Slaves - who are they? The legal status of slaves in ancient Rome and Egypt

Throughout the history of mankind, a lot of cases were recorded when certain laws were applied to certain categories of people, equating them to property objects. For example, it is known that such powerful states as Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire were built on the principles of slavery.

Who is a slave

For millennia, the best minds of mankind, regardless of their national and religious affiliation, fought for the freedom of each individual and claimed that all people should be equal in their rights before the law. Unfortunately, it took thousands of years before these requirements were reflected in the legal norms of most countries of the world, and before that many generations of people experienced what it means to be equated with inanimate objects and deprived of the opportunity to dispose of their lives. To the question: "Who is a slave?" Can be answered by quoting a universal declaration of UN human rights . In particular, it says that such a definition is suitable for any person who does not have the ability to refuse to work voluntarily. In addition, the word "slave" is also used to refer to an individual who is owned by another person.

How did slavery appear as a mass phenomenon

However strange it might sound, historians believe that the development of technologies served as a prerequisite for enslaving people. The fact is that before the individual was able to create more by his labor than he needed to sustain life, slavery was inexpedient economically, so those who were captured simply were killed. The situation changed when, thanks to the emergence of new tools, agriculture became more profitable. The first mention of the existence of states where slave labor was used refers to the beginning of the III millennium BC. E. Researchers note that we are talking about small kingdoms in Mesopotamia. Numerous references to slaves are also found in the Old Testament. In particular, there are several reasons why people moved to the lowest step of the social ladder. Thus, according to this Book of Books, slaves are not only prisoners of war, but also those who were unable to pay the debt, married slaves or thieves who could not return the stolen goods or compensate for the damage. And the acquisition by a person of this status meant that his descendants also had virtually no legal chances to become free.

Egyptian slaves

To date, historians have not yet come to a consensus on the status of "not free" people in the Ancient Kingdom, ruled by pharaohs. In any case, it is known that slaves in Egypt were considered part of society, and they were treated fairly humanely. Especially a lot of people of forced labor there were in the era of the New Kingdom, when even ordinary free Egyptians could have servants who belonged to them by right of ownership. However, as a rule, they were not used as producers of agricultural products and allowed to create families. As for the Hellenistic period, the slaves in Egypt under the rule of the Ptolemies lived in the same way as their fellow-sufferers in other states that formed after the collapse of the empire of Alexander the Great. Thus, it can be stated that approximately until the 4th century BC the economy of the most powerful of the countries located in the north of the African continent was based on the production of agricultural products by free peasants.

Slaves in Ancient Greece

Modern European civilization, and even earlier Roman Ancient originated on the basis of ancient Greek. And in its turn, all of its achievements, including cultural achievements, was due to the slave-owning mode of production. As already mentioned, the status of a free man in the ancient world was most often lost as a result of captivity. And since Greek politicians constantly waged war among themselves, the number of slaves grew. In addition, such status was assigned to insolvent debtors and foreign coins who were hiding from paying taxes to the state treasury. Among the activities that were most often included in the duties of slaves in Ancient Greece, one can single out housekeeping, as well as work in mines, in the navy (oarsmen), and even service in the army. By the way, in the latter case, soldiers who showed exceptional courage were released to freedom, and their owners were compensated for the loss associated with the loss of a slave, at the expense of the state. Thus, even those who were born not free, had a chance to change their status.

Roman slaves

As evidenced by historical documents that have survived to this day, in ancient Greece, most people deprived of the right to dispose of their lives were Greeks. The situation in Ancient Rome was quite different. After all, this empire constantly fought with its numerous neighbors, which is why the Roman slaves are mostly foreigners. They were mostly born free and often tried to escape and return to their homeland. In addition, according to the Laws of the Twelve Tables, which are completely barbaric in the understanding of modern man, the father could sell his children to slavery. Fortunately, the last provision existed only until the adoption of the law of Petelia, according to which slaves in Roman law - it is anyone, but not the Romans. In other words, a free man, a plebeian, and even more so a patrician, by no means could become a slave. At the same time, not all people in this category were living badly. For example, in a rather privileged position were the domestic slaves, who were often perceived by the owners as members of the family. In addition, they could be released by the will of the master or for services to his family.

