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[German version] I. Ancient Near East Mesopotamian cuneiform texts attest to slavery in the ancient Near East from the early 3rd millennium BC [1]. However, at no time were slaves the essential producers in the structure of the total economy [2]. From the 3rd-1st millennia BC, slaves were primarily deployed in private households, and to a lesser extent in institutional households (Palace, Temple). The main sources thus mostly come from the field of private law and governmental legislation [3]. Some of…

[German version] The term peculium (from the Latin pecu, 'cattle', as an object of property cf. Ulp. Dig. 15,1,5,3) referred to the specific fund of property belonging to a person who, under Roman law, was subject to the power of another: in most cases a son in power under the patria potestas or a slave in the ownership of a dominus . Since these legally dependant persons were not able to own property, the peculium fell under the household property of the person exercising the power in terms of private law, but the person subject to the power was nevertheless entitled…

[German version] I. Greece Documents show two different terms for the concept of a freedman: ἀπελεύθερος ( apeleútheros) and ἐξελεύθερος ( exeleútheros); according to Harpocration (p.31 Bk), the latter referred not to those born as slaves, but to the freeborn sons of slaves. Pollux uses Demosthenes' terms nómoi exeleútheroi and nómoi apeleútheroi in his list of terminology on the topic of slavery. Thus, it is clear that the two terms refer to groups with different legal status. It also shows that private manumissions as well as other issues and …