Explanations for why the number of slaves was lower during Late Antiquity
have varied In addition to the issues of costs, some scholars in the nineteenth
and twentieth centuries attributed the decline to the influence of Christianity
Previously, historians such as Chris De Wet and Samuel Dill had argued that
the rise of Christianity provided a re-conceptualization of the institution and
was the driving force behind “legislative sentiment” and “growing humane
sentiment” (De Wet, “Sin as Slavery” 30; Dill) Sheila Briggs suggested that
some early Christians did not conform to an “unquestioning” acceptance of
slavery (515–23) Contrary to earlier explanations, most recent scholars do
not attribute a significant role to the rise of Christianity in the decline of slav-
ery (Bradley 540)"
"The issue of ownership plays a large role in
the definition of slavery, including having power or control over a person
that may manifest itself in the form of claim-rights, liberties, and immunities
(Allain and Hickey 930–31)"
(Basta, 2017) http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/nchcjournal/558
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