Athens Democracy is based on slavery
September 27, 2023 14:40 Source: "China Social Sciences" September 27, 2023 Issue 2744 Author: Yan Shaoxiang

As early as 1959,Finish asserts,slavery is the basic factors in ancient Greek civilization,and notice,In ancient Greece,The city -state with the highest degree of free development of citizens,It is also the most developed city -state,Ru Kaise、Athens, etc.。He further pointed out in the later published monograph "Ancient slavery and modern ideology",Ancient Greek Roman World as the main sign of slave society,It is the main worker of slaves to become large production。This is exactly the same as that of Marxist ancient historian De Sheng Cruwa,The latter thinks,In ancient Greece,Land is the most important social wealth,The rich relied on slave labor to obtain the remaining value。Since the big real estate owner is generally the richest person,equivalent to saying that slaves are the main labor for large production。

Before them,Jones once argued,Under the democratic politics of Athens,The real rich is just a minority,Some so -called rich people,Family property may not exceed one Tatrant,Some may only be 20-30 Ming Na,can only maintain a more decent life。The so -called huge rich,Only about 300 people in Athens,only about 1.5%of the total citizens。If the public welfare donation,Those families with only 1 Tatanta,The pressure is quite large。and according to his estimation,The 4th century BC Athens slaves about 20,000 people,Most of them are concentrated in the rich home。Athens is mostly a small owner of the family,No slave,It is also not directly related to slavery。Although bet365 live casino games Jones's estimation is not completely reasonable,It is generally believed that the slavery of Athens was far more than 20,000 at that time,But most scholars agree that most of the citizens of Athens may not have slaves。Starr also tried to demonstrate,From Euphrates to Northern England,The most important labor force in ancient society in various places,All free small producers。So,Does this mean that the majority of the poverty of the citizen really have nothing to do with slavery,Athens democracy is just the democracy of small producers?

I am afraid it is not that simple。In Aristofen's comedy "Women's Citizen Conference",When the character Bulfelos is worried,Once women are in power,Who will plant land for them in the future,The protagonist Para -Parapasgola blurted out: "Let the slaves go,You only need to care about one thing everyday: the sun falls mountain,You can dress up,Go to find a friend to drink。After women are in power,Para Passor also mentioned,After women are in power,Society will enter the equality of men and women、The ideal era of equality of everyone,At that time, not only everyone would be full of clothing,And there will be no "some people slaves group,Other people have no slaves ".。It seems that in the minds of this comedy writer,If the ruler in the ideal society does not use labor,That's because all the labor is borne by the slave。Of course,Aristinfen is a comedy writer,How credible is his material,worth doubt,And his impact on the public opinion of the Athens is not very obvious,Because it was in the age of his criticism of Clang,Athens often elected the latter as the general。

Comparison for comparison,Aristotle's testimony is more weight。He attaches great importance to experience bet365 live casino games and facts,Can reflect the general views of the Greeks。When discussing the origin of the city -state system in "Political Science",He first talked about politicians、Monarch、The difference between parents and masters。Any country must be a combination of ruler and the ruler。The rulers are those who can plan,The ruler is the person who works with the body,The latter is naturally slave。This sentence can't help but remind people of the distinction between Roman France to people: mortals are not freelancers,is slave。Special parts of the city -state,It is that it is a citizen group that is sufficient to achieve self -sufficient and self -sufficient citizen。Because citizens cannot be the rulers at the same time,Generally adopt a method of governance,Let citizens take turns into the ruler and the ruler。In the family,Women are different from slaves,Because the woman is the partner of the husband,Two people operate a family together,Need to give your wife the necessary respect。Slave is different,They are barbarians in their nature,Husband or parent is the owner in front of them,Can exercise autocracy。If there are no slaves at home in the poor people,Niu replaces the role of slave。

The records of historians may be more practical,Especially when these records are objective、Reliably -known hands of Xiu Xidida。This historian mentioned,After the Sicilian Expedition launched in 415 BC,Sparta sent troops to the northern Fortress of Etika to wear Kaeaa。During this period,Athens lost many assets such as animals,Among them, 20,000 slaves escape。He talks about,Most of these people are technical craftsmen。We have reason to express doubts about Bet365 lotto review the number "20,000",Because the Sparta and its allies were unlikely at the time,Xiu Xidid himself is even more unlikely to set up a checkpoint at the border to register all the escape slaves,Then I accurately know how many slaves to escape at that time at that time。But Xiu Xidid escaped the slaves and other sufferings that the Athens afforded at the time: unable to cultivate land、Lost a large number of livestock、All feeding can only be transported from Youbeiya Island.,It shows that this is a big impact on Athens,It also shows that the slavery at Athens at that time far exceeded 20,000 people,There is also a significant value of slave labor to the Athens economy。

