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, but 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 right 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 view 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. The fact that these borrowers are not legally able to purchase land allows this practice to perpetuate across generations. Because they are under contract and entered into the agreement of their free will, the practice 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 called a contract-holder or redemptore, and a contractually bound slave is called a teneantur - literally meaning "one who is bound to". The maximum length of a cautio contract is 5 years with a single contract-holder; a teneantur may enter up to five total contracts at once. Most teneanturi serve as personal retainers and domestic servants, and most received a modest monthly salary that could be supplemented by earnings gained outside regular working hours. Out-resident teneanturi resided at a distance and were little different 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 household nobi. In rural Caphiria, teneanturi are assigned two pieces of agricultural land, with the resulting produce from the first land paid to the master, and the produce from the second land kept by the slave to consume or sell. In order 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.