Public Slaves
Some slaves enjoyed a measure of independence by working as
public
slaves1 owned by the
city-state instead of an individual. They lived on their own and performed specialized
tasks. In Athens, for example, public slaves in the classical period had the
responsibility for certifying the genuineness of the city-state's coinage as well as
many other administrative jobs in city service. Athenian public slaves also formed a
corps of assistants to the citizen magistrates responsible for the punishment of
criminals, and the city-state's official executioner was a public slave. In this way,
citizens were able to maintain an arm's-length distance between themselves and
distasteful jobs like the arrest and execution of fellow citizens.
Slaves attached to temples also lived without individual owners because temple slaves
belonged to the god of the sanctuary, for which they worked as servants. Some female
temple slaves served as sacred
prostitutes2 at the temple of Aphrodite in Corinth, and their earnings helped support the
sanctuary.
