A Study Of The Relationship Between Manumitted Slaves And Ancient Greek Polis

The freeing of slaves was an act of voluntary release of slaves by their owners,a particular phenomenon in the development process of ancient Greek society.From the point of view of ancient Greek law and its popular consciousness,being freed from slavery meant freedom,equality and freedom from the control of others,the transition of a person from a state of total bondage to a state of complete freedom.But this was not the case in practice.The freed slave remained subordinate to his old master and had certain paramone obligations to him.A paramone obligation is a condition of service set by the master in his own effective interest,which allows him to do whatever he wishes with the exception of not being able to sell or re-enslaved.The duration of the obligation is entirely at the discretion of the master,ranging from a few years to a lifetime.Thus,a freed slave was neither a slave who was completely subject to his master,nor a Metics who enjoyed certain social rights.As a typical representative of ancient slavery in the world,the development of slavery in ancient Greece laid the foundation for the flourishing of democracy and economic prosperity in ancient Greece.As such,the study of slavery in ancient Greece has always been a focus of academic research.At the end of the last century,the release of slaves,an anomaly in slave societies,attracted the attention of the academic community,and an analysis of this phenomenon will allow us to better interpret the slavery system in ancient Greece.Based on literary and inscriptional sources related to freed slaves in ancient Greece,carefully examines the relationship between freed slaves,a marginalized group of people,and the polis society before and after their release,will help us to understand the act of freeing slaves in ancient Greece,and to gain a comprehensive and accurate understanding of the positive role played by freed slaves in alleviating social conflicts and promoting the development of slavery.Slaves had to obey their masters unconditionally until they were freed,as they could only establish an indirect link with polis society through the intermediary of their civil masters.They were seen as an instrument of the slave owner and the polis automatically equated what they did with what their master did.However,the fact that slaves did not have the right to participate in polis society did not mean that they really did not participate in polis society,only that this participation was not recognized by society.The status and position of slaves improved dramatically when they were freed.Although the vast majority of freed slaves in the polis were still subject to their former masters,their social status was lower than that of the citizens of the polis and the Gentiles,and they belonged to a marginal group in the polis society.However,they had the right to legal self-ownership and social participation,and were more involved in the social life of the polis.The participation of freed slaves in the society of the polis was mainly in four areas: political,economic,military and cultural.Firstly,politically,slaves had no political power before they were freed and could not participate in the political affairs of the polis.However,the situation changed after the release of the slaves,as the Agora created a public space for universal participation in politics,where politicians such as Pericles would give political speeches,which gave all ordinary freed slaves the opportunity to learn and discuss politics,and their political inclinations influenced the decisions of the polis.The depth and breadth of this political participation is well illustrated by the political jargon that came out of the mouths of the merchants,and by the fact that freed slaves gained citizenship of the polis.Secondly,economically,there was a fundamental difference between slaves and freed slaves,although both were engaged in commercial activities.Unlike freed slaves,who were always providing compulsory labor to their masters,it was their masters who were still involved in socio-economic activities at a social level,freed slaves were engaged in banking,commerce and industry,where they had property ownership and freedom to participate in socio-economic activities in an independent capacity,and could be found active in industry,retailing,entertainment,transport,domestic work and agriculture in the polis.A small number of them acquired substantial wealth through their abilities and greatly enhanced their social status.The banker Pasion was even granted Athenian citizenship by special dispensation.There was also a high level of military and cultural participation by freed slaves in the polis.Although historians have deliberately concealed the fact that freed slaves were involved in the military warfare of the polis,it is indisputable that due to the shortage of troops,they were incorporated into the military service in order to defend the interests of the polis during foreign campaigns.This can be seen in examples such as the Athenian perfumery slave release lawsuit,Demosthenes’ description of war preparations and the terminology used for them.Culturally,a number of outstanding freed slave philosophers such as Phaedo and Pion emerged in the ancient Greek polis,whose ideas fascinated the people of the polis at the time and who,by virtue of their philosophical attainments,not only successfully integrated themselves into the social life of the polis but also contributed to the development of ancient Greek philosophy.The participation of freed slaves in social and economic activities not only satisfies their survival needs,but also obtains a series of rights such as political participation,property ownership,religious rights,sexual freedom and marriage rights that slaves do not have,and to a certain extent realizes their value as human beings.The large number of freed slaves alleviated the class antagonism and class contradictions in ancient Greek society to a certain extent,and played the role of a social safety valve,which not only did not threaten the existence of slavery in ancient Greece,but also made slavery develop more permanently and steadily in ancient Greek society.