An odd question, I work at a school that is predominantly Greek. We’re currently up to the Ottoman Empire and have just covered the fall of Constantinople in 1453.

A student then asked me if we were going to cover the “400 years of slavery under Ottoman rule”. I gave a muddled answer, as honestly whilst imperialism is never fun for the oppressed, I was under the impression that it wasn’t the worst experience. They got to keep their religion and a lot of rights when compared to say Muslims and Jews in other parts of Europe or the experience of Indigenous people globally.

So simple question: did the experience of Greeks under Ottoman rule warrant the term “400 years of slavery”?