![]() ![]() The academic study of slavery in ancient Greece is beset by significant methodological problems. The chattel slave is an individual deprived of liberty and forced to submit to an owner, who may buy, sell, or lease them like any other chattel. Modern historiographical practice distinguishes between chattel slavery (personal possession, where the slave was regarded as a piece of property as opposed to a mobile member of society) versus land-bonded groups such as the penestae of Thessaly or the Spartan helots, who were more like medieval serfs (an enhancement to real estate). Slaves were legally prohibited from participating in politics, which was reserved for citizens. ![]() Athens had the largest slave population, with as many as 80,000 in the 5th and 6th centuries BC, with an average of three or four slaves per household, except in poor families. The principal use of slaves was in agriculture, but they were also used in stone quarries or mines, and as domestic servants. This paradigm was notably questioned in Socratic dialogues the Stoics produced the first recorded condemnation of slavery. Some Ancient Greek writers (including, most notably, Aristotle) described slavery as natural and even necessary. Slavery was an accepted practice in ancient Greece, as in other societies of the time. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols. This article contains special characters. ![]()
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