Slave Soldiers and Islam_ The Genesis of a Military System - Daniel Pipes

28

TheIslamicateContext

ciallyamong

slaves

withfamilies

(on

this

theory,

theRomanRe-

public

in 217 B.c.

enrolledinthe

armyonly

freedmenwhohad

children);

in

astrongpersonalrelationship

withwiththemaster;

theexpectation

ofrewardforfaithfulservice

mingled

withfear

ofpunishment

for

poor

service;

religious

conviction,

if

appro-

priate;

a

andfear

ofdefeat.Thislastfactor

probably

hadthe

greatestimportance;

nomatterhowlowthe

position

ofaslave,

nomatter

howmiserablehislot,hehad

nothing

to

gain

from

the

victory

ofhismaster’s

foreign

enemies,

as

A

slavecould

rarely

expect

to

improve

hiscircumstances

by

being

taken

prisoner

of

war;whencaptured,

hewasatbest

uprooted

andenslaved

again

in

some

foreignplace;

atworst,hewasexecutedright

onthe

fieldofbattle.Thevictors

rightly

assumedthattheslavesoftheir

enemieswerealso

enemies,

as

Theslaves’social

inferiority

did

not

help

them

atsuch

times;

onthe

contrary,

nobleshadafar

betterchance

of

surviving

defeatthantheirslavesdid.

Onoccasion,slavesnot

onlyprovided

faithful

servicebuteven

excelled over free soldiers.

Because

they

had

usually

lived

through greater

privations

before enlistment,

perhaps they

couldadjust

more

easily

tothedifficultiesof

military

life,main-

tain

higher

morale,better

exploitpoor

materials,serve

freeof

competing

civilianinterests,

resign

themselvestolongperiods

of

compulsory

service,

andaccustomthemselvesmore

readily

to

unquestioning

obedience.

"They

understood

discipline,

fought

with

courage

andhonortobefree,

adjusted

to

varying

climates,

andenduredhardwork.

’’2

Slavesalsofought

wellbecausemil-

itary

service

provided

themwithanopportunity

toshowtheir

worth.

InBarbadosit"constitutedan

important

and

positive

as-

pect

oftheir

self-image.

’’21

Onoccasion,itcouldsavea

runaway

from

being

returnedinto

slavery.

2z

Manumissionsometimesplayed

a

major

roleineither en-

16.

Treggiari,p.

68;Rouland,

p.

55.

17.Haas,p.29;Goveia,p.297.

18.Rouland,p.

43 n.106.

19.Greece:

Garlan,

p.

48.Islamiclawreflectsthisview:as-Sarakhsf,pp.716,

719;

A.l

(trans.Khadduri),p.

233.

20.AR,

pp.

78-79;Hay,p.44;quotation

fromLombardi,

p.

44.

21.Handler,pp.110,116.

22.Hellie,Enserfment,p.

250;Lombardi,

p.

45.