Hoplitæ, or heavy armed, where the discipline was rigorous, and their weapons would have placed them on a level with their oppressors. But even this was sometimes hazarded, as in the reinforcements forwarded to Gyleppus, at Syracuse, when six hundred Neodomades and picked Helots were complimented with this dangerous distinction. As light troops, however, they almost invariably formed the major part of the Lacedæmonian forces. In other countries, where the subject races were treated more humanely, no fear was entertained at entrusting them with arms. Among the Dardanians, for example, where it was not uncommon for a private individual to possess a thousand slaves, they in time of peace cultivated the land, and in war, filled the ranks of the army. Plato, Aristotle, Isocrates, Plutarch, and a number of other writers, agree in convicting the Spartans of great barbarity towards their bondmen, differing, however, as to the degree of that barbarity. The following passage occurs in the work of Myron, of Priene, whose testimony, however, is rejected by Müller: "The Helots perform for the Spartans every ignominious service. They are compelled to wear a cap of dog-skin, and a covering of sheep-skin; and are severely beaten every year, without having committed any fault, in order that they might never forget that they are slaves. In addition to this, those amongst them who, either by their stature or their beauty, raise themselves above the ordinary condition of a slave, are condemned to death, and the masters who do not destroy the most manly of them are liable to punishment." Plutarch relates that "the Helots were compelled to intoxicate themselves, and perform indecent dances, as a warning to the Spartan youth." From other authors it appears that it was the constant policy of Sparta to demoralize the Helots. They were commanded to sing obscene songs, and dance indecent jigs, while the Pyrrhic dance, and every warlike lay were forbidden them. It is related, that when the Thebans invaded Laconia and made prisoners a number of Helots, they commanded them to sing some of the songs of Sparta; but the Helots professed their inability, observing that the acquisition of those lays was forbidden them. In short, to adopt the words of Theopompos, they were at all times cruelly and bitterly treated. Critias observes, that, as the freemen of Sparta were of all men the most free, so were the serfs of Sparta of all slaves the most slavish. They were deluded, sometimes, from the protection of sanctuary by perjury, and then assassinated in contempt of oaths and religion. But all this harsh usage was mild, compared with other injuries which the laws of Sparta inflicted on them. We allude to the institution of the Crypteia. Isocrates describes this annual massacre of the Helots, and, with Aristotle, he attributes to the Ephori, magistrates, the direction of this servile war, in which the reins of slaughter were loosed or tightened by their authority. Plutarch says: "According to this ordinance, the Crypteia, the rulers, selecting from among the youths those most distinguished for ability, sent them forth armed with daggers and furnished with the necessary provisions to scour the country, separating and conceal ing themselves by day, in unfrequented places, but issuing out at night and slaughtering all such of the Helots as they found abroad. Sometimes, indeed, they fell upon them while engaged in the labors of the fields, and then cut off the best and bravest of the race." Flowing from the same policy, and designed to effect the same purpose, were those extensive massacres recorded in history, by one of which more than two thousand of those unhappy men, having been insidiously deluded into the assertion of sentiments conformable to the gallant actions they had performed in the service of the state, were removed in a day. Lulled by the gift of freedom, crowned with garlands, smiled upon, they were conducted to the temples, as if to implicate the very gods in the treachery, and then they disappeared. Their fate was never revealed. Every year, on taking office, the magistrates formally declared war against their unarmed and unhappy slaves, "that they might be massacred under pretence of law." It seems reasonable to believe that these oppressions kindled those bloody servile wars which Sparta could not quench without foreign aid. The Spartans were, in fact, during many years, prevented from disputing with the Athenians the supremacy in Greece, by contests with their own vassals. On the occasion of the great earthquake, when nearly every house in Sparta was shaken to the ground, the Helots rejoiced at the calamity, and flocked to the environs of the city from the whole country around, in order to put an end to their tyrants as they were escaping in terror from their tottering habitations. It is known that the Helots were a constant source of terror to their masters, that whenever occasion offered, they revolted,-whenever an enemy to the state appeared, they joined him,-that they fled whenever flight was possible, and were so numerous and so bold, that Sparta was compelled, in her treaties with foreign states, to stipulate "for aid against her own subjects."