The most famous uprisings of Roman slaves

The desire for freedom lives in any person. Therefore, although the masters believed that their slaves were something in between inanimate tools and pack animals, they often raised uprisings. These cases of mass disobedience were usually brutally suppressed by the authorities. The most famous event of its kind - from the documents recorded in historical documents - is the uprising of slaves led by Spartacus. It happened in the period from 74 to 71 years of our era, and its organizers were gladiators. The fact that the insurgents managed to keep the Roman Senate in fear for about three years is attributed by historians to the fact that at that time the authorities did not have the opportunity to cast trained military formations against the slave army, since practically all the legions fought in Spain, in Asia Minor and Thrace. Having won several high-profile victories, the army of Spartacus, the backbone of which was Roman slaves, trained in the martial arts of that time, was still broken, and he himself died in the fight, presumably at the hands of a soldier named Felix.

Rebellion in Ancient Egypt

Similar events, but, of course, much less famous, occurred over many centuries before the founding of Rome, on the banks of the Nile, at the end of the Middle Kingdom era. They are described, for example, in the "Instruction to Noferrekh" - papyrus, which is stored in the St. Petersburg Hermitage. True, this document notes that the insurrection was raised by the poor peasants, and only then were slaves joined, mostly from the Near East. It is noteworthy that evidence has been preserved indicating that the participants of the Troubles sought, first of all, to destroy documents in which the rights and privileges of the rich were fixed. This means that the slaves believed that in their plight, the unjust laws of Egypt, which divided people into free and slaves, were to blame. Like the rebellion of Spartacus, the Egyptian rebellion was also suppressed, and most of its participants were mercilessly destroyed.

Ancient Roman laws concerning slaves

As you know, modern laws of many countries are based on Roman law. So, on it all people were divided into two categories: free citizens (the privileged part of society) and slaves (this is the lowest, if I may say so, caste). According to the law, a non-free person was not considered an independent subject of law and did not have legal capacity. In particular, in most situations - from a legal point of view - he acted either as an object of legal relations, or as a "talking tool." At the same time, if a slave married a free woman or a slave woman married a free man, they could not claim liberation. In addition, for example, all the slaves who lived with the master under one roof were to be executed if their master was killed inside the walls of the house. For the sake of justice, it must be said that in the era of the Roman Empire, ie, after 27 BC, penalties were imposed on the gentlemen for cruel treatment of their own slaves.

Laws relating to slaves in ancient Egypt

Attitude towards slaves in a state ruled by pharaohs was also legalized. In particular, there were laws that forbade the slaughter of slaves, guaranteed their food and even demanded payment for some types of slave labor. It is interesting that in some legal acts slaves were called a "dead member of the family", which researchers attribute to the peculiarities of the religious outlook of the inhabitants of Ancient Egypt. At the same time, free children born of a slave, at the request of the father could get the status of free and even claim a share of the inheritance on a par with legal offspring.

Slavery with the US: the legal side of this issue

Another state, whose economic prosperity at an early stage of development was based on the use of slave labor, is the United States. It is known that the first black slaves appeared on the territory of this country in 1619. Negro slaves were imported to the United States until the middle of the 19th century, and scientists estimate that a total of 645,000 people were trafficked from Africa to this country. It is interesting that most of the laws concerning such "emigrants willy-nilly" were adopted in the last decades before the adoption of the Thirteenth Amendment. For example, in 1850, the US Congress issued an act that worsened the legal status of slaves. According to it, the population of all states, including those where slavery was already abolished at the time of its adoption, was ordered to take an active part in capturing fugitive slaves. Moreover, this law even provided for punishment for those free citizens who helped the Negroes, escaped from their masters. As is known, despite all attempts by planters from the South States to preserve slavery, it was still banned. Although for about a century in various states of the United States, the segregating laws that infringed on their rights were humiliating for the black population.

Slavery in the Modern World

Unfortunately, the desire to gratuitously use the fruits of other people's labor has not been eradicated to this day. Therefore, daily information is received on the detection of all new cases of trafficking - sale and exploitation of people. And modern slave traders and slave owners are sometimes much more cruel than, for example, the Roman. Millennia ago, the legal status of slaves was concretized, and they depended only partially on the will of their masters. As for the victims of trafficking, very often no one knows about them, and unhappy people are a toy in the hands of their "masters."