Humanity's Long History of Slavery

This episode offers a comprehensive overview of slavery throughout human history, detailing its multifaceted manifestations from ancient civilizations to the modern era. It explores how early societies in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China institutionalized various forms of bondage, often tied to war, debt, or crime. The text then examines the central role of slavery in the classical worlds of Greece and Rome, highlighting their reliance on unfree labor and unique legal frameworks like Roman manumission to citizenship. It further discusses servitude in African kingdoms, the Byzantine Empire, early Islamic caliphates, and the Viking Age, showcasing diverse regional practices and expansive slave trade networks like the Trans-Saharan and East African routes. Finally, this episode extensively covers the Transatlantic Slave Trade, explaining its economic drivers, the horrors of the Middle Passage, life in the Americas, African participation, and the eventual abolitionist movements fueled by philosophical ideas and religious convictions.