In Ancient Greece, slaves were not chosen by their race or ethnicity, they were selected because of their social standing and how much debt the people were in. The slaves of this time were the same race and color as their owners, but the difference was how much money one had and how much land one owned. From an economical point of view, the slaves needed to be the hardest workers that could get the job done efficiently without questions. The impoverished colonists were the ones who had their lives to work for, while the wealthy landowners did not have to take part in any work. The owners of the slaves profited greatly from the work that the slaves did, no matter how much the slave costed to begin with. The slave could have possibly costed 2,500 sestertii, the Roman currency, but having a slave still profited the owner more than not having a slave. The Ancient World needed slavery to salvage what they could of their colonies or else there would be nothing to stand