I servi fuggitivi nella società e nelle legislazioni di Atene e di Gortina

In the Antiquity, the flight of slaves, that is the self-willed removal from the reluctant master, public authorities or private persons, was the most immediate possibility to unlawfully obtain a substantial freedom for a slave, or for a submitted man. As a manifestation of the will to get rid of a subordination status, generally coercive, the flight of slaves is closely connected to the institution of slavery. The genesis of enslavement different types caused the rise of these problems inside many societies of the Antiquity, up from the ancient Near East oldest civilizations. In the different territorial and chronological contexts, the development of the phenomenon, because of its many consequences, led to the attempt to curb it by all means, both by the authorities and the masters. The evidences of the flight of slaves, with regard to the 5th- 4th century BC Athens, are numerous and provide a quite complete description of the phenomenon. They allow to outline, at least during some time the authorities action to counter and to control the problem, especially serious during crisis times, like the Peloponnesian War. With regard to the city of Gortina, during the first half of the 5th century BC, the epigraphic evidences are few, but very important, especially with references to temples, as refuges for runaway slaves, and to the consequences that the flight of slaves had for the legal relationships between private persons.