26 Serfdom in Greek states 



The oft-quoted scolion of the Cretan Hybrias illustrates the point 

 of view of the warrior class in more military communities. His wealth 

 is in sword spear and buckler. It is with these tools that he does his 

 ploughing reaping or vintage. That is, he has command of the labour 

 of others, and enjoys their produce. We shall speak below of the well- 

 known lords and serfs of Crete. 



VI. TRACES OF SERFDOM IN GREEK STATES. 



Before passing on to the times in which the merits of a free farmer- 

 class, from military and political points of view, became a matter of 

 general and conscious consideration, it is desirable to refer briefly to 

 the recorded cases of agricultural serfdom in Greek states. For the 

 rustic serf is a type quite distinct from the free farmer, the hired 

 labourer, or the slave; though the language of some writers is loose, 

 and does not clearly mark the distinction. Six well-known cases pre- 

 sent themselves, in connexion with Sparta, Crete, Argos, Thessaly, 

 Syracuse, and Heraclea on the Pontus. Into the details of these systems 

 it is not necessary to enter, interesting though many of them are. The 

 important feature common to them all is the delegation of agricultural 

 labour. A stronger or better-organized people become masters of a 

 weaker population, conquering their country by force of arms, and 

 sparing the conquered on certain terms. The normal effect of the com- 

 pact is that the conquerors are established as a ruling warrior class, 

 whose subsistence is provided by the labour of the subject people. 

 These subjects remain on the land as farmers, paying a fixed quota 

 of their produce to their masters. Some are serfs of the state, and pay 

 their dues to the state authorities : some are serfs of individuals, and 

 pay to their lords. In either case they are strictly attached to the land, 

 and cannot be sold out of the country. This clearly marks off the serf 

 from the slave held in personal bondage. In some cases certainly, 

 probably in all, the warrior class (at least the wealthier of them) had 

 also slaves for their own personal service. The serf-system differs from 

 a caste-system. Both, it is true, are hereditary systems, or have a strong 

 tendency to become so. The ruling class do not easily admit deserving 

 subjects into their own ranks. And they take precautions to hinder 

 the degradation of their equals into lower conditions through poverty. 

 The warrior's land-lot ( K \apo<i), the sale of which is forbidden, is a 

 favourite institution for the purpose. That such warrior aristocracies 

 could not be kept up in vigour for an indefinite time, was to be proved 

 by experience. Their duration depended on external as well as in- 

 ternal conditions. Hostile invasion might destroy the efficiency of state 



