Catherine Hezser
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199280865
- eISBN:
- 9780191712852
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199280865.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE, Asian and Middle Eastern History: BCE to 500CE
Probably at all times, a large proportion of slaves was employed in the domestic service, ‘for, by and large, personal servants were always slaves’. The number of domestic slaves employed in a ...
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Probably at all times, a large proportion of slaves was employed in the domestic service, ‘for, by and large, personal servants were always slaves’. The number of domestic slaves employed in a household depended on the householder's wealth. While rich Greeks and Romans had hundreds or even thousands of household slaves, smaller numbers of servants were probably found in the houses of the less well-to-do as well. Especially in late antiquity, when the employment of slaves in agriculture seems to have declined, slaves were still found in the domestic sphere, where they remain predominant. In Roman-Byzantine times, from the second to the 5th century CE, slaves are mostly represented in the epigraphy of the cities and were employed in the domestic service, in crafts, and in administrative positions.Less
Probably at all times, a large proportion of slaves was employed in the domestic service, ‘for, by and large, personal servants were always slaves’. The number of domestic slaves employed in a household depended on the householder's wealth. While rich Greeks and Romans had hundreds or even thousands of household slaves, smaller numbers of servants were probably found in the houses of the less well-to-do as well. Especially in late antiquity, when the employment of slaves in agriculture seems to have declined, slaves were still found in the domestic sphere, where they remain predominant. In Roman-Byzantine times, from the second to the 5th century CE, slaves are mostly represented in the epigraphy of the cities and were employed in the domestic service, in crafts, and in administrative positions.
