Reading Ancient Slavery

Studies of ancient slavery have tended to rely on particular types of evidence – inscriptions, legal sources, and historical accounts – whereas literary imaginings of slavery have been relatively under-exploited. Yet these sources illuminate for us the ideologies that allowed slavery to be practised throughout antiquity with virtually no opposition and further to understand how and why slavery was debated and, to some extent, experienced by Greeks and Romans. This volume provides a sustained discussion of the theory and practice of handling ancient literature and art in order to enhance our understanding of ancient slavery.

Twelve essays by an international team of specialists develop a variety of theoretical positions, reading practices and interpretive strategies for recovering the psychological and social impact of ancient slavery from Homer, Aristotle, Greek drama, visual images, Roman poetry and imperial Roman dream interpretation.