The Golden Age Of Ancient Athens Essay

In Athens, people became slaves through captivity on occasion, but most commonly through blood line. For instance, if a slave gives birth, that child will then, also, become a slave. William Westermann describes the ownership of slavery in Athens as being owned by families and individuals, not by the city-state as a whole. People in Sparta on the other hand became slaves primarily through being captured following battle. Spartan slaves, also known as helots, were, in contrast to Athenian slaves, held captive by

Thesis: The period between the Persian and Peloponnesian Wars can be considered the Golden Age of Athens. It was the golden age because Athens thrived in multiple characteristics of an empire. Context:

They imported many other good including slaves from Egypt and lots of Grain from the Black sea because the area around Athens was not very fertile and had many mountains. Last, trade was conducted Manly by citizens not the government which was more common at the time. Long distance trade was done by merchants on boats.

When you look at the word slavery most have this fixed characterization of the word and refer back to when Europeans enslaved Africans. If we look in ancient Greece times we see slavery was around for years. Not only do we see that slavery has been around for year we also see that there were many different uses of slavery and the meaning of slavery. For instances, the Greeks used slavery as reasoning for their actions. Also, people such as the Athenians used slavery as a word to describe people as someone who needed to be ruled. Greeks looked down upon other Greeks being used as slaves, when they were not enslaving them. During these ancient times, many tyrants had many slaves but these tyrants were very relatable to their subjects.

The Helots, who were very poor slaves, farmed for the rich and provided food for soldiers ( Kagan pg 3). Parthenon is one of Athens’ most prized buildings because of how many things happened in it ( University Press paragraph 2). A very bad disease broke out in the war and some of the important people died from it (University Press paragraph 2). The Athenian people saw that they should join the navy because it was a lot better that the infantry ( University Press paragraph 2). The Spartans were had a very good social structure that was dangerous to Athens ( Kagan Pg. 4).

If were not born in Athens could not become a citizen if ever immigrated there. If moved to Athens would have no equal rights. There are no opportunities for them to vote no matter how old they are. They are technically the men versions of women in Athens. Not just the immigrants the slaves are prohibited to participate in any government activities.

Secondly, slaves in Ancient Greece faced many struggles. As Aristotle said, the daily routine of slaves could be summed up in three words, "work, discipline, and feeding." Xenophon's advice is to treat slaves as domestic animals. That is to say punish disobedience and reward good behaviour. If they refused to work, their owner would hit them. Not only did slaves struggle with physical, mental, and emotional abuse, they suffered strict limitations in what they could and could not do. Slaves were not allowed to go out after dusk or before dawn without their owner. Some slaves could not even attend

There were a number of Roman laws regarding slavery, and these too, changed over time. In the Republican period, slaves had no rights and were always subject to the whims of their owners. They did have some legal standing, however. They were allowed to act as witnesses in trials, and could gain freedom either through their owner's gratitude after loyal service or by buying it through the meager earnings they might collect over a lifetime of service. For example, owners in the Republic had the right to kill or mutilate slaves at a whim, but later imperial laws took this right away, though in practice this law could be largely ignored. This represents how valued slaves were to the Roman people.

The exporting area of Athens economy reached then Sicily, Egypt, and the Black Sea. New monuments were built and the city experienced its first jump in culture and arts. Athens was also the prime fighter during the war with Persia. This war aided by the existence of democratic governing helped Athens become Greece's leading city and the center of an allied state.

De Fabianis, Valeria Manferto, ed. Ancient Rome: History of a Civilization that Ruled the World. New York: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 1996Grant, Michael. The Founders of the Western World: A History of Greece and Rome. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, Maxwell Macmillan Int., 1991Martin, Thomas R. Ancient Greece: From Prehistoric to Hellenistic Times. New Haven, Eng.: Yale University Press,

The contradictions in the document begin to arise following the third paragraph discussing the rights of a slave. Antiphon argues that after killing one of your own slaves, man becomes so scared “of the ordinances of god” that he must “purify himself” so that he will “best avoid disaster” (1). Here Antiphon essentially says that slaves were regarded on the same level as humans. However, in the following two paragraphs, this is contradicted by both Demosthenes and Aristotle. Demosthenes states that “the biggest difference” between a free man and a slave is that the latter is “made responsible for all his misdeeds” whilst “corporal punishment” would rarely happen to free men (1). Aristotle as well argues a slave is merely a “living possession” and is comparable to an “instrument which takes precedence of all other instruments” (1). As you can see from above, The ideas of Antiphon contradict the ideas of both Aristotle and Demosthenes, the initial arguing that slaves and free people had equal rights whilst the latter argued that slaves are valueless. Be it as it may, the views shed on slavery in this document are incredibly pertinent as it shows how a typical Greek looked at slaves during that time and what an important role they had in

Adding onto the point where slaves were put on the market like things, slaves were also discriminated due to their previous nationality. Both of these actions illustrate inhuman behaviour by the Ancient Romans. In addition to buying and selling slaves, there is one more option which tops off these poor choices. In Ancient Rome, one was also able to rent a slave. This is renting a human being. Renting tools or horses was ordinary but renting another person just exemplifies how Romans treated slaves as things, rather than people.

The last Olympic swimmer just touched the wall and the race has ended. Cameras are replaying every single movement from the race and a winner has been clearly decided. Just as these Olympic swimmers will gain a medal for placing, ancient Athens had numerous accomplishments of its own. Athens “prosperity … was due in large part to its stable and effective government” (SOURCE 1). When analyzing the history of ancient Athens, is easy to see how the accomplishments of a democracy, Greek philosophy, and Greek literature all shape Athens.

"Slaves are living tools" this is Aristotle defining what slaves are, and this is what they were used as by everyone, inside the house and out of it. Almost everyone in the ancient world had a slave or two, the only exception was with the poorest families. There was even slaves that owned their own slaves, usually only one of the opposite sex though so that they could have some semblance of a family. Pliny, a governor of a Roman province wrote to emperor Trajan asking if he should use the slaves as guards in a local prison or use soldiers or to mix them both in there. Pliny obviously trusted his slaves enough if he was willing

As theory cannot escape the social, economic and political of the time in which it was developed, one cannot truly consider critiquing Aristotle’s natural theory of slavery without some knowledge of slavery in Aristotle’s world. First and foremost, slavery was ubiquitous. Furthermore, they were employed not only as household servants and stewards, but in Aristotle’s Athens, they are worked in the fields, the mines, as craftsman, traders, secretaries, accountants, teachers, doctors, public servants, and participated in the arts. Hence they were indispensable for satisfying the needs of Athenians of even modest affluence. The perfect household was one that had slaves (Politics 1253b 4). Without their exploitation, the middle and upper classes’ good life would cease to exist. Moreover, the Aristotelian, ideal citizen would not be free to engage in the rational activities prescribed. While Aristotle’s defense of slavery can be considered morally repugnant to