Experiencing and Resisting Enslavement

The experience of enslavement affected a significant percentage of the population of ancient societies. Violence was undoubtedly the most significant form of enslavement, which could potentially affect anyone in ancient societies. The slave trade was a ubiquitous feature of ancient slave systems and a traumatic experience in the lives of many slaves. The experiences of enslavement were accompanied by the experiences of resistance. This chapter focuses on how slaves tried to escape the experience of enslavement; the various forms of escape involved considerable dangers and were often lethal. Revolts thus offer remarkable glimpses of the multiple identities of enslaved persons, the nature of their communities and leaders, and their hopes and aims. The chapter offers a rich collection of literary, epigraphic, papyrological, and archaeological sources, including many unfamiliar ones. It ranges chronologically from the archaic period to late antiquity, covering the whole of the Mediterranean, the Near East, and temperate Europe.