The Terran Empire in Poul Anderson's Captain Flandry series had an Emperor and slaves because it was a space opera setting modelled on the Roman Empire. When the Technic History, which incorporates the Flandry series, became serious speculative fiction, this slavery was rationalized as a legally limited punishment extracting some social utility from criminals which is a very different proposition from life-long enslavement of prisoners taken in war, the Roman practice. However, Aaron Snelund, Governor of Sector Alpha Crucis, reinstates the old kind of slavery with one difference. Shalmuans armed with rifles are ordered to capture their fellow beings for the slave market. Flandry reflects that barbarians will pay well for skilled workers and that transactions with them need not be recorded. The Romans captured and enslaved barbarians whereas, in Sector Alpha Crucis, citizens are captured and sold to barbarians.
5 comments:
Note that changing -names- does not necessarily change -things-.
For example, Emperors might be called President of State Affairs and be theoretically elected, like Kim Jong-Un in North Korea.
Who is in fact an absolute monarch and in fact inherited the position from his dad.
Poul noted in his "Ys" historical fantasies that the Roman characters he has referring to the "Empire" would actually probably have referred to the "Res Publica", the Republic -- but by the period he was writing in, what they actually -meant- was "the Empire", so he shows them saying that in order not to confuse the readers.
Likewise, slavery might be called "compulsory social obligations" or disguised as working off a debt -- the latter was common in Mexico up until the second decade of the 20th century, and often involved buying, selling, corporal punishment, etc.
(See contemporary accounts of how what was theoretically debt-peonage became effectively chattel slavery in parts of Mexico under Porfirio Diaz.)
Kaor, Paul!
And, besides what Stirling said above, de facto slavery can be found all over the world, including Western/Westernized nations. In countries like the US and UK we have sex slavers trafficking in women and children. An esp. disgusting kind of slavery!
So I don't think we are in any position to sneer at the Empire, which at least TRIED to put some limits and restraints on slavery.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean: well, so do we. To be actual 'slavery', the status (whatever it's called) has to ve -legal- and -enforceable at law-.
All slavery implies forceable captivity, but not all forceable captivity is slavery.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
True, as a matter of formal law slavery has been abolished and outlawed in the US for over 150 years.
So the monsters trafficking in women and children are practicing a type of forceable captivity which is not slavery in LAW.
Ad astra! Sean
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