Ethics of Ancient Greece and Rome by Probucka Dorota;

Author:Probucka, Dorota;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Peter Lang Copyright AG

2.1.4 Condemnation of slavery

Seneca was one of the few Roman philosophers to ever condemn slavery. He emphasized that slaves are human and should have human rights. In Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium, he wrote: “They are slaves. Nay, rather they are men. They are slaves. No, comrades. They are slaves. No, they are unpretentious friends. Kindly remember that he whom you call your slave sprang from the same stock, is smiled upon by the same skies, and on equal terms with yourself breathes, lives, and dies.”54 Whereas, in De Beneficiis the philosopher emphasized: “It is a mistake to imagine that slavery pervades a man’s whole being; the better part of him is exempt from it; the body indeed is subjected and in the power of a master, but the mind is independent.” “It is, therefore, only the body which misfortune hands over to a master, and which he buys and sells; this inward part cannot be transferred as a chattel.”55

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