Se Nonfin's opinion proves to some extent that we have a certain reasonable interpretation of Xiuqibid。When talking about how to increase the income of Athens,The first method he thought of,It is invested by the state to purchase slaves,Divided into 10 tribes respectively,Let the slaves explore the silver mine。As long as there is a tribe slave can find something,The entire country will benefit。If there are extra slavery,It can also be rented by the state to earn rent。To refute those inadequate national funds of Athens,It is impossible to come up with the opinions of buying a lot of money to buy a large amount of slaves,Sonor Suggestion,When the funds are insufficient,You can buy 1200 slaves first,Buy more slaves with rents earned from them,So 5-6 years later,The number of slaves will reach about 6,000 people,At that time, the annual rental income will reach 60 Tabat。Even if 40 Tabant is bleached normally,The remaining 20 Tarant can still be used to buy more slaves。This loop is going on,Slave can reach 10,bet365 Play online games 000 people in a few years。At that time, the 10,000 slaves were rented at that time,The country can get 100 Tabantan income every year。

The above materials indicate,Athens in the classical era,Almost everyone treats slavery as a natural existence。This mentality itself,enough to show that slavery was quite common at the time。In historical reality,Slave distributed in all areas of social production,From family to farm,From mine to fleet,From the urban market to the battlefield,Slave figures almost everywhere。Even the so -called police officer in the Athens country,It is also fully charged by 300 Xixu Ya slaves。and the impression given us by classical writers,Indeed with the mainstream opinion of Western scholars: slaves are mainly concentrated in the rich home。Three examples of Snuofen's cited: Nicias、Hipponovis and Fieremini rented 1,000 places、600 and 300 slaves,You can be sure that they are all the rich in Athens,And the poor may be said as Aristotle said,Only cultivating cattle as slaves。

But,ordinary people and poor people do not directly have slaves,Never mean that they really have nothing to do with slavery,It does not mean that they have not benefited from slave labor。On the one hand,Plato once said,All citizens are united,Co -monitor slaves,Therefore, whether these people realize,They all have a good citizen,It constitutes the city -state citizen community in the mind of Aristotle。Comparison of groups such as foreigners and slaves are excluded from the citizen team,Citizens are undoubtedly in a privilege。As for the number of slaves,There must be a large difference in different periods。The Berricley era in the middle and late 5th century BC bet365 best casino games is a period with the largest number of slaves。It's just that there are differences in the estimation of the scholars,Among them, the highest consideration is 200,000 people,The total number of liberals is generally the same,The lowest is 50,000 to 60,000 people,About a quarter to one -sixth of the total population of Athens。Even the lowest estimate,On average, there are more than one slave every citizen。to the 4th century BC,The number of slaves in Athens may decline。But as Finish criticized Jones,Even at that time, there were only 20,000 slaves at Athens at that time,Because there were only 20,000 citizens at the time of Athens,On average, each citizen still has a slave。

On the other hand,Public Welfare Donation System of Athens,Let the rich have a relatively many obligations。On the surface,The rich people bear the obligations of capital contribution。For example,During the drama competition,The rich people invest in writers and actors; during the state of the state fiscal crisis,The rich must bear the temporary war tax;,Also contributed to maintaining warships。In some city -state,For example, Athens before 483 BC,The state sometimes distributes income directly to citizens。These income,or mine from the country,or land leased from the state,Among them,A considerable part is slave。Some city -states directly organize certain projects,Some are undertaken by the rich to bear engineering expenses。The cost required,At least part of the income created by slaves。So,Even the poorest citizen,It also obtained this or that benefits from slave labor。

Generally speaking,Athens citizens benefit from slavery to varying degrees,bet365 Play online games and enjoy their "freedom"。In ancient Greek,The original meaning of freedom is a status that is relative to slaves。"Liberty means that one is independent of others,Slave indicates that he belongs to others。Freedom and slavery are a set of relative concepts,If you don't realize this opposition,Can't understand it。"Ancient Greeks invented freedom,At the same time, slavery。In this sense,,Athens Democracy is based on slavery。

 bet365 Play online games

(The author is a professor at the School of History of the Capital Normal University)

Editor in charge: Zhang Jing
QR code icon 2.jpg
Key recommendation
The latest article
Graphics
bet365 live casino games
Video

Friendship link:

Website filing number: Jinggong.com Anmi 11010502030146 Ministry of Industry and Information Technology:

All rights reserved by China Social Sciences Magazine shall not be reprinted and used without permission

General Editor Email: zzszbj@126.com This website contact information: 010-85886809 Address: Building 11-12, Building 1, Building, No. 15, Guanghua Road, Bet365 lotto review Chaoyang District, Beijing: 100026