Crassus

What Dominique Pagani says

Dominique Pagani retains only one fact about Crassus, which he takes up from one session to another between 2015 and 2020: this man alone owned ten thousand slaves1. He presents him as a member of the triumvirate2 and cites this figure as a striking example of the excess of wealth in Rome. He does not stop at the observation, however: he sees in it an inequality that cannot hold3. If these ten thousand slaves united, they would be stronger than their master4. The master therefore finds himself in a position of weakness in relation to those he dominates5. The example comes back in different contexts: the series "Between Crisis and War: To Philosophize?", a session devoted to Hegel and another to Ibn Battûta. From one occasion to the next, the emphasis shifts from the bare figure to what it reveals about the fragility of the relation of domination.

1. 1#1.3 Entre crise et guerre : Philosopher ?14 Sept 2015 · 1:25:50
2. 2#1.8 Entre crise et guerre : Philosopher ?28 Jan 2016 · 1:07:04
3. 3#2.2 Entre crise et guerre : Philosopher ?15 Feb 2016 · 1:43:01
4. 4Hegel Plage 4/52 Feb 2016 · 2:15:41
5. 5Ibn Battûta19 Feb 2020 · 32:04

Summary produced automatically from 5 of the passages below, to be reviewed; the numbers link to the moment in the session.