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Creative Exercise: The Sovereign Dominion of Eyros
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<blockquote data-quote="Rystil Arden" data-source="post: 2077142" data-attributes="member: 29014"><p>Well first, most elves aren't Masks, only the wizards are and that's a small percentage of actual elves. That aside, you are absolutely right that there is a fine distinction between chattel slaves and helots. Helots actually weren't allowed to acquire wealth (that was the Perioikoi), but instead sent all the surplus food and resources to the Spartiates, allowing the Spartans to keep a well-trained standing army with those resources that was the envy of all Greece until they were defeated by Epimenondas and his Sacred Band strategy. But helots weren't chattel, they were more like serfs, tied to the land. In fact, no society had both a helot class and chattel slaves because there was no need for both, one of the two groups was sufficient (ancient societies did have hostage-slaves and conquered-slaves, but these were treated significantly better than chattel slaves and often allowed to gain positions of high status and power, despite belonging to the master, often adopting the name of their master like Terence, the famous Roman playwright of The Andrian Girl, who was a Greek slave adopted by a guy named Terentius). Chattel slavery is a relatively-modern concept that was the result of a centuries-long expansion of colonialism and imperialism that may well have had its roots in the 12th century by the writings of the Norman historian William of Malmesbury, who was the first to view fellow Christians as inferiors and barbarians, resurrecting Classical racial views in a world that had for the most part been divided into Christian/non-Christian up until his writings. Whether William was the catalyst or not, the actual practise of chattel slavery didn't show up until much later.</p><p></p><p>But yeah, the Masks aren't really Helots because they are magically compelled. That doesn't stop us from making the non-Mask elves into helot equivalents if we want to though, and indeed, noone has said anything about them yet (in fact if you changed the race on your helot-like villeins to elves, I think it would fit perfectly).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Rystil Arden, post: 2077142, member: 29014"] Well first, most elves aren't Masks, only the wizards are and that's a small percentage of actual elves. That aside, you are absolutely right that there is a fine distinction between chattel slaves and helots. Helots actually weren't allowed to acquire wealth (that was the Perioikoi), but instead sent all the surplus food and resources to the Spartiates, allowing the Spartans to keep a well-trained standing army with those resources that was the envy of all Greece until they were defeated by Epimenondas and his Sacred Band strategy. But helots weren't chattel, they were more like serfs, tied to the land. In fact, no society had both a helot class and chattel slaves because there was no need for both, one of the two groups was sufficient (ancient societies did have hostage-slaves and conquered-slaves, but these were treated significantly better than chattel slaves and often allowed to gain positions of high status and power, despite belonging to the master, often adopting the name of their master like Terence, the famous Roman playwright of The Andrian Girl, who was a Greek slave adopted by a guy named Terentius). Chattel slavery is a relatively-modern concept that was the result of a centuries-long expansion of colonialism and imperialism that may well have had its roots in the 12th century by the writings of the Norman historian William of Malmesbury, who was the first to view fellow Christians as inferiors and barbarians, resurrecting Classical racial views in a world that had for the most part been divided into Christian/non-Christian up until his writings. Whether William was the catalyst or not, the actual practise of chattel slavery didn't show up until much later. But yeah, the Masks aren't really Helots because they are magically compelled. That doesn't stop us from making the non-Mask elves into helot equivalents if we want to though, and indeed, noone has said anything about them yet (in fact if you changed the race on your helot-like villeins to elves, I think it would fit perfectly). [/QUOTE]
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