The following manumission inscription has very stringent requirements for the freed slave Soteris. Indeed, after you read it you may wonder why Soteris went through the trouble of gathering the four mna that she paid for her freedom:
παραμειν]άτω δὲ Σωτηρὶς παρὰ Φίλωνα ἄχρι οὗ κα ζώη Φίλων ποιέουσα τὸ ποτ[ιτασσόμενον πᾶν τὸ] δυνατὸν ἀνενκλήτως Φί̣λ̣ωνι.〚— — —〛 εἰ δὲ τελευτάσαι Φίλων [πρὶν τὰν θυγατέρ̣]α ἐγ̣δόμεν Δικαίαν ποτ’ ἄνδρα, παραμεινάτω Σωτηρὶς παρὰ τὰν θυγα[τέρα Δικαία]ν 〚— — —〛 ἄχρι οὗ κα ἐγδοθῆ Δικαία ποτ’ ἄνδρα. εἰ δέ κα μὴ παρα[μένοι παρὰ] Φίλωνα ἢ τὰν θυγατέρα Δικαίαν ἢ μὴ ποέοι τὸ ποτιτασσόμενον 〚— — —〛 ἀν[ενκλήτως πᾶ]ν δυνατὰ ἐοῦσα, ἐξ<ο>υσίαν ἐχόντων κολάζοντες ὧι κα θέλωντι τρόπωι καὶ ἁ ὡνὰ αὐτᾶς ἄκυ[ρος ἔστω.
Let Soteris remain beside Philon as long as he lives, doing all that Philon commands, as far as possible, without complaint. And if Philon dies prior to his daughter Dikai taking a husband, let Soteris remain beside the daughter Dikai. And if she does not stay beside Philon or his daughter Dikai or does not do what is commanded… without complaint all that is possible, let those who have the authority punish her in the method of their chooosing and her payment let it be obsolete.
FD 3.3.6, c. 161 BCE.
Just to reiterate, when Soteris pays the cost of manumission, she is nonetheless still expected to follow the commands of what her former master Philon says. Furthermore, Philon expects Soteris to look after his daughter if his daughter is not married. Philon and Philon’s daughter Dikai have the authority to punish Soteris and also to nullify the payment that she has made to free herself. Given all these similarities to slave life, why did Soteris make the effort to free herself?
The short answer is that we will never know. The other answer is that what we think of her choice very much depends on our own assumptions about ancient slaves and slavery. On the one hand, we could say that she was supporting the system of slavery by giving her master a fair amount of money when she was at age when it was likely that she would give him diminishing returns on his investment. On the other hand, there is no mention of Soteris’ own family. When she is no longer a slave, she frees herself to the possibility of marriage as well as greater freedom to travel, provided that doing so does not put her into conflict with her owners.
παραμειν]άτω δὲ Σωτηρὶς παρὰ Φίλωνα ἄχρι οὗ κα ζώη Φίλων ποιέουσα τὸ ποτ[ιτασσόμενον πᾶν τὸ] δυνατὸν ἀνενκλήτως Φί̣λ̣ωνι.〚— — —〛 εἰ δὲ τελευτάσαι Φίλων [πρὶν τὰν θυγατέρ̣]α ἐγ̣δόμεν Δικαίαν ποτ’ ἄνδρα, παραμεινάτω Σωτηρὶς παρὰ τὰν θυγα[τέρα Δικαία]ν 〚— — —〛 ἄχρι οὗ κα ἐγδοθῆ Δικαία ποτ’ ἄνδρα. εἰ δέ κα μὴ παρα[μένοι παρὰ] Φίλωνα ἢ τὰν θυγατέρα Δικαίαν ἢ μὴ ποέοι τὸ ποτιτασσόμενον 〚— — —〛 ἀν[ενκλήτως πᾶ]ν δυνατὰ ἐοῦσα, ἐξ<ο>υσίαν ἐχόντων κολάζοντες ὧι κα θέλωντι τρόπωι καὶ ἁ ὡνὰ αὐτᾶς ἄκυ[ρος ἔστω.
Let Soteris remain beside Philon as long as he lives, doing all that Philon commands, as far as possible, without complaint. And if Philon dies prior to his daughter Dikai taking a husband, let Soteris remain beside the daughter Dikai. And if she does not stay beside Philon or his daughter Dikai or does not do what is commanded… without complaint all that is possible, let those who have the authority punish her in the method of their chooosing and her payment let it be obsolete.
FD 3.3.6, c. 161 BCE.
Just to reiterate, when Soteris pays the cost of manumission, she is nonetheless still expected to follow the commands of what her former master Philon says. Furthermore, Philon expects Soteris to look after his daughter if his daughter is not married. Philon and Philon’s daughter Dikai have the authority to punish Soteris and also to nullify the payment that she has made to free herself. Given all these similarities to slave life, why did Soteris make the effort to free herself?
The short answer is that we will never know. The other answer is that what we think of her choice very much depends on our own assumptions about ancient slaves and slavery. On the one hand, we could say that she was supporting the system of slavery by giving her master a fair amount of money when she was at age when it was likely that she would give him diminishing returns on his investment. On the other hand, there is no mention of Soteris’ own family. When she is no longer a slave, she frees herself to the possibility of marriage as well as greater freedom to travel, provided that doing so does not put her into conflict with her owners.