malins
Stumbling Seeker
I wonder if that logic works for slaves too?
"I'd never serve a Master who would be so foolish as to buy something like me?" - no, that's a recipe for disaster
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The Scene
- Thread starter RacingRodent
- Start date
"I'd never serve a Master who would be so foolish as to buy something like me?" - no, that's a recipe for disaster
RacingRodent
Consul
I wonder if that logic works for slaves too?
"I'd never serve a Master who would be so foolish as to buy something like me?" - no, that's a recipe for disaster
Slaves should be taken in battle
malins
Stumbling Seeker
Ah yes, take them by the steel of your sword and don't buy them at the market.Slaves should be taken in battle
Among barbarians they call that 'paying the iron price' intead of the gold one, and it's the honorable Old Way.
RacingRodent
Consul
It shows a proper appreciation of the slave's value if you are willing to risk everything to gain or defend them
Oh btw it was Dark Princess who found that one for me
malins
Stumbling Seeker
That's romanticizing it. Wasn't it more like scavenging over the battlefield, seeing if anything still moves or breathes that might be useful and then dragging it off by its hair?
RacingRodent
Consul
Well if we are talking real raiding the word for which normally translated as something like a "day at mill/office/work"
So I assumed we were romanticising. It also a good put down those who moan the "old ways are best modern life is rubbish" by reminding them that under the old ways they had to be willing to fight for what they owned. Raids however were not battles though throughout human history they are likely one of the most common forms of human combat, ahead of sieges which come ahead of battles. They were not remotely fair fights and by and large the main quality of them was the number of survivors. Barbarians could be boringly risk adverse.
To avoid fights between their own side there are numerous examples of codes that included rules of plunder. So a warrior might get one share, a noble ten and extra shares might be given out for feats of valour like actually killing an enemy under arms. Then the loot would be collected up with the treasure in one pile, useful things in another and the soon to be slaves lined up next to that and each person in order of precedence would claim their share of booty.
It may actually have involved considerable waiting around and some boredom...though I can imagine a few writers here who might be thrilled at the thought of slave girls waiting with anticipation to see who picked them?
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RacingRodent
Consul
I once put out extra food to try and settle a squabble between the squirrels in my garden. Did...Not...Work.
But good will to all men, women and small furry creatures from any star or constellation
And a belated thanks for those kind words Symp
malins
Stumbling Seeker
... i guess there might be a few ...
Round my way, and in the wilder parts of the 'Celtic' world generally,
an incoming chieftain was expected to lead a cattle raid or three -
if he couldn't pull that off successfully, he was a goner.
The booty would have been four-footed livestock,
either added to the tribal herd or slaughtered for a huge feast
(competitive party-throwing was another requirement for the job).
Cattle-raiding was a regular part of life from well before the Romans
pretty well up to the 18th century.
Slaves weren't a significant part of the economy,
though they certainly kept some, well into the high middle ages,
but they only rounded them up like cattle
at times when there was a market for them -
like the Roman ones, and the ones the Vikings ran in Dublin etc.
(And the prospects for a slavegirl might have been interesting -
there are good examples of captured girls who landed up with much more exciting lives)
than scraping an existence as a peasant's wife in the Forest
)