Introduction to Philemon

References to slavery in the Code of Hammurabi 1750

Egyptians make slaves of the Israelites. 1600

Hittite Code of Nesilim provides for the humane treatment of slaves. 1650-1500

Hebrew laws contain provisions pertaining to slaves and slavery. 1445

References to slavery during China’s Shang Dynasty 1500-1066

Economies of the Greek city states are dependent on slavery. 500-400

The Greek city-state of Athens has some 70,000 slaves. 430

In his Politics, Aristotle writes on the nature of the master-slave relationship. 330

First Roman slave revolt in Sicily 134-132

Second Roman slave revolt in Sicily 104-101 BC

Third Roman slave revolt led by the gladiator Spartacus 73-71 BC

By the time Augustus becomes Roman emperor, there are some 3 million slaves of a total population of 7.5 million Romans. AD 63

In his Geographia, Strabo says there are more than 1,000 temple slaves—prostitutes—in the temple of Aphrodite in 6th-century BC Corinth. AD 20

Roman Emperor Claudius rules that a slave who was old or sick and abandoned by his master should be considered free. AD 41-54

Paul arrives in Rome. 60

Paul encounters Onesimus, a runaway slave from Colossae. 61

Paul writes his letter to Philemon and sends it and the Letter to the Colossians, by Tychicus and Onesimus. 61

During Nero’s rule, slaves gain the right to complain against their masters in court. 54-68

Gregory of Nyssa (d. 395) and Chrysostom (347-407) oppose slavery based on Christian theology.