For the Isaac Asimov short story, see Galley Slave. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian " Galley slave " is a term used to refer to prisoners condemned (in an obsolete form of punishment to man the oars of a Galley.

A galley slave was a slave rowing in a galley. As a social-economic system slavery is a legal institution under which a Person (called "a slave" is compelled to work for another A galley (from Greek γαλέα - galea is an ancient Ship which can be propelled entirely by human oarsmen, used for Warfare The expression has two distinct meanings: it can refer either to a convicted criminal sentenced to work at the oar (French: forçat), or to a kind of human chattel, often a prisoner of war, assigned to his duty of rowing. French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people ^[1]

Contents 1 Antiquity 1.1 Convicts 1.2 Slaves 1.2.1 Greece 1.2.2 Rome 2 Early modern era 3 In fiction 4 References 5 Further reading

Antiquity

Convicts

Contrary to the popular image of the chained convict, conveyed by movies such as Ben Hur, there is no evidence that ancient navies ever made use of condemned criminals as oarsmen. Ben-Hur (or Benhur is a 1959 Movie directed by William Wyler, and is the third film version of Lew Wallace 's novel Ben-Hur ^[2] The ancient forçat is an anachronism:

Leg irons, the whip, galleys that were floating concentration camps - all this belongs to the world of the sixteenth to the eighteenth century and to no earlier age. An anachronism (from the Greek "ana" " ανά " "against anti-" and "chronos" " χρόνος " ^[3]

Slaves

Greek and Roman navies generally preferred to rely on freemen to man their galleys. The History of Greece traditionally encompasses the study of the Greek people, the areas they ruled historically and the territory now composing the modern state of The Roman Navy ( Latin: Classis, lit "fleet" comprised the naval forces of the Roman state Several instances though are recorded when slaves were put at the oars, mostly under conditions of emergency. In some cases, these people were given freedom thereafter, while in others they began their service aboard as freedman.

Greece

In Athens, rowing was regarded as an honorable profession of which men should possess some practical knowledge,^[4] and sailors were viewed as instrumental in safeguarding the state. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's ^[5] According to Aristotle, the common people on the rowing benches won the Battle of Salamis, thereby strengthening the Athenian democracy. Aristotle (Greek Aristotélēs) (384 BC – 322 BC was a Greek philosopher a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. The Battle of Salamis ( Ancient Greek:) was a decisive naval battle between the Greek City-states and Persia in September 480 BC in the Athenian democracy developed in the Greek City-state of Athens ^[6]

The special characteristics of the Trireme, with each of its 170 oars being handled by its own oarsman, demanded the commitment of skilled freemen as rowing required teamwork and training on which combat success and the lifes of all aboard depended. Trireme ( τριήρης sing τριήρεις pl triremis sing ^[7] Also, practical difficulties such as the prevention of desertion or revolt when bivouacking (triremes used to be hauled on land at night) made free labour more secure and perhaps even more economical than slaves. ^[8]

Athens generally followed in the 5th and 4th century a naval policy of enrolling citizens from the lower classes (Thetes), metics and hired foreigners. Constitutional theory defines a timocracy as either a State where only property owners may participate in Government; or a government In Ancient Greece, the term metic meant resident alien a person who did not have citizen rights in their Greek City-state ( Polis) of residence ^{[9] [10]} Although it has been argued that slaves formed part of the rowing crew in the Sicilian Expedition,^[11] a typical Athenian trireme crew during the Peloponnesian War consisted of 80 citizens, 60 metics and 60 foreign hands. The Sicilian Expedition was an Athenian expedition to Sicily from 415 BC to 413 BC, during the Peloponnesian War. ^[12] However, when put under military pressure by the Spartans in the final stages of the conflict, Athens mobilized in an all-out effort all men of military age, including all slaves. The city of Sparta ( Doric Σπάρτα Attic Σπάρτη ^[13] After the victorious Battle of Arginusae the freed slaves were even given Athenian citizenship,^[14] in a move interpreted as an attempt to keep them motivated rowing for Athens. The naval Battle of Arginusae took place in 406 BC during the Peloponnesian War just east of the island of Lesbos. ^[15] On two other occasions during the war captured enemy galley slaves were given freedom by the victors. ^[5]

