How can we write Graeco-Roman history from the point of view of the poor?

Resumen o Introducción

This essay aims to prove that we can see Graeco-Roman History from the point of view of the poor only as the view of a whole class. Although it does not discuss the problem of slavery, only the issue of poor, unfree and otherwise fettered peoples.

Exploring primary and secondary accounts: two Greek authors, the theory of Marx and the arguments of de Ste. Croix will demonstrate that we are only able to see their point of view of the poor based on generalisation, always with another aim than writing the history from the point of view of the poor. We can only explain societal movements but cannot explore personal and individual motivations.

The history of Graeco-Roman societies is a history of division and class struggle. Every city, every country and every empire has always been divided between the plebeians and the patricians, between the aristocrats and the peasants: between the rich and the poor. However, if we speak about antiquity, we consider almost exclusively the upper-class perspective, the perspective of the wealthy and of the nobles – even though the majority of the world was poor or enslaved.