# Slave ships in antiquity



## Jabrosky (May 10, 2014)

I'm plotting out a story's third chapter which starts aboard a slave ship. In the previous chapter, the protagonist got knocked unconscious by a team of assassins who decided to feather their nest by selling her to slavers instead of killing her (that way they could collect both their assassin's fee and a little extra profit from the slave trade). When she wakes up she finds herself in captivity on the slave ship, and I need to know what that would look like.

There are of course numerous descriptions of trans-Atlantic slave ships during the Middle Passage period, but this ship is supposed to resemble a Greco-Roman galley rather than a post-medieval sailing ship. Where would Greco-Roman slave traders keep their human cargo? Did they have a special deck to crowd them into the way Middle Passage ships did?


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## thecoldembrace (May 10, 2014)

So contrary to most Hollywood and fictional visualizations, most ships would never use slaves as rowers. In the case of the slave galleys near the rear of the ship either on the level where the rowers sat there would be a cage that housed the slaves. If the ship was large enough they would be placed underneath the rower's tier, bound in chains to boards at their feet with very little air and almost packed like sardines. It would be extremely dark, very humid and profoundly foul smelling as they were not given room or chance to dispose of their waste. At the same time the area where they are housed would be cramped. Because of this quite a few slaves died on transit to be sold.

-Cold


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## Caged Maiden (May 10, 2014)

I think it depends on first off, the profitability of the trade itself.  If slaves are valuable, they'd be housed better than if they're a dime a dozen.  Since you're writing fantasy, that's a determination you need to make.  Also, how long is the voyage?   So Norse people took slaves from much of the world, especially the Slavic people, and they weren't treated poorly at all.  I would consider how well slaves are treated by their masters.  If you want to show it as a miserable existence, I'd shoot for the smelly, dankness mentioned above.  If you're looking for something different, I'd consider how the slaves might be put to work aboard the vessel, caring for the officers, bringing them food or whatever.  

I would imagine how it looks depends a lot on what resources are available.  What kind of wood is used for ship building in your world?  Do they use pitch for the sealing?  I think that comes from birch trees.  Is the ship constructed with luxurious cabins or is it a skeletal framework below deck?

Really, I think you probably already have a clear vision of what type of boat you're using, so I'm unsure what your question is really asking.  If you want to know how to properly convey your character's experience, try considering what things she'd notice.  she might marvel at the ship's construction if she'd never seen anything like it before.  She might find it a filthy place if she's used to a culture that promotes sanitary practices.  In that case, she might be well cared for by the crew but mourn not having water to clean her teeth or hair.  If the slaves are poorly treated, she might be very afraid for her personal safety, or she might feel sad for someone else, maybe an old woman or a frightened child?

There are a lot of ways to make the scene aboard the slave ship into whatever you need it to be.


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## Jabrosky (May 10, 2014)

I think I will go for the cage on the rowers' deck that coldembrace suggested.



Caged Maiden said:


> I think it depends on first off, the profitability of the trade itself.  If slaves are valuable, they'd be housed better than if they're a dime a dozen.  Since you're writing fantasy, that's a determination you need to make.  Also, how long is the voyage?   So Norse people took slaves from much of the world, especially the Slavic people, and they weren't treated poorly at all.  I would consider how well slaves are treated by their masters.  If you want to show it as a miserable existence, I'd shoot for the smelly, dankness mentioned above.  If you're looking for something different, I'd consider how the slaves might be put to work aboard the vessel, caring for the officers, bringing them food or whatever.
> 
> I would imagine how it looks depends a lot on what resources are available.  What kind of wood is used for ship building in your world?  Do they use pitch for the sealing?  I think that comes from birch trees.  Is the ship constructed with luxurious cabins or is it a skeletal framework below deck?
> 
> ...


I should note that she probably won't spend that much time on the ship. She's actually the queen of one of the world's larger and more powerful countries, so my prediction is that once she wakes up and tells the slavers who she is, they'll blush with humiliation and set her free (perhaps by giving her a rowing boat).


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## Feo Takahari (May 11, 2014)

Jabrosky said:


> I should note that she probably won't spend that much time on the ship. She's actually the queen of one of the world's larger and more powerful countries, so my prediction is that once she wakes up and tells the slavers who she is, they'll blush with humiliation and set her free (perhaps by giving her a rowing boat).



Didn't seem to work out for all those kings and queens from Africa.


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## CupofJoe (May 11, 2014)

Jabrosky said:


> I should note that she probably won't spend that much time on the ship. She's actually the queen of one of the world's larger and more powerful countries, so my prediction is that once she wakes up and tells the slavers who she is, they'll blush with humiliation and set her free (perhaps by giving her a rowing boat).


Actually I think once/if they believed her they would be more likely to kill her and dump the body a long way out to sea.
If they really screwed up that bad, they would be better off with less "evidence" rather than setting her free...
At best I could see her being traded as ransom, but the Slavers would have to have the connections to make that work.


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## Jabrosky (May 11, 2014)

CupofJoe said:


> Actually I think once/if they believed her they would be more likely to kill her and dump the body a long way out to sea.
> If they really screwed up that bad, they would be better off with less "evidence" rather than setting her free...
> At best I could see her being traded as ransom, but the Slavers would have to have the connections to make that work.


Ah, crud, it seems like I've plotted myself into another corner then.

(Seriously, this seems to happen every time I plot out a story. I always end up with these big gaping holes that ruin everything.)


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## Queshire (May 11, 2014)

Why not have her be a badass and escape, stealing the row boat?


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## psychotick (May 11, 2014)

Hi,

Unless she's stupid or the slavers are from an allied nation I can't see her telling her captors who she is. There'd be too good a chance they'd sell her to her enemies. 

Also I can't see your assassins simply letting her live for a few coin. If they're good / professional they would have been well paid fortheir work, and they would have a reputation to keep. And I can't see an amateur hour assassin being sent after her unless her enemy is either poor or stupid. Could I suggest instead that it wasn't an assassination attempt but rather an abduction gone wrong. Keeping people alive and locked away is always much more challenging than slipping a knife between their ribs. (And if she's a queen why was she unguarded?)

As for your ship, without knowing its details if it's a simple galley it may only have one deck which means the slaves / rowers would be kept where they sit rowing.

Cheers, Greg.


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## Jabrosky (May 11, 2014)

psychotick said:


> Hi,
> 
> Unless she's stupid or the slavers are from an allied nation I can't see her telling her captors who she is. There'd be too good a chance they'd sell her to her enemies.
> 
> ...


My assassins aren't necessarily professionals, just mercenaries whom the villain (who is a jealous relative of the queen) hired so he could have someone to frame after the deed is done. I've considered the abduction idea, but decided that it would make more sense if the villain tried to kill her instead of leaving a potential threat to his power alive.

As for the unguarded part, I've already written a draft for that scene. What happens is that the assassins send my heroine a message via arrow that lures her into a trap (this is taking place during midnight; would guards still be awake by then?).


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