Slavery in Caphiria

Slavery in Caphiria is a legal and significant part of traditional Caphirian society and culture. Slavery has existed in Caphiria since antiquity - giving it the longest unbroken chain of slavery of any society in history, spanning about 1,500 years. Still, it was transformed significantly from the Third Imperium onward as slavery came to play a diminished role in the economy. Laws gradually diminished the power of slaveholders and improved the rights of slaves by restricting a master’s freedom to abuse, prostitute, expose, and murder slaves. Under the influence of Christianity, views of slavery shifted: by the 10th-century, slaves were viewed as potential citizens (the slave as a subject) rather than property or chattel (the slave as an object). Some scholars consider the Caphirian system of slavery as serfdom; the nature of Caphirian slavery is a source of debate.

The modern practice of slavery today is a complex form of debt bondage known as cautio: members of the upper class may give out loans to members of the plebeian class - or more often to the indigeni and peregrini classes - and they enter into an agreement that the debt will be paid through labor. These borrowers are not legally able to purchase land, allowing this practice to perpetuate across generations. Because they are under contract and entered into the agreement of their free will, however, it is not viewed in the same manner as chattel slavery or traditional "enslavement." Hence, some scholars argue that it is inappropriate to call them "slaves," while some scholars describe them as serfs.

A slaver is known as a redemptore (contract-holder), and a contractually bound slave is called a teneantur - literally meaning "one who is bound to." The maximum length of a cautio contract is five years with a single contract-holder; a teneantur may enter up to five total agreements at once. Most teneanturi serve as personal retainers and domestic servants, and most receive a modest monthly salary that could be supplemented by earnings gained outside regular working hours. Out-resident teneanturi resided at a distance and differed little from tenant farmers or commoners. They were registered officially as independent family units and possessed their own houses, families, land, and fortunes. Out-resident teneanturi were far more numerous than the nobles who owned them. In rural Caphiria, teneanturi are assigned two pieces of agricultural land, with the resulting product from the first land paid to the master and the produce from the second land kept by the slave to consume or sell. To gain freedom, teneanturi can serve out the time on their contract, purchase it, earn it through military service, or receive it as a favor from the government.

Cautio system
The cautio system was first proposed in 1964 by Titum Vukmirko Visanesigià - a Consul of Caphiria, economist, and political theorist. He developed it to respond to the modern world's universal repugnance towards slavery and as the League of Nations campaigned to outlaw slavery worldwide. Titum wanted to preserve the ancient traditions of Caphiria while bringing the slave trade up to a standard fit for the modern age.

Under the cautio system, the maximum age an individual can be to sign a cautio contract is 80 years old, and the entire length of a cautio contract is five years with a single contract-holder; a teneantur may enter up to five total agreements at once, however.

Titum also developed the aequatio animae, often simply called the "formula for the soul's worth." This formula is part of Caphiria's double taxation system on the slave trade; a high uniform sales tax - 33.3% - is applied as well as an annual per capita tax that is based on the aequatio animae formula; the procedure is complex and includes factors such as market price, the slave's age, the duration of the contract, as well as extracting their theoretical maximal productive capability. The two most critical components of the formula are the "productivity quotient" and "contract quotient." The productivity quotient is a function of the slave's age turned into a decimal, and the contract quotient is a function of how long is left on the contract.

Taxpayers with slaves under an active contract are subject to property taxes on the slave, as well as a $1,000 annual registration fee.