Even before the Peloponnesian War got under weigh, in 431 B.C., the polis had, it seems, put a production tax on the output of the mine slaves. When the war ended and peace was made with the Spartans, mine output at Laurion urgently needed to return to prewar levels if the ailing economy was to recover and Athens to begin minting coinage. And there was outstanding business. Reparations had to be made; imports of wine, olive oil, and pottery to be paid for. Shortly before the war ended, in 406 B.C., silver ran short and the Athenians were forced to mint coins of copper. Only after the first decade of the fourth century B.C. did things improve. |
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The Dekelian War was a severe blow to mine working: it gave slaves a chance to change sides. Just how many slaves ran away to the Lacedaemonian camp from 413 B.C. (when Dekeleia was occupied) to 409 B.C. (when the Athenians fortified the Laurion district), cannot be calculated exactly; but of the twenty thousand escapees, the greater proportion were, it is believed, runaway slaves.
At any rate, the mines never stopped working during the Dekelian War, though obviously with a reduced labour force. And when the Peloponnesian War eventually ended? It was no easy matter for the Athenians to replace the escapees. There was no longer sufficient capital to buy slaves. Most people preferred to invest in maritime loans, chiefly because these made it easier for them to conceal their money from the tax collector. This became of particular importance after 405 B.C. The tribute from the allied cities was no longer there to shield the well-to-do from the institution of the eisphora. Furthermore, the mines had ceased to work intensively in 413 B.C. and thereafter. If they were to resume production, new galleries would have to be opened - a costly and risky business.
In the mid-fourth century, the mining of the mines was intensified. Our main sources for this are lease inscriptions. In the year 367/6 B.C. alone, for instance, there were seventeen cases of lessees.
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