One of the ways that both the Greeks and the Romans freed their slaves was in their wills, the technical term for which is manumission through testament. While there are a number of allusions to this practice, there are very few examples of wills in the surviving literature. One of the ones that does survive is the will of the philosopher Aristotle, who conveniently died in 322 BCE, which means that his will is fair game for the study of the Hellenistic period.
Or is it? Aristotle’s will only survives in the work of Diogenes Laeritius, a man who lived in the 3rd century CE. He wrote a sort of proto-encyclopedia on philosophy, in which he tries to cover basically all the famous philosophers beginning in the 6th century BCE. He includes both cliff notes of their philosophies as well as mini biographies, with an emphasis on dramatic scenes, witty remarks and salacious details about their hygiene and personal lives.
Scholars are frequently annoyed at Diogenes for not being a more thorough and careful historian. To take this position is to miss the point of Diogenes’ project and to be mislead into thinking that because of his penchant for frequently citing his sources that Diogenes is a historian rather than a philosopher. For Diogenes, philosophy was a question of how one lived, ergo all details of a philosophers life are necessary for studying, not just their texts. Nietzsche, in a dramatic bit of orneriness, claimed that he would rather read Diogenes than Plato (Untimely Meditations, “Schopenhauer as Educator”).
However it's impossible for the scholars who dislike him to dismiss Diogenes completely when writing about the philosophers that he covers. Although at times he reports the incredible as credible, he also reproduces in full a number of documents, such as important letters from Epicurus, which are accepted as genuine by scholars.
I haven't yet done the research into how scholars feel about Aristotle’s will, but the following no quotes should make it clear why it's important for the study of manumission. Diogenes reports the following as being in Aristotle’s will:
“I also will that Aubracis shall have her liberty, and that there shall be given to her when her daughter is married, five hundred drachmas, and the handmaid whom she now has. And I will that there be given to Thales, besides the handmaiden whom she now has, who was bought for her, a thousand drachmas and another handmaid. And to Timon, in addition to the money that has been given to him before for another boy, an additional slave, or a sum of money which shall be equivalent. I also will that Tychon shall have his liberty when his daughter is married, and Philon, and Olympius, and his son.”
It’s clear that Aristotle’s death was going to mean a major rearrangement of his household: some people, such as Thales, are going to get additional slaves, likely to help them because they will no longer be able to take advantage of the labor of the other slaves as they currently did Aristotle’s household. Others are going to be freed, although you’ll note that both these manumissions were dependent on their children being married. I’ll talk about on how that connects to some of the inscriptions at Delphi tomorrow.
Or is it? Aristotle’s will only survives in the work of Diogenes Laeritius, a man who lived in the 3rd century CE. He wrote a sort of proto-encyclopedia on philosophy, in which he tries to cover basically all the famous philosophers beginning in the 6th century BCE. He includes both cliff notes of their philosophies as well as mini biographies, with an emphasis on dramatic scenes, witty remarks and salacious details about their hygiene and personal lives.
Scholars are frequently annoyed at Diogenes for not being a more thorough and careful historian. To take this position is to miss the point of Diogenes’ project and to be mislead into thinking that because of his penchant for frequently citing his sources that Diogenes is a historian rather than a philosopher. For Diogenes, philosophy was a question of how one lived, ergo all details of a philosophers life are necessary for studying, not just their texts. Nietzsche, in a dramatic bit of orneriness, claimed that he would rather read Diogenes than Plato (Untimely Meditations, “Schopenhauer as Educator”).
However it's impossible for the scholars who dislike him to dismiss Diogenes completely when writing about the philosophers that he covers. Although at times he reports the incredible as credible, he also reproduces in full a number of documents, such as important letters from Epicurus, which are accepted as genuine by scholars.
I haven't yet done the research into how scholars feel about Aristotle’s will, but the following no quotes should make it clear why it's important for the study of manumission. Diogenes reports the following as being in Aristotle’s will:
“I also will that Aubracis shall have her liberty, and that there shall be given to her when her daughter is married, five hundred drachmas, and the handmaid whom she now has. And I will that there be given to Thales, besides the handmaiden whom she now has, who was bought for her, a thousand drachmas and another handmaid. And to Timon, in addition to the money that has been given to him before for another boy, an additional slave, or a sum of money which shall be equivalent. I also will that Tychon shall have his liberty when his daughter is married, and Philon, and Olympius, and his son.”
It’s clear that Aristotle’s death was going to mean a major rearrangement of his household: some people, such as Thales, are going to get additional slaves, likely to help them because they will no longer be able to take advantage of the labor of the other slaves as they currently did Aristotle’s household. Others are going to be freed, although you’ll note that both these manumissions were dependent on their children being married. I’ll talk about on how that connects to some of the inscriptions at Delphi tomorrow.