Shailene

__ Ancient Slavery in Greece __ Slaves are very important to Ancient Greece. They needed slaves because free people don’t like doing any chores by themselves, they ask their slaves to do it for them. Today, slavery isn’t very important because, they have maids and some just works for them to save more money. Today, usually rich people have many maids and some just have themselves as maids. Many people have maids or nannies but, they are not called slaves. They have their own names and can go to important assemblies, they also have day off to be with their families. Slavery in Ancient Greece was very important and almost half of the Ancient Greece population is slaves. There are three stages of getting or having a Slave in Athens, Sparta, and the whole Ancient Greece. In Ancient Athens, there were as many slaves as the people that lived in Ancient Athens, For example the Police force in Ancient Athens is mainly made up of Slaves. Their owners own an Athenian Slave not the government not Athens. In Ancient Greece the City-State that has the most slave population is actually Athens. The majority of free Athenian citizens owned at least one slave. Some slaves in Athens are Greek, some Persians, Egyptians, and Scythians. Some Greek slaves were infants, abandoned on a hill or at the gates of a town, and left to die or to be rescued by someone passing by them to make them slaves. There are smaller numbers of slaves in the houses of their owners. In Ancient Greece could not marry or raise child without any of their owners permission. Could you believe that their own owners named them! Could you imagine you having no name until you get an owner! Slaves always Cleaned, Cooked, worked in the fields, factories and shops. There where many slaves in Athens, It has the most slaves in Ancient Greece and each slave was owned by his or her own owner not the government. In Ancient Sparta, slaves in Sparta were owned by the government and were not allowed to go in any important Assemblies. Slaves couldn’t also go in the Gymnasium. Some of the slaves in Sparta were the children of slaves. This means that the parents are slaves and so as the children. Also, most of the slaves in Sparta were actually born free. Slaves in Sparta couldn’t go to school, or enter politics, or use their own names. The law in Sparta wasn’t like Athens because slaves in Sparta are force to be slaves and work for the free people. A Spartan owner has at least 10-20 slaves working for them and only them. Only some people became slaves when captured in battles. Some of the children were sold to become a slave by poor families, and some children were kidnapped. Mostly, some slaves worked in fields, planting seeds and harvesting wheat, barley and olives. Being a Slave in Ancient Sparta is very hard because you don’t know if your family will sell you for money to be a slave or you can be captured in battles and you can turn into a slave. In the History of Ancient Slavery in Greece, Slaves are very important in Ancient Greece; there are as many slaves as the citizens that lived in Ancient Greece. Slavery is very important in Ancient Greece way in life. Slaves played a major role in so many aspects of Greek civilization from domestic living to the infamous Athenian naval fleet. The main role of a slave was to stand in for his/her master at his/her trade and to accompany him/her on trips. Not all the forms of slavery in Greece were not as tolerable as the main role of a domestic servant. Slaves were treated differently in Ancient Greece depending on what their purpose was. Owners of slaves didn’t breed their slaves. Historians said that about a third of Ancient Greece were slaves. Most of the work in Ancient Greece was done by the slaves not the free people. Lives of a poor Greek family were not as different as a Slave’s life. When a Slave is good at working they are cheaper to pay than a slave that doesn’t work a lot. The most common bad thing that happen to slaves in Ancient Greece is that slaves get lead poison and even though their owners knew that they are being lead poison but, they still didn’t care. In Ancient Greece, not owning one slave is a clear sign of poverty. Only the poorest people didn’t have a domestic slave. The price one might have paid for a slave in ancient Greek times varied depending on their appearance, age and attitude. Many free people need slaves because slaves do all the work for the free people like cooking, cleaning, and slaves even harvest food in the fields. Slaves are very important in Greece. You learned many things about slavery because I did. Slavery was needed especially in Athens. Lots of people were slaves in Greece. In fact, half of the people in Ancient Greece are slaves. If the slaves were nice to their owners they get respected and treated as a family member. Many people have at least 1-2 slaves working for them. So many slaves were in Ancient Greece but good thing there isn’t any here in Canada.