ASPECTS OF SLAVERY IN LATE ANTIQUITY: Slavery in the Late Antique World, 150–700 ce. Pp. xx + 359, ills. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. Cased, £90, US$120. ISBN: 978-1-108-47622-5

Research output: Contribution to journalBook/Arts/Article reviewpeer-review

Abstract

In addition to Greek and Latin sources it adduces Syriac, Coptic and Arabic literary texts – some of which have never been studied before. [...]the volume exhibits not an overall appraisal of late antique slavery but a polyphony of regions, periods, ideological backgrounds, symbolic and moral values, cultures, and social and religious contexts of slavery. [...]Ramelli argues that the philosophical ascetics of Hellenistic Judaism related the progress of the soul to justice, solidarity and objection to the oppression of fellow human beings and to excessive wealth. Philo and Josephus ascribed these ideas to the Essenes and the Therapeutae – the only ones in pre-Christian antiquity who disavowed slavery. [...]as Ramelli points out, not all the strands of asceticism rejected slavery. [...]the views presented are mainly those of a religious and intellectual elite in the context of a Roman-Byzantine society, and the chapter examines and compares rules and moral recommendations but not actual practices.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)168-171
Number of pages4
JournalThe Classical review
Volume74
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2024

Keywords

  • Slavery
  • Young adults
  • Sacred music
  • Church music
  • Literature
  • Bible
  • Christianity
  • Hymns
  • Inscriptions
  • Judaism
  • Arabic language
  • Clergy
  • Sermons

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