Slavery in the Makedonian Empire

The practice of Slavery in the Makedonian Empire was widespread and played an important part in the society and economy of Makedon. At its peak approximately 25-35% of the population of the Empire were slaves.

Slaves were generally divided into four categories; urban, rural, working, and public slaves. Urban slaves were located in major cities and often served with wealthy families or businesses, performing such jobs as babers, accountants, and prostitutes. Urban slaves, being located near centers of commerce and trade, would often earn their own money for their serivces. Rural slaves were located in the countryside and typically worked for small family owned farms and estates, while largely unable to earn money they tended to be better fed and looked after due to their close connections with their families. Working slaves referred to those who were assigned to mines and stone breaking; these were by far the worst off with excessively high mortality rates and horrid working conditions. Public slaves were the property of local governments and were usually assigned to public works and temples. Many public slaves were slaves temporarily as punishment for minor crimes. The Makedonians did not assign the concept of slavery to any particular tribe or culture and employed slaves from across Tyran.

Slaves were considered property and were afforded no legal personhood. Over the course of Makedonian history slaves gradually gained more rights and legal protection and increased ways to earn their freedom. Freed slaves were considered the equivalent of normal citizens, though what rights they were afforded varied based on the regional politics or laws of the province. Slaves could be freed either by official decree (often done to decrease the chances of revolt), military service (slaves could volunteer or be sent on campaign in exchange for their freedom), or buy their freedom through what money they managed to secure (more common for urban slaves).

Slaves came from two primary sources; criminals and captives taken during war. Enemy prisoners of war from Makedonian conquests in Ruvelka, Mansuriyyah, Quenmin, and the Sabrian Wars provided hundreds of thousands of slaves, but the practice of keeping trained military veterans as slaves kept the threat of uprisings perennial, and thus was usually limited. More common was the enslavement of the local civilian population, which could amount to tens of thousands of slaves in the course of a single battle or siege. Convincted criminals could become slaves; for minor crimes such as petty theft the punishment was often to become a public slave for anywhere between 1-10 years. Violent criminals would be sent to mines, where they usually perished in terrible working conditions.

The practice of slavery significantly declined after the Burning Plague, where depopulation saw the value of labor rise and gave more bargaining power to workers and peasants. The lack of major military conquests in the aftermath further limited the acquisition of slaves, and the rise of Zobethos discouraged expansion of the practice of slavery. By the 11th century less than 10% were slaves, and the practice of chattel slavery gave way to serfdom.