Ancient slavery and service

A bit of a background on me, so that my continual
researching and thirst for knowledge does not
completely grate on everyone’s nerves. Lol i am a
Social Psychology major and a writer, so asking me for
words that go along the lines of the afore-mentioned
is similar to opening a floodgate. M’Lord has also
entrusted me with the task of finding different
articles and such to fill the "walls" of His library.

i researched "love" on www.thesaurus.com just to see
what i would come up with. These are some of the words
that apply to my relationship with m’Lord. Endearment,
courtesy, fondness, appreciation, regard, affection,
willingness, fealty, and loyalty. They are all
similar, but can they be interchanged for the word
love when speaking about a Master/slave relationship
that is similar to mine in the House of Darkwatch? No.
Again, i am someone who hears the word love and
automatically goes into romantic thoughts. To
illustrate the difference in my actions regarding
respect, admiration, honor, and love, it is best to
again use the Roman history. i do not view my
relationship with Lord Prophett as anything more than
that of a service slave. He says that the refrigerator
needs to be cleaned, i clean the refrigerator. Let the
dog out, i let the dog out. There is no question in my
mind, no thought, i just do it. i do not do it because
i "love" Him. As i stated before, i admire Him and
hold Him in the highest regard. Because i am a slave,
and that is what being a slave means to me. i am part
of a family, the House of Darkwatch. What i do, what i
say, reflects on this family. Self control must first
be attained, or attempted *grins at Master* before
control of one’s self can be handed over to another
successfully (GREAT ARTICLE, BTW) in my research, i
found two interesting articles, or writings, if you
will. One came from a college history class, the other
from a comparison of ancient slavery practices and Gor.

From the first, an interesting account was given of
the relationship between Cicero and his slave Tiro.
Tiro enjoyed a nearly familial relationship with
Cicero and the emperor’s House. Tiro’s relationship
with Cicero’s son Marcus was described as, "…[one]
that would be found more between an indulgent uncle
and nephew, rather than that between a young lord and family slave."
Tiro was educated, and in fact published a biography
of Cicero, a grammar book, and many of Cicero’s
speeches; also invented a form of shorthand
(http://abacus.bates.edu/~mimber/Rciv/slaver.htm).
Tiro brought honor and happiness to his Owner’s house.
is this not what our purpose as slaves is?
His position was his job, and he excelled at that, to
bring only good things to his Master’s house. Now, he
could have left. He could have run away. The option
was always there. Granted, i don’t think i would
appreciate a brand for running away which is a way the
slaves were marked as problems, but the point is that
the option was there. One could argue that he stayed
out of fealty. admiration. loyalty. Choose whatever
word you prefer. There are plenty. it is feasible to
have a working romantically unattached relationship
between Master and slave. It has been done. It will
continue to be done, just as this slave works hard out of
loyalty, admiration, & affection, not out of a romantic inclination.
 
As for the second article, it is most fascinating that
one of the esteemed philosopher Aristotle’s ideas
regarding the slavery issues in ancient times, can be
applied to a Master/slave BDSM relationship in present
time. He had what was called a "Natural Slave Theory."
He asserts that there were natural slaves and natural
masters and that a natural slave was best fulfilled
when serving a natural master.

"In every composite thing…there is always found a
ruling and a subject factor, and this characteristics
of living things is present in them as an outcome of
the whole of nature."

"One who is a human being belonging by nature not
to himself but to another is by nature a slave; and a
person is a human being belonging to another if being
a man he is an article of property, and an article of
property is an instrument for action separable from
its owner."

http://members.aol.com/UbarLeather2/Scroll64.html

Aristotle goes on to say that slaves possessed inferior
intellect, and that this arguably is the reason slaves
were in the position they were in to begin with.
Apparently, Cicero did not prescribe to this theory,
so it seems that the ideas, and the practices of
slavery in the Mediterranean around these times did
not always coincide. As with any legal, political, and
social issue. What you see on paper, and what you
actually do can be two different things. It is our
responsibility to be committed to what has been
recorded. This is where "safe, sane, and consensual"
differs from Aristotle. Our submission as slaves is
completely consensual. When we take that first step
and accept a collar, or submit in another way,
we have consented to the treatment,
punishment, and whims of our Masters.
 
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daisy,