The slave must submit to all the
whims of his master; the Romans declare, even, that he is to have no
conscience, his only duty is blind obedience. If he resists, if he
flees, the state assists the master to subdue or recover him; the man
who gives refuge to a fugitive slave renders himself liable to the
charge of theft, as if he had taken an ox or a horse belonging to
another.
=Number of Slaves.=--Slaves were far more numerous than free men. Rich
citizens owned 10,000 to 20,000 of them,[132] some having enough of
them to constitute a real army. We read of Caecilius Claudius Isidorius
who had once been a slave and came to possess more than 4,000 slaves.
Horace, who had seven slaves, speaks of his modest patrimony. Having
but three was in Rome a mark of poverty.
=Urban Slaves.=--The Roman nobles, like the Orientals of our day,
delighted in surrounding themselves with a crowd of servants. In a
great Roman house lived hundreds of slaves, organized for different
services. There were slaves to care for the furniture, for the silver
plate, for the objects of art; slaves of the wardrobe, valets and
chambermaids, the troop of cooks, the slaves of the bath, the master
of the house and his aids, the slaves to escort the master and
mistress on the street, the litter-carriers, coachmen and grooms,
secretaries, readers, copyists, physicians, teachers, actors,
musicians, artisans of every kind, for in every great house grain was
ground, flax was spun, and garments were woven.
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