5 november 2020

Byzantium & Friends | 36. Slavery in late antiquity and Byzantium, with Noel Lenski Thursday Nov 05, 2020

A conversation with Noel Lenski (Yale University) on "slave societies" and how the institution of slavery changed in late antiquity and Byzantium. Were tasks performed by slaves in antiquity carried out by free people in late antiquity? What were the experiences of Byzantines who were themselves captured in raids and taken outside the empire? The conversation draws on many of Noel's publications, including 'Framing the Question: What is a Slave Society?,' in N. Lenski and C. Cameron, eds. What is a Slave Society? The Practice of Slavery in Global Perspective (Cambridge University Press 2018) 15-57; 'Searching for Slave Teachers in Late Antiquity,' Révue des études tardo-antiques 12, suppl. 8 (2018-2019) 127-191; 'Captivity and Slavery among the Saracens in Late Antiquity (ca. 250 - 630 CE),' Antiquité tardive 19 (2011) 237-266; and others (see here for more).