Slavery in the Empire

From: Peter Metcalfe <metcalph_at_voyager.co.nz>
Date: Fri, 12 Mar 1999 14:31:57 +1300


David Dunham:

[I said "slavery is primarily a lunar institution as opposed to a Dara Happan one". David quoted from the GRoY to show that the Dara Happans did take slaves from among the Votanki.]

>> A source which is over a thousand years ago. The Votanki are virtually
>> absent today in civilized Peloria thus I stand by my statement.

>If a god of slavery is on the Gods Wall, then slavery is a Dara Happan
>institution.

Given that I said slavery is _primarily_ a lunar institution, the logical inference is that Lunars own most of the slaves in the Empire and not Dara Happans. I do qualify my statements for a reason, y'know.

Secondly Votank's appearance on the Wall has little of nothing to do with whether he is a slave or not. After slavery ceases to exist, then the interpretation that Votank is a slave will likewise become defunct.

>It may or may not have fallen into disuse, but it was
>well-established in Dara Happa in Plentonius's time.

Likewise Americans had slaves. Doesn't mean that slavery is a institution in the USA today.

>The original source of slaves is not important, any more than
>Americans used Slavs to work their cotton fields.

For Dara Happans, the origin most certainly is important.

>I don't doubt that the Lunars have come up with new ways to justify
>slavery, and might even have reintroduced a lapsed practice. But the
>Empire is a veneer of Lunar culture over older cultures, and I suspect
>that slavery per se is not part of that veneer.

The Lunar Way is much more than a "veneer", it is an significant minority in the Dara Happan river valley and in Rinliddi. And what does the "veneer" have to do with whether the Lunars are the slave-owners in the Empire?

>(I'm also remembering something about a wall falling down on the lowest
>class during an Emperor's reconstruction project, but can't find the
>reference. As I recall, they were slaves.)

Doesn't ring a bell with me.

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