Food Production and Reward System for Elites
by Lauren Blumenfeld
Corvee
Corvee is unpaid labor extracted by authority and used especially in the maintenance of roads. During the Qin dynasty, 2 million people were requested to build the Great Wall and palaces. The corvee strain during this time was 30 times greater than any previous time. The Qin Dynasty enforced harsh laws that supported corvee. The people used for the corvee lavor were soldiers, criminals, and common people. To build the Great Wall, millions of common people were brought in.
During the Roman Empire, particular classes owed personal services to the state or private owners. Corvee was used for the upkeep of roads, bridges, aqueducts, and dikes.
During the Roman Empire, particular classes owed personal services to the state or private owners. Corvee was used for the upkeep of roads, bridges, aqueducts, and dikes.
Slavery
Slavery was practiced in India and China as a minor element. In China, slaves accounted for only 1 percent of the population. During the Han dynasty, the convicted criminals and their families were taken by the government and used in slavery by the wealthy. In desperate situation, peasants sometimes sold their children into slavery. In southern China, poor families would sell their teenage boys to the wealthy. To the wealthy, the teenage boys would act as a status symbol. In China, slavery was never used extensively and never was an important source for agriculture or manufacturing.
In India, criminals, debtors, or prisoners of war fell into slavery. They did the work of their masters in domestic environments. Slave owners had to abide to the protection of slaves offered by the religious writings and secular laws. Indian civilization did not rely on slavery economically.
In the Greco-Roman world, society was based on slavery. An estimated 60,000 slaves lived in classical Athens and amounted to one-third of the population. The owning of slaves demonstrated the social status of a free person and revealed their ability of power. Even poor households had several female slaves that provided domestic work and sexual services. On huge estates, latifundia, in rural areas, slaves did much of the labor force. They produced olive oil, wine, and grain. These products were mainly used for export. Slave owners during the Roman Empire were to provide the needs of the slaves. When this happened, slaves had a more secure lifestyle than poor free people. When slaves acquired money or possessions, it legally belonged to their masters who could take it any time. Slaves could be granted freedom by their owners, but they usually could not become citizens or achieve political rights.
In India, criminals, debtors, or prisoners of war fell into slavery. They did the work of their masters in domestic environments. Slave owners had to abide to the protection of slaves offered by the religious writings and secular laws. Indian civilization did not rely on slavery economically.
In the Greco-Roman world, society was based on slavery. An estimated 60,000 slaves lived in classical Athens and amounted to one-third of the population. The owning of slaves demonstrated the social status of a free person and revealed their ability of power. Even poor households had several female slaves that provided domestic work and sexual services. On huge estates, latifundia, in rural areas, slaves did much of the labor force. They produced olive oil, wine, and grain. These products were mainly used for export. Slave owners during the Roman Empire were to provide the needs of the slaves. When this happened, slaves had a more secure lifestyle than poor free people. When slaves acquired money or possessions, it legally belonged to their masters who could take it any time. Slaves could be granted freedom by their owners, but they usually could not become citizens or achieve political rights.
Rents and Tributes
During the Achaemenids rule of Persia all of the conquered lands belonged to the king. The taxes paid were rather rents. Persians were tax-free. Each province paid a fixed amount of gold or silver each year. Each vassal state paid a yearly fixed amount in kind. Under the rule of Darius, all of the land was surveyed and the yield was estimated based on the average harvests of several years. Then the taxes would be gathered in fixed amounts based on that yield. The money given to the king and government was often stored. Some was spent for the construction of palaces and roads. The taxes and rents paid were also used for maintenance of the army, the royal court, and administration.
In addition to taxes, tributes were also given to the king. Tributes, such as trunks of ebony wood, horses, vessels of gold, silver, and elephant tusks, were paid in kind. The majority of Persians paid tribute, but gifts were given only by peoples who lived on the border, such as the Ethiopians, Arabs, and Colchians. The Persians were exempt from taxes except the ones paid in kind.
Peasant Communities
In China during 500 BCE-500 CE, a large portion of its population consisted of peasants. The peasants would live in small households that held two or three generations. 100 households of peasants made a small village and peasant community. Peasants could own enough land to support their families and sometimes even sell on the local market. The peasants who could not support their families often did not survive. The peasants were highly vulnerable due to the nature, the state, and the landlords. The nature events that inflicted the peasants were droughts, hail, floods, famines, and pest. The payment of taxes required by the state would require a month's labor every year. The labor would be for public projects and military service.
Because rents ran as high as one-half to two-thirds of the crop during the Han Dynasty, more peasants fell into poverty and had to sell out large landlords and work as tenants or sharecroppers on the estates.
Family and Household Production
Slaves in the cities during the Roman Empire worked in their owners' households but also were skilled as artisans, teachers, doctors, business agents, entertainers, and actors. The slaves would serve their masters and help to produce fain, olive oil, and wine. These products were also exported.
Peasants living in China during 500 BCE- 500 CE lived in households to support their families. Occasionally, the peasants would make enough to sell something on the local market. The peasants hard and strenuous work rewarded the elite by providing goods and services for them.
Sources
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<http://archive.school.eb.com/eb/article-32120>.
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