SLAVE. 



Juftinian, InR. i. 3, 4. whence flavei are called mancifia 

 qtiajl tminu captl. . 



The conqueror, fay the civilians, had a right to the lite 

 of liis captive ; and having fpared that, has a right to deal 

 with him as he pleafes. But this pofition, taken generally, 

 is denied by judge Blackftone ; who obferves, that a man 

 has a right to kill his enemy only in cafes of abfolute necef- 

 fity, for felf-defence : and, it is plain, this abfolute necei- 

 fity did not fubfilt, fince the viftor did not kill him, but 

 made him prifoner. Since, therefore, the right of making 

 ihves by captivity depends on a fuppofed right of flaughter, 

 that foundation failing, the confequence drawn from it muft 

 fail likewife. Farther, it is faid that (lavery may begin 

 "jure civili," when one man fells himfelf to another; but 

 this, when applied to llrid flavery, in the fenfe of the laws 

 of old Rome or modern Barbary, is alfo impoffible. Every 

 fale implies a price, a quid pro quo, an equivalent given to 

 the feller in lieu of what he transfers to the buyer ; but 

 what equivalent can be given for life and liberty, both of 

 which, in abfolute Oavery, are held to be at the matter's 

 difpofal ? His property, alfo, the very price he feems to 

 receive, devolves ipfo faHo to his mafter the inftant he be- 

 comes his Have : and befides, if it be not lawful for a man 

 to kill himfelf, becauie he robs his country of his perlon, 

 for the fame reafon he is not allowed to barter his freedom : 

 the freedom of every citizen conltitutes a part of the pubhc 

 liberty. In this cafe, therefore, the buyer gives nothing, 

 and the feller receives nothing ; of what validity then can a 

 fale be, which deitroys the very principles upon which all 

 fales are founded ? Laftly, we are told, that befides thefe 

 two ways by which flaves " fiunt," or are acquired, they 

 may alfo be hereditary, " fervi nafcuntur ;" the children of 

 acquired flaves are, jure nature, by a negative kind of birth- 

 right, flaves alfo ; but this being founded on the two former 

 rights, muft fall together with them. If neither captivity, 

 nor the fale of one's felf, can, by the law of nature and rea- 

 fon, reduce the parent to flavery, much lefs can they reduce 

 the offspring. Blackft. Comm. b. i. c. 14. Montefquieu's 

 Spirit of Laws, b. 15. c. 2, &c. 



The Lacedxmonians, fay fome, or, as others fay, the Af- 

 fyrians, firft introduced the praftice ; which the Romans not 

 only approved of, but they even invented new manners of 

 making flaves ; for initance, a man born free among them 

 might fell his freedom, and become a flave. This voluntary 

 flavery was lirll introduced by a decree of the fenate, in the 

 time of the emperor Claudius, and at length was abrogated 

 by Leo. 



The Romans had power of life and death over their 

 flaves, which no other nations had ; but this feverity was 

 afterwards moderated by the laws of the emperors ; and by 

 one of Adrian it was made capital to kill a flave without a 

 caufe. 



The flaves were efteemed the proper goods of their maf- 

 tere, and all they got belonged to them : but if the mailer 

 were too cruel in his domeftic correftions, he was obliged to 

 IcU his flave at a moderate price. 



The cuftom of expofing old, ufelefs, or fick flaves in an 

 ifland of the Tyber, there to ftarve, feems to have been 

 pretty common in Rome ; and whoever recovered, after 

 having been fo expofed, had his liberty given him, by an 

 cdift of the emperor Claudius, in which it was likewife for- 

 bidden to kill any flave merely for old age or iicknefs. 