In Sicily, the tyrant Dionysios (ca. Sicily ( Italian and Sicilian: Sicilia) is an autonomous region of Italy. Dionysius I or Dionysius the Elder (ca 432&ndash367 BC Greek: Διονύσιος) Tyrant of Syracuse, conquered several cities 432–367 BC) once set all slaves of Syracuse free to man his galleys, employing thus freedmen, but otherwise relied on citizens and foreigners as oarsmen. Syracuse (Siracusa Sicilian: Sarausa, Classical Greek: / transliterated Syrakousai) is a historic City in ^[16]

Slaves accompanying officers and hoplite marines as personal attendants into war are assumed by modern scholars to have also assisted in the rowing when need arose,^{[17] [18] [19]} but there is no definite proof on this point,^[20] and they should not be regarded as regular members of the crew. The word hoplite ( Greek: hoplitēs; pl hoplitai) derives from hoplon ( plural hopla) meaning an item of armour or equipment thus 'hoplite' ^[18] When travelling over the sea on personal matters, it was a common thing that both master and slave pulled the oar. ^[20]

Rome

In Roman times, reliance on rowers of free status continued and slaves were usually not put at the oars except in times of pressing manpower demands or extreme emergency. Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC ^[21]

Thus, in the drawn-out Second Punic War with Carthage, both navies are known to have resorted to slave labour: In the aftermath of Cannae, a levy of slaves was equipped and trained by private Roman individuals for Titus Otacilius’ squadron in Sicily (214 BC), while after the capture of New Carthage (209 BC) local slaves were impressed by Scipio in his fleet on the promise of freedom after the war to those who showed good will as rowers. The Second Punic War (referred to as "The War Against Hannibal" by the Romans lasted from 218 to 201 BC and involved combatants in the western Carthage (Καρχηδών Karkhēdōn, Carthago from the Phoenician קרת חדשת phn-Latn Qart-ḥadašt meaning new town) refers For the 11th century battle in the Byzantine conquest of the Mezzogiorno, see Battle of Cannae (1018. Events By place Carthage Carthage persuades Syracuse to revolt against Rome and ally itself with Carthage instead Cartagena ( is a Spanish Mediterranean city and naval station in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula in the autonomous community of Region of Murcia Events By place Roman Republic The Romans under Fabius Maximus Cunctator capture Tarentum (modern Taranto Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major ( Latin: P·CORNELIVS·P·F·L·N·SCIPIO·AFRICANVS ¹) (236&ndash183 ^[22] At the end of the war, Carthage, alarmed over the impending invasion by Scipio, bought five thousand slaves to row its fleet (205 BC). Events By place Seleucid Empire Returning via the Persian provinces of Arachosia, Drangiana, and Carmania ^[23] It has been suggested that the introduction of polyremes at the time, particularly of the quinquereme, facilitated the use of little-trained labour, as these warships only needed a skilled man for the position nearest the loom, while the remaining rowers at the oar followed his lead. A quinquereme (Latin or penteres (Greek is a type of ancient oar-propelled warship that was used by the Greeks of the Hellenistic period and later by the Carthaginians A quinquereme (Latin or penteres (Greek is a type of ancient oar-propelled warship that was used by the Greeks of the Hellenistic period and later by the Carthaginians ^{[24] [25]}

Nonetheless, the Romans seemed to avoid the use of slave rowers in their subsequent wars with the Hellenistic east. This article focuses on the cultural aspects of the Hellenistic age for the historical aspects see Hellenistic period. Livy records that naval levies in the War against Antiochos consisted of freedmen and colonists (191 BC),^[26] while in the Third Macedonian War (171 BC - 168 BC) Rome’s fleet was manned by freedmen with Roman citizenship and allies. Events By place Roman Republic The Romans under Manius Acilius Glabrio and Cato the Elder cut the Seleucid The Third Macedonian War ( 171 BC - 168 BC) was a war fought between Rome and King Perseus of Macedon. Events By place Greece Epirus joins Macedonia in the latter's fight against Rome. ^[27] In the final showdown of the civil war between Octavian and Sextus Pompey, the adversaries enlisted among others slaves, but set them free before putting them to the oars,^[28] indicating that the prospect of freedom was judged instrumental in keeping the rowers motivated. Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was In Imperial times, provincials which were free men became the mainstay of the Roman rowing force. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial ^[29]

