This vivid and comprehensive study of slavery and slaves in ancient Greece places the accent on their experience in an attempt to gain a better understanding of their ‘agency’ and, in short, their predominant role in a ‘full historical account’. Accordingly, it approaches the topic from a number of perspectives opened up by postmodern currents in historical research, emphasising subjectivity, agency and experience, while paying attention to collective aspects without losing sight of individual experience. The study also reflects the growing interest in the social history of excluded collectives, such as women (gender history) and non-citizens (metics, foreigners and slaves), while echoing novel theories such as that of intersectionality in the field of identity studies. Although F. poses general questions about slavery in antiquity, the analysis focuses on a specific period in the Greek world, namely, the classical age (500–300 BCE). Unsurprisingly, owing to the sources, Athens takes centre stage. Nonetheless, there are excursuses on Sparta and Crete. The comparisons with other better known slave-owning societies, which is essential when attempting to gain further insights into the individual and collective experience of slaves, are especially interesting. Also noteworthy is the plethora of sources (archaeological, literary, epigraphic and, to a lesser extent, iconographic) that F. includes in her narrative to illustrate, with frequent quotes, her reflections and analysis. The result is a fluid and enjoyable account.
Unlike other ‘excluded’ collectives, much ink has been spilled on slaves since the studies performed by Karl Marx placed the spotlight on the ‘slave mode of production’ and on the ‘class’ concept, and Moses I. Finley's approach introduced the Weberian spectrum of statuses. These studies enquiring into the role of slavery in ancient societies also dwell on different types of unfree labour, specifically focusing on – for example, in the studies of the GIREA – the concept of ‘dependency’. On the other hand, this line of research has continued to be developed in recent works, adequately recorded by F. in a brief but valuable section at the end of the study.
Chapter 1, ‘Approaching Slavery in Ancient Greece: Motivations, Methods and Definitions’, addresses ancient and modern conceptualisations of slavery in antiquity, placing the accent on the contradictions – in Aristotle – between the vision of slaves as property and their status as human beings. F. addresses recent reflections and conceptualisations on slavery, such as those of O. Patterson and N. Lenski in their critique of Finley's definition of a ‘slave-owning society’, although F. recognises the value of this author's spectrum of statuses. Notwithstanding this, her work refers above all to what were traditionally considered chattel slaves (except in her analysis of the Helots), precisely stressing the relationship/contradiction between free people (and, among them, especially citizens) and slaves. F.'s thought-provoking approach to the ‘active’ role of slaves, as historical agents, will doubtless rekindle the debate on the important place that they occupied in history. She pays less attention to other types of unfree labour, namely that provided by those considered to be ‘between free and slaves’, except for a few digressions (above all as regards the Helots) – doubtless because of the lack of sources and because of the period in question –, although they must have been more numerous and widespread than it seems at first sight. There is perhaps a question that is lacking which may help to understand these ‘in between’ situations. This does not only have to do with the contribution made by slavery to society and to the Greek culture of the free citizenry (covered in the final chapter) or the similarities between slaves and ordinary citizens (and metics) highlighted several times (since the ‘Old Oligarch’), but also with the complex relationship/interaction between slavery (and other forms of dependency) and the lowest classes of the demos. Slavery not only allowed free people and citizens leisure time, but also gave rise (in the case of so-called ‘chattel slavery’) to the ‘non-enslavement’ of the poorest free people of the community, something that was not the case all over the Greek world where most forms of unfree labour were ‘internal’.
Chapter 2, ‘Becoming a Slave: “The Day of Slavery”’, masterfully delves into the forms of enslavement, drawing attention to the traumatic experience and perspective of slaves through comparison. F. stresses the importance of war and raids inextricably linked to slave markets and trade, with important references to the impact of these practices on the inner workings of native populations. She also addresses other issues, such as ransoming, gender and age differences, prices, demography, ethnicity and the names of slaves. Likewise, she enquires into the strategies of slavers, traders and slaves in transactions and into the effect that this certainly traumatic experience (‘cultural dislocation’) had on slaves.
Chapter 3, ‘Being a Slave: Experiences of Slavery’, analyses – as far as possible with the few available sources – the lives of slaves in ancient Greece on the basis of the tasks that they were expected to perform, with attention being paid not only to gender, but also to other variables like the type of properties on which they worked and their public or private ownership. There was a wide range of situations, from those who worked under harsh conditions (in mines) to the privileged among their number who lived independently and had the opportunity to save some of their wages and to start ‘families’. However, they all ran the risk of being subject to violence (whippings), lacked freedom and personhood in the legal domain and apparently had a common goal: the freedom attained by a minority of the ‘privileged’ slaves. To this end, F. employs a variety of carefully selected sources, especially comedy, in addition to epigraphy, which offer a glimpse of a varied world of both integration and rejection/resistance, thus painting a vivid picture of a specific slave culture and the essential contribution of slaves to Greek culture.
Chapter 4, ‘Slaves and Status’, approaches Greek thought on slaves, whose greatest exponent was Aristotle. This ideology highlights the differences between free people and slaves as to their physical, mental and moral traits deriving from the environment and cultural and political conditions, affecting the political, religious, legal and institutional realms. Nonetheless, there are many inconsistencies between theory and practice. The slave identity is addressed on the basis of ethnicity and immersion in Greek culture in colourful narratives in which concepts such as intersectionality are useful for describing complex processes of assimilation, rejection and acculturation. F. analyses the role of slaves in cults and their active participation in associations and the religious life of the polis in general, despite the prohibitions in this realm.
Chapter 5, ‘Resourceful Slaves and Controlling Masters’, delves into the tension between the exploitation and denial of the humanity of slaves, plus the ways of controlling them. Although many were violent and caused enormous physical suffering, strategies focusing on different awards and incentives – fundamentally the granting of freedom – were also implemented, which gave rise to tension, anxiety and anguish. F. further examines the active response of slaves to their situation in different contexts, highlighting their strategies and forms of resistance to it, which often led to a subtle opposition, a particular sense of humour (as the life of Aesop shows) and an ambiguous language (‘hidden transcripts’) in a context that could be called the ‘weapon of the weak’. Additionally, emphasis is placed on the existence of cultural developments inherent to slavery, which have permeated the literary account of the dominant and in which hopes, fears and fantasies are expressed. It is also underscored how, versus violent and open rebellion, the preferred way of escaping from slavery was flight, which required coordination and communication between slaves and the intelligent management of information.
The final chapter, ‘Why Should We Care?’, offers a brief summary of the state of the question, while stressing the importance of knowledge of slavery in antiquity not only for illustrating and understanding similar situations in the present, but also for doing ‘historical’ justice to an important, numerous and habitually ‘silent’ and silenced collective who played an essential role in the construction of Greek culture. All this opens the debate on the active role (agency), identity, the capacity for collaboration and coordination of slaves and their historical role.
