Slavery: Antiquity and Its Legacy

Description

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" is perhaps the most famous phrase of all in the American Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson's momentous words are closely related to the French concept of "liberte, egalite, fraternitye"; and both ideas incarnate a notion of freedom as inalienable human right that in the modern world we expect to take for granted. In the ancient world, by contrast, the concepts of freedom and equality had little purchase. Athenians, Spartans and Romans all possessed slaves or helots (unfree bondsmen), and society was unequal at every stratum. Why, then, if modern society abominates slavery, does what antiquity thought about serfdom matter today? Cover Half-title Title Copyright Dedication Contents Preface Chapter I: Living Slaves Slavery Defined Numbers and Places The Poetics of Slavery Slavery in the Media Slavery and ‘Race’ Abolition: Or, What is to be Done? Differences Chapter II: Racialised Slavery Sherley Anne Williams’ Dessa Rose The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself The History of Racialised Slavery Slaves in America Frederick Douglass Legacies of Racialised Slavery Chapter III: Ancient Ideologies Slavery in the Hebrew Bible Slavery in Ancient Greek Political Theory Slavery in the New Testament and in Christianity Ante-bellum Arguments for Slavery in North America Chapter IV: Ancient Slavery Slavery in Israel Slavery in Greece Slavery in Rome Chapter V: Spartacus and Gladiator: Slaves in Film The Ten Commandments Spartacus Gladiator Epilogue Some Suggestions For Further Reading Notes Index