New Evidence for Slave Names and Social Mobility in Archaic Greece

What is it about?

This chapter discusses some of the graffiti inscribed by ancient herders discovered by Merle Langdon in southwestern Attica, in Greece: especially, the social status of the inscribers as well as the possibility of social mobility in the Archaic period of Greece. Based on onomastic evidence, it is argued that these herders made up a diverse social group, from slaves to citizens. The herder graffiti are then connected to two inscriptions: the grave monument of Kroisos (IG I(3) 1240 = CEG 27) and the 'archontes' inscription (IG I(3) 972). Although these two inscriptions are associated with elite culture, I argue they also contain several slave-type names and are evidence for upward social mobility.

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Photo by Constantinos Kollias on Unsplash

Photo by Constantinos Kollias on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This article adds to the relatively rare evidence for the lives of slaves in ancient Greece. It also questions long standing assumptions about social structure in the Archaic period in Greece and puts forward evidence for social mobility in period of history when such mobility is rarely thought to have been possible.