Graeco-Roman slave markets : fact or fiction? /

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:Trümper, Monika.
Imprint:Oxford ; Oakville, CT : Oxbow Books, c2009.
Description:xi, 148 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, plans (some col.) ; 27 cm.
Language:English
Subject:
Format: Print Book
URL for this record:http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/8050312
Hidden Bibliographic Details
Varying Form of Title:Greco-Roman slave markets
ISBN:9780977409488 (alk. paper)
0977409481 (alk. paper)
Notes:Includes bibliographical references and index.
Summary:"Graceo-Roman Slave Markets: Fact or Fiction? critically examines the existence and identification of purpose-built slave markets in the Graeco-Roman world from a cross-cultural perspective. It investigates whether certain ancient monuments were designed specifically for use as slave markets, and whether they required special furnishings and safety features that clearly distinguished them from other commercial buildings and marketplaces of the Graeco-Roman world. Selected early modern and modern parallels are analyzed, followed by a brief discussion of ancient written sources on slave markets. The main focus of the book is a critical re-examination of all eight ancient buildings that have thus far been identified as slave markets. The conclusion includes a short comparison of modern and alleged ancient slave markets and finally answers the question of whether ancient slave markets are an archaeological fact or fiction."--Book Jacket.
Description
Summary:This book critically examines the existence and identification of purpose-built slave markets in the Graeco-Roman world from a cross-cultural perspective. It investigates whether certain ancient monuments were designed specifically for use as slave markets and whether they required special equipment and safety precautions, allowing them to be clearly distinguished from other nonspecific commercial buildings and marketplaces of the Graeco-Roman world. First, selected parallels, namely slave markets in Istanbul, Marrakesh, Cairo, Havana, Charleston, and New Orleans, are analyzed in order to: assess the possible range of locations for the sale of slaves in slave-holding cultures better known than their ancient equivalents; answer the question of whether any of these cultures constructed clearly identifiable purpose-built slave markets on a regular basis, that is, whether the slave market was ever a firmly established building type; evaluate what can be gained from such a cross-cultural approach to the study of ancient slave markets. This is followed by a brief discussion of ancient written sources on slave markets, focusing on what the texts reveal about the existence, design, and requirements of ancient slave markets. A major part of this book is dedicated to a critical reexamination of all eight ancient buildings that have been identified as slave markets so far: Delos, so-called Agora of the Italians; Pompeii, Building of Eumachia; Rome, Crypta Balbi; Ostia, Tempio Rotondo; Herculaneum, so-called Basilica; Leptis Magna, so-called Chalcidicum/Building of Iddibal Cadapha Aemilius; Ephesus, so-called Sarapeum; Magnesia-on-Maeander, so-called Prytaneion. The conclusion includes a short comparison of modern and alleged ancient slave markets and finally answers the question of whether, to date, ancient slave markets are an archaeological fact or fiction.
Physical Description:xi, 148 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, plans (some col.) ; 27 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:9780977409488 (alk. paper)
0977409481 (alk. paper)