* The Spartans appear to have possessed other slaves besides the oppressed Helots, with whom they have often been confounded. These were not viewed with equal dread, since they were brought together from various countries, and had no common bond of union. Many of this class were enfranchised, and rose to the rank of citizens. Another class of persons, commonly ranked among the Laconian slaves, were the Mothaces, whose origin, rank and condition it is difficult to determine. Athenæus observes, that, although not Lacedæmonians, they were free. Müller, alluding to this passage, says they are called free in reference to their future, not their past, condition. The words of Philarchos are: "The Mothaces were the brother-like companions of the Lacedæmonians. For every youthful citizen, according to his means, chose one, two, or more of these to be brought up with him; and notwithstanding that they enjoyed not the rank of citizens, they were free, and participated in all the advantages of the national education. Lysander, who defeated the * Muller-Dorians, ii, 43. Athenians at sea, was one of this class, and was raised for his valor to the rank of citizen." Lycurgus laid much less stress on birth and blood, than on that steadiness and patience of toil, which are the first qualities of a soldier. Whoever from childhood upward gave proof of these, by submitting without a murmur to the rigorous trial he enjoined on the youth of Sparta, was elevated in the end to the rank of a citizen; while they who shrunk from the severity of his discipline, even though they had descended from royal blood, sunk into a state of degradation, or were even confounded with the Helots. The Thessalians denominated Penestæ, not those who were born in servitude, but persons who were made captives in war. In Crete, the servile caste was divided into many classes: first, those of the cities, who were "bought with gold," as their name implied, and were doubtless barbarians; second, those of the country, who were bound to the estates of the landed gentry; these were the aboriginal tribes reduced to servitude by their foreign conquerors. In condition they resembled the Helots. Thirdly, there existed in every state in Crete, a class of public bondsmen, who cultivated the public lands, upon what conditions is not exactly known. They were sufficiently numerous and powerful to inspire their masters with dread, as is evident by the regulation which excluded them from the gymnasia, and prohibited the use of arms. In the city of Cydonia during certain festivals of Hermes, the slaves were left masters of the place, into which no free citizen had permission to enter; and if he infringed this regulation, they had the power to chastise him with whips. In other parts of Crete, customs similar to those of the Roman Saturnalia prevailed; for, while the slaves in the Hermæan festival were carousing and taking their ease, their lords, in the guise of domestics, waited upon them at table, and performed in their stead all other menial offices. Something of the same kind took place during the month Gerœstion, at Trozen, where the citizens feasted their slaves on one particular day of the great annual festival, and played at dice with them. Among the Babylonians we find a similar custom; for, during the Sacæan festival, which lasted five days, the masters waited on their slaves, one of whom, habited in a royal robe, enacted the part of king. It is stated that the condition and treatment of the Cretan serfs, were better than in any other Doric state; and that the Pericci of Crete never revolted against their masters. The serfs of the Syracusans were so exceedingly numerous that their numDers became a proverb. They would seem to have dwelt chiefly in the country. In process of time their multitude inspired them with courage; they assaulted and drove out their masters, and retained possession of Syracuse. Respecting the servile classes in other Grecian states, our information is scanty. The corresponding class among the Arcadians is said to have amounted to three hundred thousand in number. Their treatment was probably more lenient than in some other parts of Greece, as at public festivals we find them sitting at the same table, eating the same food, and drinking from the same cup with their masters. CHAPTER IV. SLAVERY IN ROME. Slavery under the kings and in the early ages of the Republic.-Its spread, and effect on the poorer class of Freemen.-The Licinian law.-Prevalence of the two extremes, immense wealth and abject poverty.-Immense number of Slaves in Sicily.-They revolt. -Eunus, their leader.-Their arms.-Horrible atrocities committed by them.-The insurrection crushed.-Fate of Eunus.-Increase of Slaves in Rome. Their employment in the arts.-Numbers trained for the Amphitheatre.-The Gladiators rebel.-Spartacus, his history.-Laws passed to restrain the cruelty of masters.-Effects of Christianity on their condition.-Their numbers increased by the invasion of northern hordes. -Sale of prisoners of war into slavery.-Slave-dealers follow the armies.-Foreign Slave trade. Slave auctions.-The Slave markets.-Value of Slaves at different periods.-Slaves owned by the State, and their condition and occupations.-Private Slaves, their grades and occupations.-Treatment of Slaves, public and private.-Punishment of offenses.-Fugitives and Criminals. Festival of Saturnus, their privileges.-Their dress.—Their sepulchres.