Why it’s a myth to say that slavery in antiquity wasn’t bad – 9/3/2023 – Science

Due to my research on slavery in the ancient Mediterranean world, especially in the Bible, I often hear comments like: “slavery was totally different back then, right?” “Well, it couldn’t have been that bad.” “Couldn’t enslaved people buy their freedom?”

Most people in the United States and Europe in the 21st century know more about the trade in enslaved people across the Atlantic between the 16th and 19th centuries. They live in societies profoundly shaped by that slavery.

People can also observe the effects of modern slavery everywhere, from mass incarceration to segregated housing and voting habits.

The effects of slavery in antiquity are less noticeable today. And most Americans have only a vague idea of ​​how it worked.

Some people may remember biblical stories like Joseph’s jealous brothers who enslaved and sold him. Others may refer to films like “Spartacus” (1960) or the myth that enslaved people built the pyramids in Egypt.

As these types of slavery occurred a long time ago and were not based on modern racism, some people are under the impression that they were less rigid, or less violent.

This impression leaves room for current public figures such as Christian theologian and analytical philosopher William Lane Craig to argue that, in fact, slavery in antiquity was beneficial to enslaved people.

Modern factors such as capitalism and racist pseudoscience led to the long and painful transatlantic trade in enslaved people. Slave labor inspired, for example, economic theories about the “free market” and global trade.

But to understand slavery then—or to combat slavery today—we also need to understand the long history of forced labor.

As a student of slavery in antiquity and early Christian history, I often encounter three myths that make it difficult to understand ancient slavery and the development of slavery systems over time.

Myth #1: There is a kind of ‘biblical slavery’

The set of texts that make up the Bible brings together centuries of different writers spread across the Mediterranean and Mesopotamia. They were often in very different circumstances, which makes it difficult to generalize how slavery worked in “biblical” societies.

The most important point to consider is that the Hebrew Bible (called by Christians the “Old Testament”) first appeared in the ancient Near East, while the New Testament came to light in the early Roman Empire.

The forms of slavery and forced labor in the ancient Near East — in regions such as Egypt, Syria and Iran — did not always mean that enslaved people were considered commodities. In fact, some people were temporarily enslaved to pay off debts.

But this was not the case for all enslaved people in the ancient Near East—and certainly not in the late Roman Republic and early Roman Empire. In fact, millions of people were trafficked into Rome for forced labor in domestic, urban and agricultural settings.

Therefore, the different periods and cultures involved in the production of biblical literature mean that there is no such thing as a unique “biblical slavery”. Nor is there a single “biblical perspective” on slavery.

The most that can be said is that no biblical writer or text explicitly condemns the institution of slavery or keeping people enslaved as if they were commodities.

Indeed, the most vigorous questioning of slavery by Christians began to emerge in the 4th century AD, with the writings of historical figures such as the theologian Saint Gregory of Nyssa, who lived in Cappadocia (now part of Turkey).

Myth #2: Slavery in ancient times was not so cruel

This myth, like the first, usually arises from the association between some forced labor practices in Egypt and the Near East, such as slavery to pay debts or with the ownership of enslaved people, practiced by the Romans.

When we focus on other forms of forced labor in specific ancient cultures, it is easy to underestimate the widespread practice of slavery and its brutality.

But across the ancient Mediterranean, there is evidence of a range of horrific practices: branding, flogging, bodily disfigurement, sexual abuse, torture during legal trials, imprisonment, crucifixion, and more.

There is a Latin inscription in the ancient city of Puteoli (near Naples, Italy) which indicates what payment the enslavers could offer to those in charge of flogging or crucifying enslaved people.

And the Christians themselves were not exempt from participating in this cruelty.

Archaeologists have found, in Italy and even North Africa, necklaces that slavers placed on their slaves, offering a reward for their return, in case of escape. And some of these necklaces included Christian symbols, such as the Chi-Rho (☧), which combines the first two letters of the name of Jesus Christ in Greek.

One of the necklaces found even mentions that the person must be returned to his enslaver —in this case, Felix, the archdeacon.

It is difficult to apply contemporary moral standards to older ages, let alone societies thousands of years old.

But even in an ancient world where slavery was always present, it is clear that not all people embraced the ideology of the slave-holding elite. There are records of several rebellions by enslaved people in Greece and Italy. The most famous of these involved the escaped gladiator Spartacus.

Myth #3: Slavery in antiquity was not discriminatory

Slavery in the ancient Mediterranean was not based on ethnicity or skin color, as was the case with the transatlantic trade in enslaved people. But this does not mean that ancient slavery systems were not discriminatory.

Much of the history of Greek and Roman slavery involves the enslavement of people from other groups. Athenians enslaved people outside Athens, Spartans enslaved people who were not Spartans, and Romans enslaved people outside Rome.

Often captured or defeated in wars, these enslaved people were forcibly transferred to another region or kept in their ancestral land and forced to do agricultural or domestic work for the conquerors.

Roman laws required that the natio—the place of origin—of enslaved people be announced during auctions.

The ancient Mediterranean slavers prioritized the “purchase” of people from different parts of the world, due to stereotypes about their various characteristics.

The Roman scholar Varro, who wrote about the management of agriculture (“From Things in the Countryside”Ed. Unicamp, 2012), argued that an enslaver should not have many enslaved people from the same nation or who speak the same language, to prevent them from organizing and creating rebellions.

Ancient slavery still categorized some groups of people as “others,” treating them as if they were totally different from those who enslaved them.

The picture of slavery known to most Americans was profoundly shaped by their times, particularly by capitalism and modern racism. But other forms of slavery practiced throughout human history were no less “real” than that one.

Understanding these forms and their causes can help us address slavery today and in the future, especially at a time when some politicians are once again arguing that transatlantic slavery actually benefited enslaved people.

* Chance Bonar is a postdoctoral researcher at the Center for Human Sciences at Tufts University, in the United States.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation academic news site and is republished under a Creative Commons license. Read the original English version here.