The third group that Paul addressed was slaves and masters (cf. 1 Corinthians 7:17-24). Most slaves served in the home in Paul"s day, so this section fits in well with what precedes about other household relationships. Some students of Roman history have estimated that about one-third of the population in the Roman Empire at this time was slaves, approximately60 million individuals. [1] Many of these people were Christians. Most ancient Greeks and Romans regarded slaves as little more than living tools. [2][source]
"Aristotle lays it down that there can never be friendship between master and slave, for master and slave have nothing in common; "for a slave is a living tool, just as a tool is an inanimate slave." A slave was nothing better, and had no more rights, than a tool. Varro, writing on agriculture, divided agricultural instruments into three classes-the articulate, the inarticulate and the mute. The articulate comprises the slaves; the inarticulate the cattle; and the mute the vehicles. The slave is no better than a beast who happens to be able to talk. Cato gives advice to a man taking over a farm. He must go over it and throw out everything that is past its work; and old slaves too must be thrown out on the scrap heap to starve. When a slave is ill it is sheer extravagance to issue him with normal rations. The old and sick slave is only a broken and inefficient tool." [3][source]