Comment on It is crazy how Whitewashed the practice of roman slavery has become
PugJesus@piefed.social 1 day agoThis kind of slave contract was closer to being a sort of patronage and people with high social status but little wealth often sold themselves to wealthy families they had social connections to. The philosopher Diogenes did this and it shaped the way he viewed Roman slavery
That would be remarkable considering that Diogenes of Sinope was enslaved after being captured by pirates and sold to fellow Greeks.
Schmoo@slrpnk.net 23 hours ago
You probably know more about it than me, I’m just repeating it how I heard it. My understanding is that Diogenes sold himself to a wealthy family who admired him for his philosophy and wanted him to teach their kids. This was before he decided to live on the street in a clay pot, and after he fled the previous city he lived in due to being caught committing fraud (counterfeiting coins).
PugJesus@piefed.social 23 hours ago
I think you’re confusing the order of events. Diogenes, after he was captured and enslaved by pirates, when he was being sold as a slave, at the slave market, picked out a buyer, and convinced the man to buy him as a teacher, presumably to avoid being sold to a less-survivable fate.
Schmoo@slrpnk.net 22 hours ago
Ah, that makes sense. Even more hypocritical of him then to suggest slaves shouldn’t try to free themselves. He leveraged his privilege to obtain a favorable outcome for himself and then allowed that experience to paint the way he viewed the institution of slavery as a whole.
PugJesus@piefed.social 22 hours ago
I also don’t remember him advising slaves not to free themselves.