User:Ttocserp/Slave-owning slaves
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In some human societies there were slaves who owned slaves. Although details varied from place to place and time to time, there were two broad cases: peculium slavery, and elite political slavery.
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In ancient Rome, although the status of slaves generally was abysmal, some were used as business administrators, or allowed to go into business themselves, their masters taking a share of the proceeds. To incentivise these slaves, masters allowed them to accumulate a capital, called a peculium. Hence astute slaves might grow quite rich, acquiring sub-slaves of their own, called servi vicarii. By an extension of the process there could even be sub-sub-slaves. Despite his wealth, the head slave (servus ordinarius) was a slave in every respect: if suspected of embezzlement he could be examined under torture. It seems Jewish law had a concept similar to peculium, including slaves of slaves. In slave-era Brazil there was a practice similar to peculium, where slaves (often, women) could acquire slaves of their own, and even use them to pay for their manumission. Peculium slavery, with slave-owning slaves, has been found in other countries of the world and there were cases, though few, in North America.
In some polities rulers preferred to appoint slaves as government administrators since they could control them better. In its most developed form, the slave had been separated from his parents while young — in some cases, castrated — and brought up in the royal household, knowing no other loyalty. Accordingly, talented slaves were gradually promoted to positions of great trust, including military command, management of palace affairs, and even high political office. Hence some powerful slaves had slaves of their own. Nevertheless, unless manumitted, the head slave remained a slave in every respect, and could be degraded at the whim of the ruler. Societies of this kind existed in the Islamic world including the Ottoman Empire, Safavid Iran, Islamic India and parts of Africa. Imperial Rome itself had a similar institution, since some slaves of the Emperor were made senior civil servants, owning slaves of their own. So did Imperial China and early modern Russia.