(urth) 5HC : Free People

[Georg Schönegger]

> In the Soldier books I am willing to grant Wolfe may be making a slightly
> stronger point than even Crush generously allows, and that is the historical
> one I mentioned earlier: rebuilding an army was much easier in those times
> than now (the weapons were simpler), and to have long-term security against
> a defeated enemy you had to somehow remove their ability to rebuild. This
> meant either mass slaughter or forced relocation and/or slavery. It can be
> argued that slavery at that time was the more humane option.
 
Since slaves often became part of the owners' economy (or military), it
could be argued that the relations were in fact two-edged. During the
growth of the Roman Empire, it became more and more dependend on
slave-labor. In fact, in later centuries, big parts of the Roman economy
were run by ex-slaves. The nobility's children were educated by (greek)
slaves.
"Slavery is a mode of cultural transmission", says Kenneth Toomey in
"Earthly Powers", and it's a fact. So, while accepting the moral evil in
slavery, we still may look at the factual relations between owner(s) and
owned as a little more complex.

Georg