern Africa had to do the most humiliating, cumbersome and risky jobs.

Strong captured soldiers were forced to become gladiators, like Spartacus. In arenas packed with sensation seeking Romans they had to fight with each other until one of them died.^[73] Spectators also loved to see lions or tigers kill untrained slaves that had been sentenced to death. They relished in hearing their screams and the cracking of their bones.

As the Roman Empire grew in seize, it needed more soldiers, pulling ever more farm hands into their armies. They had to be replaced by new waves of slaves; all the more so, because farms were expanding into big agricultural holdings or latifundias. Enslaved farm slaves had to be controlled day and night to ensure that they worked hard and took good care of crops and animals. This supervision could only be managed with the help of slaves promoted to overseers.[74] Farm work is synchronized with the change of the seasons. In some months little work needs to be done, while other seasons demand a lot of hard and hasty work. This work rhythm is typical for farmers that cultivate a single crop. Other estates combined the cultivation of different crops and fruit, as well as breeding cattle. There, the slaves had to do a variety of jobs the whole year round. Thus a complex system of division of labour emerged. Historian Columella presents a list of almost fifty specialisations such as foreman, mower, vine binder, ploughman, goat herder, bird catcher, digger, gardener, animal doctor. Cheese making, cooking, spinning and mending clothes were female jobs, though women had to work in the fields too. Usually, the manager or vilicus also was a slave. His wifedid oversee the female slaves.[75]

In those days slavery was taken for granted. At best one criticized the cruelty of slave masters and, like the Stoic philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca or Seneca the younger, advised masters to treat their slaves with more kindness.[76] He was born in Cordoba (Spain) and lived from 4 BCE till 69 CE. He made a speedy career in Rome, which was stopped in mid-air, when Emperor Claudius exiled him to Corsica. After his return to Rome he became one of Emperor Nero’s top-advisors. In one of his letters to his philosophical friend Lucilius, he made clear that enslaved persons had not been born as slaves, but only had the bad luck to have got in this miserable position, whereas other were lucky to be considered free.

“They are slaves,” people declare. Nay, rather they are men.

Slaves! No, comrades.

Slaves! No, they are unpretentious friends.

Slaves! No, they are our fellow slaves, if one reflects that Fortune has equal rights over slaves and free men alike.

Kindly remember that he whom you call your slave sprang from the same stock, is smiled upon by the same skies, and on equal terms with yourself breathes, lives, and dies. It is just as possible for you to see in him a free-born man as for him to see in you a slave.[77]

In this letter Seneca describes how enslaved house servants are being degraded. They are forced to serve their master at their copious dinners but not allowed to speak one syllable or word. The slightest sound they make will be repressed by the rod. They are forced to clean the mess his master and his guests are making, Their work includes the mopping the vomit on the floor. He also points to masters that enforce their whine servers to look like young boys, to shave off their beards, to wear woman’s clothes, but demands them to be a man when they are demanded to share his bed. In this letter Seneca mentions other examples of mistreatment of slaves.[78] His main advice is that masters should treat their slaves well so that the latter will love and respect their master, and even will be prepared to defend him against any enemy, instead of becoming their master’s enemy. Seneca also makes very clear that his arguments should be read as a protest against slavery as such. Being a child of his times, being born and raised in a world in which slavery was all around, protesting against slavery as essentially wrong did never enter his mind. Maybe breakthrough thoughts like this can first be presented and defended by people who have enslavement themselves. As a Stoic thinker he never would have advised slaves to revolt.

= = = =

In Egypt a slave could become free through adoption by his or her owner. Another way of becoming an ex-slave was by marrying a free person. Sterile free women agreed, or were forced to agree, to adopt children whom their husbands had engendered with female slaves. This was quite common in the Middle East. Genesis 30:1-13 reveals Rachel and Lea, asked their husband Jacob to sleep with their maidservants to engender children they could not bear because of their advanced age.[79]

[1] Mart-Jan de Jong; From Ancient Slavery to Abolition: The complex history of the greatest wonder of the world. (29-3-2026 9652 words)

[1] Gerhard E. Lenski: Power and Privilege. McGraw-Hill, New York, 1966. Jack Goody: Slavery in time and Space. In: James Watson, ed. Asian and African Systems of Slavery, Oxford, 1980. pp 16-44.

