Slaves and Slavery in Ancient Greece (Key Themes in Ancient History)

Slavery in ancient Greece was commonplace. In this book Sara Forsdyke uncovers the wide range of experiences of slaves and focuses on their own perspectives, rather than those of their owners, giving a voice to a group that is often rendered silent by the historical record. By reading ancient sources 'against the grain,' and through careful deployment of comparative evidence from more recent slave-owning societies, she demonstrates that slaves engaged in a variety of strategies to deal with their conditions of enslavement, ranging from calculated accommodation to full-scale rebellion. Along the way, she establishes that slaves made a vital contribution to almost all aspects of Greek society. Above all, despite their often brutal treatment, they sometimes displayed great ingenuity in exploiting the tensions and contradictions within the system of slavery. "In this book, Forsdyke uncovers the wide range of experiences of slaves in ancient Greece. By focusing on the perspectives of slaves themselves, rather than their owners, she gives voice to a group that is often rendered silent by the historical record. By reading ancient sources 'against the grain,' and through careful deployment of comparative evidence from more recent slave-owning societies, she demonstrates that slaves engaged in a variety of strategies to deal with their conditions of enslavement, ranging from calculated accommodation to full-scale rebellion. Along the way, she demonstrates that slaves made a vital contribution to almost all aspects of Greek society. Above all, she shows that, despite often brutal treatment, slaves sometimes displayed great ingenuity in exploiting the tensions and contradictions within the system of slavery"-- Provided by publisher