Spartan Slavery Essay

Slavery has been a part of Western history since the Greeks and their domination beginning throughout the Classical Era, to the Romans, to the Vikings and Barbarians during the Middle Ages. Slaves took on different tasks and different rankings, but what never changed was the difficult life they lived. In this paper, different slave societies will be presented, as well as the characteristics that came along with being a slave. Slavery under the Athenians, Spartans, Romans, Vikings and during the New World will be looked at.
Spartan slaves were known as Helots. The Helots outnumbered the Spartans 10 to 1, and they were the ones who paved the way to military life in Sparta (Notes). In Spartan society, all slaves were owned by the state, and each

were sent to work on plots of land. The Helots were essential in food production in Sparta, and important when it came to the city’s economic life.

The Helot men worked the lands, while the Helot women would raise Spartan children and perform daily chores and tasks for their owners. Most serfs lived away in villages, and had their own family life, and were also allowed to own land and property. The Helots underwent brutal exploitation and were required to give a percentage of their earnings to the state (Cliff 2). The Helots were often harshly beaten to be reminded that they are at the bottom of the social ranking in Sparta. Slaves could never be assured of their personal safety, because the Helots who were deemed untrustworthy by their masters were murdered to get rid of any “threat” they imposed (Notes).
Slaves were present in Athens as well. It is said that the “Athenians treated their slaves better than any other ancient society” (Cliff 1). Slaves

were excluded from being granted citizenship, and were at the bottom of the social hierarchy in this society. The slaves received protection under the Athenian law, and state-owned slaves had the opportunity to rise to relatively high positions within the community depending on their education. Some wealthy Athenians also chose to allow skilled slaves to work as craftsmen. Athenian slaves generally seem to have been accepted into their master’s family. Most households in Athens owned at least one slave, and these slaves widely ranged from their type of work. Some male slaves worked as skilled workers or teachers, while others worked as unskilled labourers in the city or mines, or worked in agriculture. Female slaves worked in agriculture or as domestic servants and nurses for children (Notes). The Athenian slaves did not earn the same salary as the Metics and freemen, and despite that they performed the same amount of work, they still received a lesser salary. Slaves did however receive protection under the law; but they could obtain their freedom, own personal property, live privately outside of their master’s homes, and eventually could gain full citizenship (McKay et al. 78). In Athens, the slaves who lived outside the master’s house had the right to marry, while the privately-owned slaves who lived with their masters were not granted this right. Slaves in Athens could buy their freedom with the percentage of pay left over from his salary after paying the required amount to his master and this would give the slaves the status of a Metic (Cliff 3).
In Roman society, some people worked as slaves, while others did not (McKay et al. 132). An large number of slaves from Rome’s wars and conflicts provided additional labour for the fields, mines and cities. Slave boys and girls were often taught to work the trades from a young age as well so they could also be of use and work as slaves. There was a massive influx of prisoners of war in Rome, and they were enslaved totalling 35-40% of the population in Rome, and these prisoners of war were the ones who worked as slaves (Notes). Positions for slaves included domestic, craft or commerce, education, or mining and agriculture. The Greek slaves were the intellectuals, so only they were the ones able to fill the positions of educators, and the others worked as craftsmen or tradesmen. The slaves who worked as craftsmen had freedom in their reach – they would keep some of their profit to buy their freedom and then their families. Female domestic slaves would be raped and so they would beg masters to work in agriculture to get away from this maltreatment. The worst position for slaves would lie in the mines, as they would literally work to death, and would not survive past 2-3 years of labour (Notes). The main objective for a male slave is to be emancipated, and then buy the freedom of his wife and children, and this was common for loyal household slaves (McKay et al. 133).
With the Viking attacks and migrations around 8th century CE, many changes were brought to Western Europe, but what did not change was the practice of slavery. The Vikings had slaves and they were called Thralls; these slaves were internal and external prisoners of war. Slaves were traded and sold in the Viking world, and sometimes as many as thousands of young men and women were bought and sold to be enslaved (McKay et al. 231). The life of a thrall consisted of working the land and working the lowest positions in society. There were no laws that protected these slaves, so the Vikings who were rude masters could treat their slaves however they wanted (Notes). There is a notable difference between serfs and slaves: in this society serfs were former peasants who had lost their freedom, but worked and lived in independent villages. While a slave could be sold away from their land, a serf cannot (McKay et al. 277). Toward the end of the Middle Ages, lords gradually started to free serfs, generating more revenue.
African slavery began to enter Europe in the 15th century because the Ottoman Turks had captured Constantinople, and they put an end to the Europeans using white slaves from the Mediterranean.

With the growth of trade and demand for goods like sugar and cotton, Europeans turned to Africa for slaves to their boost production, and this was the beginning of the transatlantic slave trade. The slave trade had European traders going to Africa to examine and buy the slaves they deemed good to work, and then these slaves became property of the buyers, and were sent across the Atlantic (Howard 2). The conditions of this voyage were terrible, and around 20% died on the boat ride from Africa to Europe. While most slaves were needed to work in the plantation fields, some also worked as domestic servants, or were trained as artisans. The slaves working on sugar plantations worked under brutal conditions and at a very fast pace, with harsh owners, and so the death rates were extremely high, and this lead to new slaves constantly needing to be shipped from Africa (McKay et al. 435). The African slaves suffered brutal exploitation and were forced to live under the cruel treatments of their owners - women and men slaves both. The slave trade between Africa and America was not abolished until 19th century

CE.