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Ownership and the Articulation of Slave Status in Greek and Near Eastern Legal Practice

This chapter reviews the various approaches scholars have taken to defining slavery in a global perspective. It proceeds to set out a legal methodology for understanding slave status in comparative perspective. It engages with several critiques of this approach, showing how they are misplaced and reaffirming the importance of legal ownership to the definition of slavery. Two case studies are provided to give empirical confirmation of this theoretical approach, showing how this legal methodology aligns with slaving practices in Athens and Babylonia. It finishes with some general remarks on the importance of observing sociolegal practices empirically rather than beginning and ending with abstract definitions and formal statutes.