Early modern era

It became the custom among the Mediterranean powers to sentence condemned criminals to row in the war-galleys of the state (initially only in time of war). Traces of this practice appear in France as early as 1532, but the first legislative enactment comes in the Ordonnance d'Orléans of 1561. In 1564 Charles IX of France forbade the sentencing of prisoners to the galleys for fewer than ten years. Charles IX (27 June 1550 &ndash 30 May 1574 born Charles-Maximilien, was King of France, ruling from 1560 until his death A brand of the letters GAL identified the condemned galley-slaves. Human branding is the process in which a mark usually a symbol or ornamental pattern is burned into the skin of a living person with the intention that the resulting scar makes it permanent King Louis XIV, who wanted a bigger fleet, ordered that the courts should sentence men to the galleys as often as possible, even in times of peace; he even sought to transform the death penalty to sentencing to the galleys for life (and unofficially did so. Early years Birth and ancestry Louis XIV was born in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5 1638 and bore the Heir apparent Capital punishment, the death penalty or execution, is the Killing of a person by judicial process as Punishment. A letter exists to all French lawyers, that they should, if possible, sentence men to life in the galleys instead of death).

By the end of the reign of Louis XIV of France in 1715 the use of the galley for war purposes had practically ceased, but the French Navy did not incorporate the corps of the galleys until 1748. Early years Birth and ancestry Louis XIV was born in the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye on September 5 1638 and bore the Heir apparent The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm Year 1748 ( MDCCXLVIII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a From the reign of Henry IV, Toulon functioned as a naval military port, Marseille having become a merchant port, and served as the headquarters of the galleys and of the convict rowers (galériens). Henry IV (Henri IV ( 13 December 1553 &ndash 14 May 1610) ruled as King of France from 1589 to 1610 and as Henry III Toulon ( Provençal Occitan: Tolon in classical norm or Touloun in Mistralian norm is a city in southern France and a large Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ After the incorporation of the galleys, the system sent the majority of these latter to Toulon, the others to Rochefort and to Brest, where they worked in the arsenal. Toulon ( Provençal Occitan: Tolon in classical norm or Touloun in Mistralian norm is a city in southern France and a large Brest (bʁɛst in French, in Breton) is a city in the Finistère department in Bretagne in northwestern France. An arsenal is an establishment for the construction repair storage and issue of Weapons and Ammunition. Convict rowers also went to a large number of other French and non-French cities: Nice, Le Havre, Nimes, Lorient, Cherbourg, Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, La Spezia, Anvers and Civitavecchia; but Toulon, Brest and Rochefort predominated. Nice (nis Niçard Occitan: Niça norm or Nissa, Italian: Nizza or Nizza Marittima, Greek Le Havre is a city in the northwest region of France situated on the right bank of the mouth of the Seine River as it outlets into the Bay of the Seine Nîmes ( Provençal Occitan: Nimes in both classical and Mistralian norms is a city in southern France. Lorient, or L'Orient, (An Oriant is a commune and a Seaport in the Morbihan département, of Brittany. Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue is a commune of Normandy, north-west France. La Spezia ( Spèsa in the local dialect of Ligurian) is a city in the Liguria region of northern Italy, at the head of La Spezia ||-||-||-||} Antwerp ( Dutch:, French: Anvers) is a City and Municipality in Belgium and the capital of the Civitavecchia is a town and Comune of the Province of Rome in the central Italian region of Latium. At Toulon the convicts remained (in chains) on the galleys, which were moored as hulks in the harbour. A hulk is a Ship that is afloat but incapable of going to sea Their shore prisons had the name bagnes ("baths"), a name given to such penal establishments first by the Italians (bagno), and allegedly deriving from the prison at Constantinople situated close by or attached to the great baths there. Constantinople (Κωνσταντινούπολις Konstantinoúpolis, or gr ἡ Πόλις hē Polis, Latin: la CONSTANTINOPOLIS All French convicts continued to use the name galérien even after galleys went out of use; only after the French Revolution did the new authorities officially change the hated name — with all it signified — to forçat ("forced"). The French Revolution (1789–1799 was a period of political and social upheaval in the History of France, during which the French governmental structure previously an The use of the term galérien nevertheless continued until 1873, when the last bagne in France (as opposed to the bagnes relocated to French Guyana), the bagne of Toulon, closed definitively. French Guiana (Guyane française officially fr ''Guyane'' is an Overseas department (French département d'outre-mer, or DOM) of France In Spain, the word galera continued in use as late as the early 19th century for a criminal condemned to penal servitude. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The 19th century of the Common Era began on January 1, 1801 and ended on December 31, 1900, according to the Gregorian calendar Penal labour or penal servitude is a form of Unfree labour. The term may refer to two different notions labour as a form of punishment and labour as a form of occupation

