[Stefan Stackhouse]

Greece and Rome were not half as glorious as modern day armchair historians make them out to be.

Not to mention the fact that both were built on the backs of massive slavery that made the antebellum South look trivial and benign in comparison.

[GaConfed]

Slavery played a large part in all civilizations until 1865 AD. Nothing unusual about any of this.

[ffusco]

Except for the fact that slavery in Rome was more like indentured servitude. Many "slaves" had slaves of their own, owned property, worked as civil servants, were often released upon death of the master, were taught trades such as medicine and drafting, married freely among their own, were often eulogized upon their death, were sometimes adopted outright and even buried in family tombs. Many masters considered their slaves as friends and wept upon their death.

Plus the very fact that they were war prosioners- who were usually just killed anyway, and it was 2000 years ago, make recent slavery much, much, much worse.