i think the central thing for alother business would be how antoine interposed, how resolved were the ideas of y. i might just as well come out with the contention that is probably in the back of the mind of every ancient historian working out there. And this isi is a passage shown from an article by moses finley, who was the individual who probably influenced the study of ancient slavery more than any one else in the second half of the twentieth century. For greek history, he was a greek histrorian, primarily, there is an advance hand in hand of slavery and freedom. This also applies to the roman world. So ye can see this very
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the role of slavery in the Roman world, from its early conquests to the fall of the Western Empire.
The system became so entrenched that no-one appeared to question it, following Aristotle's view that slavery was a natural state. Whole populations could be marched into slavery after military conquests, and the freedom that Roman citizens prized for themselves, even in poverty, was partly defined by how it contrasted with enslavement. Slaves could be killed or tortured with impunity, yet they could be given great responsibility and, once freed, use their contacts to earn fortunes. The relationship between slave and master informed early Christian ideas of how the faithful related to God, informing debate for centuries.
With
Neville Morley
Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Exeter
Ulrike Roth
Senior Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Edinburgh
And
Myles Lavan
Senior lecturer in Ancient History at the University of St Andrews
Producer: Simon Tillotson.