The Politics of Slavery in the Greek Household

Houseborn slaves, called Waco-genice, often constituted a privileged class. They were entrusted to escort the young citizen children in their travels as a pedagogus or a leader of children. Xenophon and his Oikonomicus confirms the presence of dozens of slaves working on the estates of one wealthy owner. But there is little evidence that the Greeks depended on slavery for their primary means of agricultural production.