[2] Papyrus Harris, Giza Archives Project: James Henry Breasted: Ancient Records of Egypt, Part IV, § 405:

[3] Slavery in Ancient Egypt: factsanddetails.com. Reference is made to the work of Antonio Loprieno of the University of Basel. UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2009, scholarship.org. Retrieved: 16 February 2023

[4] Mark-Jan Nederhof: Translation of “Ahmose son of Abana.” Following the hieroglyphic of “The Autobiography of Ahmose son of Abana”, following the transcription of K. Sethe: Urkunden der 18. Dynastie, Volume I. Hinrichs, Leipzig, 1927.

[5] Papyrus Harris: o. c.

[6] Wikipedia: Slavery in Ancient Egypt. en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 16 February 2023

[7] It is assumed that the extremely large numbers of captured or enslaved people mentioned in ancient historical reports tend to be strongly exaggerated to boost the glory and heroism of victorious leaders.

[8] Genesis 37: 18-36

[10] Joseph and Asenath did beget two sons and named them Manasseh and Ephraim to thank God that The Lord had made him fruitful in the land of his suffering, and made him forgetting all his troubles and the household of his father. Genesis 41; Retrieved: 22-12-2024

[11] Idem

[12] Zaphenath-Paneah

[13] Genesis 41-45

[14] “… but the Israelites were fruitful and increased rapidly; they multiplied and became exceedingly numerous, so that the land was filled with them.” Exodus 1:7

[15] Exodus 3

[16] Exodus 4

[17] Exodus 5

[18] Exodus 3

[19] Exodus 12: 29-34

[20] Exodus 13-14

[21] Bible: Book of Numbers

[22] Book of Exodus:men.wikipedia.org. Wikipedia refers to Finkelstein, Israel; Silberman, Neil Asher The Bible Unearthed. Simon and Schuster (2002) p. 63

[23] Yuval Noah Harari: Nexus A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI. Fern Press. Great Britain: 2024 pp 23-24. Harari refers to Frances A. Yates, The Art of Memory (London: Random House, 2011) and similar studies on this topic.

[24] Ibidem

11. Retrieved: 16 February 2023

[26] In this respect Cecille B. DeMille’s classical Hollywood movie The Ten Commandments is always mentioned as the prime suspect.

[27] Jonathan Shaw: Who Built the Pyramids? Not slaves. Archaeologist Mark Lehner, digging deeper, discovers a city of privileged workers. Harvard Magazine; July-August 2003.

[29] Yet many priests remained to live with concubines for five more centuries.

[30] The thought that entirely different things can sprout from the same origin, came to me via the work of philosopher-sociologist Jürgen Habermas. He was born in Germany in 1929. During his Germany went through a beastly period of Nazism, lost World War II, and then recovered and changed into a modern democratic welfare state.

[31] The Bible: Genesis 39: 5-20

[32] The hole in his earlobe is a sign that this man had “opted” for slavery during the rest of his life. It can be seen as proof that the love and responsibility for his wife and children was stronger slavery.

[33] Exodus 21:2-6

[34] Deuteronomy 15:13-14: o. c.

[35] 2 Samuel 9:10.

[36] Exodus 21

[37] Exodus 20:20. Clearly, during colonial times not all Christian slave holders have been avenged in this way for killing some of their slaves.

[38] The Holy Bible: Contemporary English Version, 1999.

[39] Leviticus 25:44-46

[40] This waiting period of a full month is mentioned to make sure that she was not pregnant.

[41] Deuteronomy 23:15-16

[42] This code and similar ones originate from comparable cultures from a relatively small geographic area and share many rules.

[43] It is located in the far west and southwest of present day Iran.

[44] A stele with an almost complete version of the code is present in the Louvre museum in Paris.

