The main function of the slave state ( as of all other exploit er systems ) was the suppression of the exploited . In order to capture new slaves the slave states waged constant wars , plundering the defeated peoples , turning them into tributaries or slaves . Herein lies the second function of any state based on the exploitation of man by man : the expansion of its ter ritory . The state carries out its functions with the aid of a state apparatus . To begin with , the state adopted some clan and tribal institutions ; however , they no longer reflected the interests of the entire clan or tribe but only those of a small group of clan elders and tribal chieftains who eventually became hereditary rulers . The military force of the primitive communal system was composed of all the able - bodied mem bers of the clan , while in a slave system there appeared a new force , removed from the people and standing in oppo sition to it : a paid army whose duty it was to defend the rapacious , egotistic interests of the slave - owners . The courts appeared in like manner , the guardians of the interests of an insignificant part of society , the slave - owners , not the interests of society as a whole . The clergy were an integral part of the state apparatus , as were the overseers , guards , scribes , collectors of duties , taxes , etc. The former division of the population along lines of blood relationship was now supplanted by an administrative and territorial division .
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