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p-e-wyesterday at 2:01 PM2 repliesview on HN

> Nor was a tenant farmer in the Middle Ages when required to provide corvée.

Many historians now concede that there is little to no meaningful difference between various forms of feudal servitude and slavery.

Slaves in the later Roman Empire also had certain rights, including the right to buy their own freedom in many cases. That doesn’t mean they weren’t slaves.


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mr_toadyesterday at 11:59 PM

> Slaves in the later Roman Empire also had certain rights

Cattle in the USA probably have more legal protections than slaves in the Roman Empire.

derektankyesterday at 4:37 PM

I will have to disagree with these historians. There is a fundamental difference between having legal personhood and being chattel. To be bound is not the same thing as to be owned.

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