Slavery in Dacia

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Slavery in Dacia was widespread both among the Dacian and Getae tribes and after the Roman conquest of Dacia.

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Slave trade

There is limited evidence of slaves being used in the economic system of the Dacians. [1] The lower classes of Dacia (comati) were free men; however, the widespread warfare in the region made it one of the most important sources of slaves for the Roman and Greek world, [1] with which they engaged in slave trade.

Herodotus wrote that the Thracians (which he considered to include the Getae) sold their children in slavery to traders. [2] Polybius wrote that the Greeks brought slaves "of best quality" from the peoples living on the shores of the Black Sea. [3]

During the late Roman Republic (roughly between 130 BC and 31 BC), large numbers of Roman denarii were imported into Dacia. [4] There are over 25,000 such coins in Romanian collections, most of which were found in large hoards, a far higher number than anywhere outside the Roman Empire. [4] An explanation for this large amount of imported Roman silver would be that the Dacians exported large numbers of slaves to Rome. [4] Based on the number of coins, Michael Crawford estimated in 1977 that perhaps as many as 30,000 slaves were exported each year to Rome between mid-60s and 30s BC. [4]

Notes

  1. 1 2 Oltean, Ioana A. (2007-08-14). Dacia: Landscape, Colonization and Romanization (1 ed.). London; New York: Routledge. p. 114. ISBN   9780415412520.
  2. Herodotus, V
  3. Polybius, IV. 38
  4. 1 2 3 4 Crawford, p.117-124

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References

Ancient sources

Modern works