[45] http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=360#ixzz1diXPv59j Quoted from Ira Rutkow Surgery 1993, page 7

[46] Muhammad A. Dandamaev: Slavery in Babylonia, Revised Edition. Northern Illinois University Press 2009: p 372-389

[47] Helots: en.wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 8 February 2023

[48] Philip Chrysopoulos: The Role of Slavery in Ancient Greece. May 18, 2022. https://greekreporter.com. Retrieved: 13 February 2023

[49] Helot: www.livius.org. Retrieved: 14 February 2023

[50] Slaves, the unsung heroes of Ancient Greece: https://www.wondriumdaily.com Retrieved: 11 February 2023

[51] Pasion: wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 13 February 2023; David Matz (March 2012). Voices of Ancient Greece and Rome: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life. ABC – CLIO: 1 Mar 2012. ISBN 9780313387388: Retrieved via Google books: 13 February 2023

[52] Peter Garnsey: Ideas of Slavery from Aristotle to Augustine, Cambridge 1996, p 126

[53] Aristotle: Politics. 1254 b16–21.

[54] Karbowski, Joseph (2013). Aristotle’s Scientific Inquiry into Natural Slavery, Journal of the History of Philosophy. 51.3

[55] Idem: pp 118-55, 206-142

[56] Citium or Kition was a city-state at the southern coast of Cyprus.

[57] Aldo Schiavone: Spartacus, Harvard University Press; Cambridge Mass. 2013. pp 80-81

[58] Idem, p 79

[59] Rodney Stark: o. c. p. 295

[60] Edward Gibbon: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.1994, London: Allan Lane: The Penguin Press.

[61] Laura Hayward: Slavery in Ancient Rome: The Journey to freedom. The Collector; September 13, 2021. www.thecollector.com. Retrieved 232 February 2023

[62] Sandra R. Joshel: Slavery in the Roman World. Cambridge University Press: 2010. pp 53-54. Slavery in Ancient Rome: www.britishmuseum.org/exhibitions/nero-man-behind-myth/slavery-ancient-rome. Retrieved: 15 February 2023

[63] Idem, o. c.; p, 55

[64] Ancient Carthage: wikipedia.org. Retrieved 23 February 2023

[65] Cato the Elder: en.wikipedia.org

[66] F.R. Cowell: Everyday life in Ancient Rome. London: Batsford, 1961. Chapter IV

[67] Sandra R. Joshel. o.c.; pp 183-184

[68] Marcus Sidonius Falx with Jerry Toner: How to manage your slaves. Profile Books Ltd.: London, 2015. pp141-143

[69] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartacus. Retrieved: 9 October 2015

[70] Scholars of history claim time and again that it is highly likely that the recorded numbers tend to be exaggerated. Nonetheless, we can be sure that Spartacus had gathered and organized a really big army.

[71] Duncan Hill: Rome: Een wereldrijk uit oude dagen. Bath: Parragon, 2008. p 68 (Orig. Ancient Rome: From the Republic to the Empire)

[72] The mentioned numbers are unbelievably high. Just think of the logistics, food supply and continues guarding of tens of thousands of captured enemy troops. We must keep reminding ourselves that the reports about victories tend to be exaggerated for the glory of the renowned victors. Julius Caesar: Wikipedia.org. Retrieved: 14 February 2023

[73] Successful gladiators could gain glittering prizes and regain their freedom.

[74] Sandra R. Joshel, o.c.; p 56-57

[75] Idem, p.166-167.

[76] Gregory of Nyssa: en.wikipedia.org. Wikipedia refers to: D. Bentley Hart (2001). The ‘Whole Humanity’: Gregory of Nyssa’s Critique of Slavery in Light of His Eschatology. Scottish Journal of Theology, 54, pp 51-69.

[77] Seneca: Moral Letters to Lucilius – Letter 47: On Master and Slave. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki

[78] Seneca tells Lucilius that he could offer many more, but will not do this to safe time.

[79] Slavery in Ancient Egypt: factsanddetails.com. This site refers to Ben Haring, University Leyden, Netherlands, UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology 2009, scholarship.org. Retrieved: 16 February 2023