On the outskirts of the Roman Empire lived the so-called "barbarian" tribes. Romans were called barbarians by all Negroes and non-Romans. The most numerous were the tribes of Slavs, Celts and Germans. By the common name of the Germans, the Romans meant all the peoples living east of the Rhine, between the Alps and the North Sea.
In general, during the time of Caesar , the Germans did not have a common political system, but we can talk about the characteristic features of the social structure, which certainly refers to slavery . The Old Germanic tribe usually consisted of free tribe members (leaders, elders, priests, warriors, freedmen, women) and slaves . Free Germans differed in their property status, owning one or another number of slaves, weapons, and other property. The bulk of the work fell on the shoulders of women and slaves. Free Germans used slaves as pack animals, slaughtered for sacrifices , burned at the stake or buried in the same grave with the master: clear indications of these facts can be found in German mythology.
Content
- 1 Varieties of ancient German slaves
- 2 Features of the appearance of the ancient German slave
- 3 Features of Old German Slavery
- 4 Literature
Varieties of Ancient German Slaves
The " Germany " of Tacitus depicts slavery in a very mild form - compared, at least, with ancient slavery . True, it happens that "the master kills his slaves, but this happens only in a fit of anger" and, moreover, quite rarely. The German economic slaves — essentially serf peasants — for the most part conducted independent farming on the lands of the lord, only being obliged to bring in a well-known quitrent to the lord — grain, cattle, and clothes. They were attached not so much to the personality of the master as to the earth.
Another variety is home slaves for services in the master’s house, but their number was not large, and the Germans were still at that stage of development when there was no too sharp demarcation between the slave and the master - and in the external position, in thoughts, and in feelings lines. Under such conditions, slavery is usually mild.
In addition to prisoners of war, slaves could be Germans deprived of their liberty, including those who lost their freedom in the bones; debts were also the cause of slavery. The Germans, who lost their freedom, were in a hurry, however, to get their hands off somewhere further, since it was dangerous to keep them at home. The latter circumstance indicates the existence of the slave trade , but there is no direct information about it.
Features of an Old German Slave
The Roman historian Tacitus (circa 98 CE) reports that in appearance slaves differed from free people: they had no right to wear long hair, and their clothes differed from free clothes. The existence of the numerous ceremonies and formulas that accompanied the liberation from slavery prove that it happened often. Freedmen held a very low social position and did not play any role in political life.
Features of Old German Slavery
The peculiarity of ancient German slavery, which consisted in endowing a slave with a plot of land, during the era of the “invasion of barbarians” and the decomposition of the Roman Empire, significantly contributed to the development of the aforementioned merger of casati slaves with the colonies. The process of transforming the Roman urban culture into a village one with a predominance of small-scale peasant farming, made dependent on the master, which took place at that time, led to the extreme restriction of slavery and the concentration of it, and even then on a very small scale, in the walls of the house. By the XIII century. almost throughout Western Europe, these remnants of slavery also disappear. Only in Spain, as a result of constant relations with Muslims, did slave trade continue until the sixteenth century, when, with the opening of the New World and the formation of colonies, slavery flourished once again with all its horrors and harmful effects on civilization. In addition to Spain, in the Middle Ages there were markets for the slave trade in Italy, mainly in Rome, where the Venetians bought white for resale to Muslims.
Literature
- Vasilievsky M.G. , Lipovsky A.L. , Turaev B.A. Slavery // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.