This is an authoritative and clearly written account of the mainissues involved in the study of Greek slavery from Homeric times to thefourth century BC. It provides valuable insights into the fundamentalplace of slavery in the economies and social life of classical Greece,and includes penetrating analyses of the widely-held ancientideological justifications of slavery. A wide range of topics iscovered, including the development of slavery from Homer to theclassical period, the peculiar form of community slaves (the helots)found in Sparta, economic functions and the treatment of slaves inAthens, and the evidence for slaves' resistance. Throughout the authorshows how political and economic systems, ideas of national identity,work and gender, and indeed the fundamental nature of Greekcivilisation itself, were all profoundly affected by the fact that manyof the Greek city-states were slave societies. With 12 illustrations.