Customer Reviews

Slavery in Classical Greece (Classical World Series)

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This is one of the best books I have ever read on slavery in antiquity. Many books on slavery in ancient Greece and Rome are almost prudish in their approach to the issue. But in order to convey the true nature (and horror) of slavery, no scholarly work can ignore such aspects of slavery as sexual mores or physical violence. Vague references simply will not do.

This book digs right into the nitty-gritty of everyday slave life. Although it's a very short work, the author manages to convey the most amazing details of slave life -- right down to the kind of undergarments a slave might be permitted to wear. Unlike some works, which never really explain how slaves could rise to positions of great power and prestige and still remain slaves, this volume does so and makes it seems reasonable.

The book also places slavery in context as well. That's something missing in most other works on slavery in ancient Europe and the Middle East. The sections on Spartan slavery and how it meshed nearly seamlessly with Spartan attitudes on the upbringing of young males (especially the length passages on the "crypteia") really make history come alive.

I can't say enough good things about this book. Its superb reliance on primary sources, its terrific critical analysis of modern scholarly works, its heavy contextualization of slavery and slave-owning, its crisp and elegant writing, its no-nonsense and fact-based approach to sensitive topics: It is everything I wanted from a book about this important topic.