WRPR 193: Slavery in Ancient Greece and Rome (HC): Primary Sources

This study asks how slavery was viewed by leading Greek and Roman thinkers. It draws on a wide range of sources, pagan, Jewish and Christian, over ten centuries, to present attitudes to slavery ranging from critiques to justifications. Includes excerpts from primary sources.

Brings together fresh English translations of 243 texts and inscriptions on slavery from fifth and fourth century Greece and Rome. The material is arranged thematically, offering a review of the idea and practice of slavery in ancient civilization.

By offering fluent, accurate translations of extracts and fragments from a wide assortment of ancient texts, this volume allows a comprehensive overview of ancient Greek and Roman concepts of otherness including texts concerning slaves.

With the help of a wide variety of source material, particularly legal documents and inscriptions, some of it made available for the first time in English, this book illustrates the activities associated with the household, demonstrating the different and frequently conflicting roles and moral values expected from its various members: male and female, old and young, freedman and slave.

In this examination of the Roman institution of slavery, Brent Shaw presents a compelling selection of the ancient testimony relating to Spartacus and the slave wars. Organizing 80 original Greek and Latin source translations into topical chapters on the daily life of slaves trained as gladiators and those who labored on farms in Italy and Sicily, Shaw includes accounts of revolts that preceded and anticipated that of Spartacus.

Through an examination of lexical, visual and literary representations of slaves, the book considers how the image of the slave was used to justify, reinforce and naturalize slavery in ancient Greece.

From the ancient world through to modern times the bodies of slaves have been represented in literature, documentary and personal narrative writing, and in art. This volume presents evidence of the past sins of mankind in both art and literature. See the first two essays that concern the ancient world. The book is also available in print.

The contributors engage with questions concerning the slave trade, manumission, slave education, containment and movement, and the use of slaves in the Roman army.