-The Gladiators, their combats. SLAVES OLAVES existed at Rome in the earliest times of which we have any record; but they do not appear to have been numerous under the kings and in the earliest ages of the Republic. The different trades and the mechanic arts were chiefly carried on by the clients of the patricians; and the small farms in the country were cultivated for the most part by the labors of the proprietor and of his family. But as the territories of the Roman state were extended, the patricians obtained possession of large estates out of the public domain; since it was a practice of the Romans to deprive a conquered people of a part of their lands. These estates required a larger number of hands for their cultivation than could readily be obtained among the free population, and since the freemen were constantly liable to be called away from their work to serve in the armies, the lands began to be cultivated almost entirely by slave labor. Through war and commerce, slaves could be obtained easily, and at a cheap rate, and their numbers soon became so great, that the poorer class of freemen was thrown almost entirely out of employment. This state of things was one of the chief arguments used by Licinius and the Gracchi for limiting the quantity of public land which a person might possess. In the Licinian Rogations there was a provision that a certain number of freemen should be employed on every estate. This regulation, however, was of little avail, as the lands still continued to be cultivated almost exclusively by slaves. The elder Gracchus, in traveling through Italy, was led to observe the evils which slavery inflicted upon the provinces of his country. The great body of the people were impoverished. Instead of little farms studding the country with their pleasant aspect, and nursing an independent race, he beheld nearly all the lands of Italy monopolized by large proprietors; and the plow was in the hands of slaves. This was one hundred and thirty-four years before the Christian era. The palaces of the wealthy towered in solitary grandeur: the freemen hid themselves in miserable hovels. Deprived of the dignity of proprietors, they were compelled to labor in competition with slaves Excepting with the im mensely rich, and the feeble and decreasing class of independent husbandmen, poverty was extreme. This state of things existed at a time when Rome was considered mistress of the world, and the rulers of Egypt had exalted the Romans above the immortal gods. In the latest times of the republic, we find that Julius Cæsar attempted a remedy, to some extent, by enacting that of those persons who attended to cattle, a third, at least, should be freemen. In Sicily, which supplied Rome with so great a quantity of corn, the number of agricultural slaves was immense. The oppressions to which they were exposed, drove them twice to rebellion, and their numbers enabled them to defy, for a time, the Roman power. The first of these servile wars began in B. C. 134, and lasted two years; the second commenced thirty years later, and lasted four years. The Sicilians treated their slaves with extraordinary rigor, branding them like cattle, and compelling them to toil incessantly for their masters. The history of the revolt offers numerous points of resemblance to that of Chios, already related; though Eunus, the leader of the Sicilian slaves, cannot be compared with Drimacos, either for character or abilities. Eunus, by visions and pretended prophecies, excited the slaves to insurrection; and his conduct, and that of his followers, when they took possession of the city of Euna, presented a striking contrast to the moderation of the Chian slaves. They pillaged the houses, and, without distinction of age or sex, slaughtered the inhabitants, plucking infants from their mother's breasts, and dashing them on the ground. The number of the insurgents at one time amounted to 60,000 men, who, armed with axes, slings, stakes, and cooking spits, defeated several armies. Pursuing them, however, without relaxation, the state at length prevailed, utterly crushed the insurrection, and carried Eunus a prisoner to Rome, where, according to Plutarch, he was devoured by vermin. Long after it had become the custom to employ large gangs of slaves in the cultivation of the land, the number of those who served as personal attendants was very small. Persons in good circumstances seem usually to have had only one to wait upon them, who was generally called by the name of the master. But during the latter times of the republic and under the empire, the number of domestic slaves greatly increased, and in every family of importance there were separate slaves to attend to all the duties of domestic life. It was considered a reproach to a man not to keep a considerable number of slaves. The first question asked respecting a person's fortune, was an inquiry as to the number of his slaves. Horace seems to speak of ten slaves as the lowest number which a person in tolerable circumstances ought to keep. The immense number of prisoners taken in the constant wars of the republic, and the increase of wealth and luxury, augmented the number of slaves to a prodigious extent. The statement of Athenæus that very many Romans possessed 10,000 and 20,000 slaves, and even more, is probably an exaggeration; but a freedman ander Augustus, who had lost much property in the civil wars, left at his death |