Slavery was a common practice in ancient Greece, as in other societies of the time. Some Ancient Greek writers (including, most notably, Aristotle) considered slavery natural and even necessary. This paradigm was notably questioned in Socratic dialogues; the Stoics produced the first recorded condemnation of slavery. [2]

Most activities were open to slaves except politics, which was reserved for citizens. The principal use of slaves was in agriculture, but hundreds of slaves were also used in stone quarries or mines, and perhaps two per household were domestic servants. It is certain that Athens had the largest slave population, with as many as 80,000 in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, with average of three or four slaves per household, except in poor families.