CLASS 2807 - [Slavery in the Ancient World]

(HB) (HA-AS, HST-AS, SCD-AS)

Fall. Not offered: 2021-2022. Next offered: 2022-2023. 4 credits. Student option grading.

N. Giannella.

From democratic Athens to imperial Rome, the ancient economies of Greece and Rome ran on slave labor and slavery pervaded all areas of life: farming; industry; families; the civil service; police; and more. This course examines Athens and Rome as slave societies and how slavery was integrated into all social structures and accepted as normal. We will address the following topics: definitions of slavery (including chattel slavery, eventually the predominant form of servitude); the sources and numbers of slaves; the slave mode of production and the ancient economy; the treatment of slaves; resistance to slavery and slave revolts; emancipation and the position of freed people; the social position of slaves; the family life of slaves; slavery and the law (civil and natural); slaves in literature.