The Lives of Slaves
Under the best conditions, household
slaves1 with humane masters might live lives free of violent punishment. They might even
be allowed to join their owners' families on excursions and attend religious rituals
such as sacrifices. Without the right to a family of their own, however, without
property, without legal or political rights, they lived an existence alienated from
regular society. In the words of an ancient commentator, chattel slaves lived lives of
“work, punishment, and food.”2 Their labor helped maintain the economy of Greek society, but their work rarely
benefited themselves. Yet despite the misery of their condition, Greek chattel
slaves—outside
Sparta3—almost never revolted on a large scale, perhaps because they were of
too many different origins and nationalities and too scattered to organize themselves
for rebellion. Sometimes
owners freed their slaves voluntarily4, and
some promised freedom at a future date to encourage their slaves to work hard in the
meantime. Freed slaves did not become citizens in Greek city-states but instead mixed
into the population of resident foreigners (the metics). They were expected to continue
to help out their former masters when called upon.
