Page "Bankruptcy" Paragraph 4

In Ancient Greece, bankruptcy did not exist.

If a man owed and he could not pay, he and his wife, children or servants were forced into " debt slavery ", until the creditor recouped losses via their physical labour.

Many city-states in ancient Greece limited debt slavery to a period of five years and debt slaves had protection of life and limb, which regular slaves did not enjoy.

However, servants of the debtor could be retained beyond that deadline by the creditor and were often forced to serve their new lord for a lifetime, usually under significantly harsher conditions.