 (Suet, in Claud.) Neverthelefs, it was the profelfed maxim 

 of the elder Cato, to fell his fuperannuated flaves for any 

 price, rather than maintain what he deemed an ufelefs bur- 

 den. (Plut. in Caton.) The ergaltula, or dungeons, 

 where fl«ves in chains were forced to work, were very com- 



mon all over Italy. Columella (I. i. c. 6. ) advifes that tbey 

 be always built under ground ; and recommends it as the 

 duty of a careful overfeer, to call over every day the names of 

 thefe flaves, in order to know when any ot them had de- 

 ferted. Sicily was full of ergallula, and was cultivated by 

 labourers in chains. Eunus and Athenio excited the fervile 

 war, by breaking up thefe monllrous prifons, and giving 

 liberty to 60,000 flaves. 



In the ancient and uncivilized ages of the world, " pirscy" 

 was regarded as an honourable praflice ; and this was fup- 

 pofed to give a right of making flaves. " The Grecians," 

 fays Thucydides (1. i.) " in their primitive ftate, as well as 

 the contemporary barbarians, who inhabited the fea-coafts 

 and iflands, addifted themfelves wholly to it : it was, in 

 fhort, their only profeffion and fupport." The writings of 

 Homer are fufiicient to ellabhfli this account ; as they (hew 

 that this was a common praftice at fo early a period as that 

 of the Trojan war. The reputation which piracy feems to 

 have acquired among the ancients, was owing to the (kill, 

 llrength, agility, and valour, which were neceflary for con- 

 ■dufting it with fuccefs ; and the erroneous notions that were 

 thus entertained concerning it led to other confequences, im- 

 mediately connedled with the flavery of the human fpecies. 

 Avarice and ambition availed themfelves of thefe millaken 

 notions ; and people were robbed, llolen, and even murder- 

 ed, under the pretended idea that thefe were reputable ad- 

 ventures. But in proportion as men's fentiments and man- 

 ners became more refined, the praftice of piracy lolt its 

 reputation, and began gradually to difappear. The prac- 

 tice, however, was found to be lucrative ; and it was con- 

 tinued, with a view to the emolument attending it, long after 

 itceafed to be thought honourable, and when it was finking 

 into difgrace. The profits arifing from the fale of flaves 

 prefented a temptation which avarice and intereft could not 

 refill ; many were ftolen by their own countrymen, and 

 fold for flaves ; and merchants traded on the different coafts 

 in order to facihtate the difpofal of this article of commerce. 

 The merchants of Theffaly, if we may credit Ariltophanes, 

 (Plut. Aft ii. Se. 5.) who never fpared the vices of the 

 times, were particularly infamous for this latter kind of de- 

 predation ; the Athenians were notorious for the former ; 

 for they had praftifed thefe robberies to fuch an alarming 

 degree of danger to individuals, that it was found necef- 

 fary to enaft a law, which punifhed kidnappers with death. 

 From the above (latement it appears, that among the an- 

 cients there were two clalTes of involuntary flaves ; one con- 

 filling of thofe who were taken pubhcly in a ftate of war ; 

 and another compofed of thofe who were privately if olen in 

 a ftate of peace. To which might be added a third clafs, 

 comprehending the children and defcendants of the former. 



The condition of flaves, and their perfonal treatment, 

 were fufficiently humiliating and grievous ; and may well 

 excite our pity and abhorrence. They were beaten, ft arved, 

 tortured, and murdered at difcretion ; they were dead in a 

 civil fenfe ; they had neither name nor tribe ; they were in- 

 capable of judicial procefs ; and they were, in fnort, with- 

 out appeal. To this cruel treatment, however, there were 

 fome exceptions. The Egyptian flave, though perhaps a 

 greater drudge than any other, yet if he had time to reach 

 the temple of Hercules (Herodotus, I. ii. 143- )> f>jund a 

 certain retreat from the perfecution of his mafter ; and he 

 derived additional comfort from the refleftion that his life 

 could not be taken with impunity. But no place was fo 

 favourable to flaves as Athens. Here they were allowed a 

 greater liberty of fpeech ; they had their convivial meet- 

 ings, their amours, their hours of relaxation, pleafantry, 

 and mirth ; they were treated in iuch a manner as to war- 

 rant 



