The invention of ancient slavery / Niall McKeown.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

McKeown, Niall.

Series:

Duckworth classical essays

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slavery--Greece.

Slavery.

Greece.

Slavery--Rome.

Physical Description:

174 pages ; 22 cm.

Place of Publication:

London : Duckworth, 2007.

Summary:

Slavery was a key part of ancient society. Historians' reconstructions of the lives of ancient Greek and Roman slaves have varied significantly, however, not just over time, but even between different countries today. This book samples some of the different modern approaches to ancient slavery available to scholars and students. It explores what such differences in approach imply for those trying to discover the 'reality' of ancient slave life. It also explores some of the most important evidence surviving on ancient slavery (particularly Roman slavery), including ancient drama, legal regulations, poetry, letters, philosophy, inscriptions and the work of Greek and Roman historians. In so doing it raises key questions about how modern historians attempt to access the past through such material. What impact does the nature of the evidence have upon their work? To what extent do our modern preconceptions inform and affect our reading of the key ancient sources?

Contents:

1 The Changing Face of Roman Slavery 11

2 Ancient Slavery and Modern Geography 30

3 Struggling with Class: Shtaerman, Trofimova and a Marxist View of Roman Slavery 52

4 Keith Bradley: Passionate about Slavery 77

5 'I too want to tell a story...': Some Modern Literary Scholars and Ancient Slavery 97

6 A Scientific Approach to Ancient Slavery? 124

7 The Greeks Do It (a Bit) Better: The Opportunities of Silence 141.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780715631850

0715631853

OCLC:

50301089