Chapter 8 Summary and Analysis

The years of the Peloponnesian War bring changes to Athens and Greece. The population grows, and the shift in agricultural production away from grain is complete. Athens is now completely dependent on grain imports. There is greater reliance on the slave-operated silver mines and urban craft industries to produce the necessary revenues. This means that there has to be an increase in the slave population. In order to foster productivity, there is also an accompanying increase in manumission, since this is the only way the society can attain the output it needs to survive. This serves as an impetus for the inception of freedom as a social value. Manumission is accomplished by the slave saving enough to pay for his replacement slave. One of the ways of motivating the slave to be productive is to allow the slave to keep some...