A vivid account of the life of galley-slaves in France appears in Jean Marteilhes's Memoirs of a Protestant, translated by Oliver Goldsmith, which describes the experiences of one of the Huguenots who suffered after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. Oliver Goldsmith (10 November 1730 or 1728 &ndash 4 April 1774 was an Anglo-Irish writer poet and Physician known for his Novel The Vicar The Huguenots were members of the Protestant Reformed Church of France (or French Calvinists) from the sixteenth to the eighteenth The Edict of Nantes was issued on April 13, 1598 by Henry IV of France to grant the Calvinist Protestants of Galley-slaves lived in unsavoury conditions, so even though some sentences prescribed a restricted number of years, most rowers would eventually die, even if they survived the conditions, shipwreck and slaughter or torture at the hands of enemies or of pirates. Also, nobody controlled that prisoners were freed after having completed their sentences, so imprisonment for some time could still mean imprisonment for life and nobody except the prisoner would notice. All naval forces often turned 'infidel' prisoners-of-war into galley-slaves.

In fiction

In one of the his ill-fated adventures, Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote frees a row of prisoners sent to the galleys, including Ginés de Pasamonte. Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( in modern Spanish; September 29, 1547 &ndash April 22, 1616) was a Spanish Novelist es '''''Don Quixote''''' (, see spelling and pronunciation below fully titled es '''''El ingenioso hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha''''' ("The Ingenious Hidalgo Don The prisoners, however, beat him.

Lew Wallace's Ben-Hur is sent to the galleys as a murderer but manages to survive a shipwreck and save the fleet leader, who frees and adopts him. Lewis "Lew" Wallace ( April 10, 1827 February 15, 1905) was a lawyer governor Union general in the American Civil In Ancient Rome, Adoption of boys was a fairly common procedure particularly in the upper senatorial class

In Victor Hugo's Les Misérables, Jean Valjean spends nineteen years in the bagne, or prison, of Toulon, but he was never a galley slave; penal service in the galleys had been abolished in 1748, long before he began his fictional sentence. Victor-Marie Hugo ( ( February 26, 1802 – May 22, 1885) was a French Poet, Playwright, Novelist Les Misérables (pronounced /le miːzeʁabl(ə translated variously from French as The Miserable Ones, The Wretched Jean Valjean is the chief protagonist of Victor Hugo 's 1862 novel Les Misérables, or The Miserable Ones in English translation (See Bagne of Toulon. The bagne of Toulon was the notorious prison in Toulon, France, made famous as the place of imprisonment of Jean Valjean, the hero of Les Miserables )

References

Further reading

• Casson, Lionel, “Galley Slaves”, Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association, Vol. 97 (1966), pp. 35-44
• Libourel, Jan M. , “Galley Slaves in the Second Punic War”, Classical Philology, Vol. 68, No. 2 (Apr. , 1973), pp. 116-119
• Ruschenbusch, Eberhard, “Zur Besatzung athenischer Trieren“, Historia, Vol. 28 (1979), pp. 106-110
• Sargent, Rachel L. , “The Use of Slaves by the Athenians in Warfare”, Classical Philology, Vol. 22, No. 3 (Jul. , 1927), pp. 264-279

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