The slave would be attached to the house for
the rest of his/her life, and some slaves would actually have
been born in the house. This encouraged feelings of devotion
towards 'the master'. Moreover, their
destinies lay in the hands of those they served.
This special relationship meant that house slaves had more
hope of obtaining freedom than other kinds of slave. By the
end of the Classical period, the will of the kyrios usually
included a clause granting freedom to some slave or other in recognition of
his fidelity. 'Freedmen' - as freed slaves were called - were at
liberty to go back to their homelands. But if a freedman stayed
on in Athens, he could go on the city register as a metic, and
his ex-master would undertake to become his protector.
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