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The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, Volume 3 (of 3)

Name: The History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece, Volume 3 (of 3)
Author: James Augustus St. John

by James Augustus St. John

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Subjects

Greece -- Social life and customs

In: History - Ancient

Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #67707.

About this book

James Augustus St. John’s three‑volume History of the Manners and Customs of Ancient Greece concludes with a detailed survey of slavery in the Greek world. The opening of the final volume launches straight into a systematic account of the origins, conditions, and numbers of slaves across the principal city‑states, citing classical sources from Homer to Plato and weaving together myth, law, and anecdote. St. John frames the practice as a “painful drudgery” that pervaded both urban and rural life, then moves to trace its evolution from early war‑captives and domestic servitude to the organized slave‑trade of the Chian merchants, while noting regional variations such as the harsh Helot system of Sparta and the more “indulgent” attitudes of Athens.

The work is written in a scholarly, nineteenth‑century prose style that blends exhaustive citation with a moral‑philosophical commentary on the injustice of bondage. Its dense, footnote‑laden narrative will appeal to readers who relish rigorous historical analysis, students of classical studies, historians of ancient economies, and anyone interested in the social fabric of Greece beyond the usual heroic tales.

Who appears in this book

PlatoMiddle-aged Greek philosopher, bald head, long beard, draped in white chiton, thoughtful expression

The opening · free to read

It is no doubt possible by kindness to obliterate many of the ugly features of slavery, so that between the vassal and his lord strong mutual affection may spring up.[6] We hear, accordingly, of slaves whose love for their masters exceeded the love of brothers, or of children;[7] they have toiled, fought, died, for them; nay they have sometimes surpassed them in courage, and taught them, in situations of imminent danger, how to die, as in the case of that military attendant, who, when taken prisoner with his master, and seeing him resolved on death, yet hesitating about the means, dashed his brains out against the wall to show him how it might be done. Another example is recorded of a slave who put on the disguise of his lord, that he might be slain in his stead. But what then? Do these examples prove that in servitude there is anything ennobling? On the contrary, the only inference to be drawn from them is, that in these cases great and worthy souls had been dealt with unjustly by fortune. However, since none but the incorrigibly base can now be found to advocate this worst of all human vices, I may spare my arguments, and proceed at once to trace the history of slavery in Greece.

Footnote 6:

Herodes Atticus, for instance, lamented the death of his slaves as if they had been his relations, and erected statues to their memory in woods, or fields, and beside fountains. Philost. Vit. Soph. ii. 10. Among respectable slaves it was thought disgraceful to drink when the family was in trouble. Vict. Var. Lect. viii. 4. A striking example of the affection produced by good usage is mentioned by Libanius: “Sed, ut intelligas,” says the sophist, writing to Uranius, “quam fidum habeas servum, quæsivi ego tunc otiosus, cur, præter ejus generis hominum, consuetudinem tanta fide res tuas curaret? Is vero mihi graviter sapientissimèque respondit se novum quoddam fidissimæ servitutis genus excogitare oportuisse, quoniam herum habeat nomine, re vero fratrem, cum quo eundem cibum caperet, idem vinum biberet, à quo non modo vapularet, sed ne malum quidem unquam aliquid audiret,” Epistol. i. 16. Lat. ed J. C. Wolf. p. 739. a.

Footnote 8:

In old times there were neither Manes nor Sekis: the women did everything. Athen. vi. 83. Cf. Herod. vi. 137. Of these early periods, however, few records remain, for as soon as the Greeks appear upon the stage of history they are attended by slaves. On this account Philo Judæus admires the Argonauts, who on their celebrated expedition forewent the aid of servile labour: ἄγαμαι καὶ τῶν Ἀργοναυτῶν, οἰ σύμπαν ἀπέφῃναν ἐλεύθερον τὸ πλήρομα, μηδένα μήτε τᾶς εἰς ἀναγκαίας ὑπηρεσίας προσέμενοι δοῦλον, ἀδελφὸν ἐλευθερίας αὐτουργίαν ἐν τῷ τότε ἀσπασαμένων Lib. quisq. virt. Stud. t. ii. p. 467. ed. Mangey.

Footnote 9:

In later times, however, this laborious task devolved upon female slaves. “Gottlieb Fischer (Disput. Philolog. de Molis Manual. Vet. in 4. Gedani, 1728,) établit, par des preuves multipliées, que chez les Egyptiens, les Babyloniens, les Perses, les Arabes, les Grecs, les Romains, ce travail étoit ordinairement le partage des femmes esclaves. L’invention des moulins à eau fut pour elles l’époque d’une joie universelle, dont le poète Antipater se rendit l’interprète par une pièce arrivée jusqu’à nous: Femmes occupées a moudre, ne fatiguez plus vos bras, dormez la longue matinée ... Cérès a ordonné aux nymphes de remplacer l’ouvrage de vos mains, etc.” Grégoire de la Domesticité, p. 7.