Reading Ancient Slavery

Evidence relating to the 'real world' of antiquity - inscriptions, historiography and legal speeches - has dominated studies of ancient Greek and Roman slavery, although providing few direct accounts by slaves of their subjective experiences. Yet the imaginative fictions produced by the ancient psyche in its literature and art provide many representations and discussions of what it felt like to be a slave. This volume provides a sustained discussion of the theory and practice of handling ancient poetry and images in order to enhance our understanding of the way that slavery was experienced by both slaves and their owners in the ancient world. Twelve essays by an international team of specialists develop a variety of theoretical positions, reading practices and interpretive strategies for recovering the psychological, emotional and social impact of ancient slavery from Homer, Aristotle, Greek drama, visual images, Roman poetry and imperial Roman dream interpretation.