The following paper is based on eight opisthographic fragments
as assembled and published by D.M. Lewis in Hesperia XXVIII (1959)
- IG II² 1554-59 and Ag. I 3183 - and Hesperia XXXVII (1968) -
Ag. I 4763. Although the existing text is fragmentary, much of it
remains intact and is legible. Both faces of the stele consist of
entries recording the results of fictitious trials for
abandonment, in which, in every case, chattel slaves were
acquitted from their masters and given metic status. Along with
each acquittal, there was a payment of a phiale worth one-hundred
drachmas.
This stele now stands as the most complete manumission document
surviving from ancient Athens and its existence compels us to ask
many more questions than can perhaps be answered. Manumissions
were exceedingly uncommon at Athens, as attested by the near
absence of literary and epigraphical evidence for them, and it is
unclear why such a document would appear suddenly, having no
predecessors, save for a few fragments found to be from around the
same period, never to be followed by further evidence of its kind.
Why would it have been necessary to simultaneously manumit so
many slaves in the last quarter of the fourth century? Surely, it
wasn't to honour them, judging from the format of the entries.
What, then, was the purpose? With this question in mind, the
following topics were explored. Chapter one focused on the legal
aspects of the document such as what was meant by the apophugon
procedure and who paid for the phiale. Chapter two involved
charting the deme-distribution of the former masters and slaves,
with the purpose of finding a general area of domicile. for those
named on the document. The third chapter discussed the various
occupations listed in conjunction with the former slaves, with the
ultimate motive of finding what types of slaves were being
released and what this might reveal about the document's purpose.
The following conclusions were formed: the slave probably bore
the responsibility for the payment of his release, which here took
the form of a phiale. Based on Plato's reference to paramone
agreements in Laws 915a, it is viable that such agreements were
practiced at Athens and, furthermore, that .they were similar to
those found at Delphi. The deme-distribution of both the former
masters and slaves provides evidence that the majority probably
had domiciles in city-demes. Lastly, the fact that the highest
percentage of former slaves were involved in wool-working and
domestic-service lends some credence to the slaves' manumissions
having been based upon something other than solely the attainment
of freedom. These slaves would have been virtually unskilled and,
therefore, the cheapest for the masters to release. As for the
other more skilled slaves listed, they would almost certainly have
been living-apart, already in a. quasi-free state.
In essence, these slaves appear to have been token
manumissions, although their new legal status is indisputable,
assembled from the more politically active city-dwellers, whose
purpose was to allow the state to gather revenue for the oncoming
and inevitable war with Macedon. This revenue took the initial
form of phialai payments and then, subsequently, the perpetual
metoikion payments, required of every metic.
The text of the inscription, as published by D.M. Lewis (1959
and 1968), along with his assembly of the fragments, is included.
I have also written an English translation. Charts and maps of the
former masters' and slaves' deme distribution and slave
occupations are also included, as well as an appendix on slave
names.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/12749 |
| Date | 11 1900 |
| Creators | Joss, Kelly L. |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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