Voluntary slavery (or self-sale) is the condition of slavery freely entered into. In ancient times this was a common way for impoverished people to provide subsistence for themselves or their family and provision was made for this in law.[1] For example, the code of Hammurabi stated that, "besides being able to borrow on personal security, an individual might sell himself or a family member into slavery."[2]
In ancient times one of the most direct ways to become a Roman or Greek citizen was by means of a self-sale contract. For the laws surrounding Roman and Greek manumission made it quite possible for such erstwhile slaves to then become citizens or near-citizens themselves.[3]
In medieval Russia, self-sale was the main source of slaves.[4]
1: M. L. Bush (1996),
Serfdom and slavery: studies in legal bondage, p. 21
2: Anthony Appiah, Martin Bunzl (2007-07-02),
Buying freedom, pp. 95–97, ISBN 978-0-691-13010-1
3:
The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1995. ISBN 0-8028-3784-0. p.543.
4: MA Klein (1986), "
Slavery in Russia, 1450-1725", American Journal of Sociology