During the Roman Empire's golden age, slaves had almost no chance of gaining citizenship. Even if freed by their masters, they enjoyed only limited personal freedom, with property ownership remaining elusive. They possessed only the right to use it. These freed slaves were still considered their masters' property, and their masters could reclaim them as slaves at any time.
The process of freeing slaves often involved various conditions. The law also stipulated that freed slaves and their descendants must remain grateful to their masters and continue to serve them. Even after the original master's death, their descendants could still accuse these slaves of "ungratefulness" and reclaim them.
The only way for slaves to obtain full citizenship was for their masters to invest significant time and money in convening a court, writing standard documents to release the slaves in the presence of numerous witnesses, and seeking approval from the local governor. Such a process was extremely demanding, making it very rare.
Today, Holiness has become the official faith of the Roman Empire. It not only grants slaves freedom but also bestows full citizenship. As a result, slaves have flocked to this new faith.
"There must be more than three hundred inside, maybe four or five hundred. I saw some slaves voluntarily joining them," someone said.
"However, half of them are women and children, leaving only half as many adult men."
"There are many weapons in the temple, they must have already armed themselves."
"We have weapons too, they're no match for us!"
"We can gather more people, this time we must eliminate these ungrateful bastards, otherwise, who will dare to buy slaves in the future? Those followers of the Holiness say they will release them, and they will."
"The slaves on the farms outside the city heard that the new religion can free slaves and grant them citizenship. They are all indifferent to work. If it weren't for Dionysus' timely arrival, the slaves would have already revolted."
Linley listened to these words and suddenly felt something was wrong.
The Holiness is freeing slaves, while Linley is siding with the slave owners? Isn't that standing on the side of backward productive forces?
"Shut up!" Linley said coldly, "How many slaves are there on Andros Island?"
Everyone looked at each other, no one knew the exact number. Finally, Governor Goliath spoke up: "About ten thousand, the last census showed that many, but that was five years ago."
"If so many slaves revolt together, what can you do?" Linley asked.
Everyone fell silent. If so many people revolted together, it would be unimaginable. The reason why the slaves hadn't revolted was because they were scattered across different estates, lacking organization, and sporadic resistance could easily be suppressed. Secondly, the slave owners had the Roman Empire's military as their backup, and if things got out of hand, they could still call in the army for help.
But now the Roman Empire is siding with the Holiness, the Holiness is freeing slaves, and the slaves have suddenly found their backbone, with the Roman Empire as their backup, something no one can withstand.
At the thought of this prospect, all the slave owners trembled involuntarily. However, they were helpless, they could only yearn for the days when the Olympian gods ruled.
If the Holiness truly sought to liberate slaves, then Linley joining them wouldn't be impossible. However, Linley knew that the Holiness was not actually opposed to slavery. After becoming the Roman State religion, the Holiness still practiced slavery. For thousands of years afterwards, even during the era of expansion, followers of the Holiness participated in the slave trade.
Linley posed a startling question: "What would you do if the Holiness, with the backing of the Roman Empire, freed your slaves?" He pressed further, "Or worse, what if they made you slaves and your slaves your masters?"
This remark sent a chill through the crowd, for they were all too familiar with their own cruelty towards slaves. The slaves on the farms and estates toiled tirelessly, their bodies wracked with pain, their backs scarred with whip marks, their hands and feet deformed by shackles. Even the city slaves faced constant beatings, humiliation, and even sexual assault from their masters - these brutalities were a daily occurrence for them.
Julian anxiously asked, "What are we to do? I have dozens of slaves in my household."
Linley answered resolutely, "Before the Holiness does, release all your slaves."
Some instinctively wanted to denounce him as a madman, others even drew their swords, but seeing Linley surrounded by his followers, they ultimately chose silence and sheathed their weapons.
They had to admit, after calming down, that Linley's suggestion made sense. To prevent the Holy See from freeing their slaves, the only way was to do it themselves first. After all, the Holiness wouldn't be able to free slaves that had already been freed.
However, no one was willing to do this. Slaves were their valuable assets, and suddenly losing so much wealth was simply unacceptable. And without slaves, who would work for them?
They secretly hoped that the Holiness might not be so cruel, perhaps they would only free some slaves, or maybe they could keep their old way of life by donating enough money. The slave owners couldn't help but indulge in such fantasies.
Even losing half their wealth was better than losing all their slaves.
Linley turned to Julian and asked, "How much would you estimate your slaves are worth?"
Julian couldn't give him an exact number at once. The price of slaves fluctuated greatly, sometimes changing drastically within a few months. Roman victories often led to a surplus of slaves in the market, causing prices to plummet. But when the Romans lost and were captured by their enemies, the market supply would decrease, driving the prices up.
Seeing Julian struggling to calculate, Linley changed the subject: "What conditions would you accept to free your slaves?"
Julian cautiously asked, "Sell them to you? It would be best if you could replace the slaves with horses or cows. One horse could be exchanged for four slaves, one cow for six, and as for donkeys..."
Linley interrupted, "We'll use a rate of one horse for four slaves. How many slaves do you have?"
Julian replied, "Including the ones on the farm outside the city and in my house, there are a total of one hundred and twenty."
Linley nodded, "Alright, I'll exchange thirty horses for your one hundred and twenty slaves."
Julian couldn't help but look around. Linley didn't have any horses, not even a dog.
Linley explained, "Of course I don't have them now, it's a debt for now." He called Goliath over, "You are the commander here, you are to witness this and issue an official document to certify our transaction."