The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-06

! thousands upon thousands of slaves? From
every conquered land, from Britain to
Asia Minor, from Northern Gaul-France
to Africa. But Asia was the source from
which most of them were drawn. Ne
groes, who were comparatively rare in
Rome, were, as an author has said, "arti-
cles of luxury"
Slaves who came from Asia usually had
their ears bored, the hole being a mark
of servitude. When slave had been for
some time with a family and had proved
his trustworthiness, he was appointed
what We may call a school slave, that is,
he accompanied his little masters 10
school and watched over them as a pa
rent.
Now the question arises, How were
these poor creatures treated? In very
early times, when they were few in num-
beryand the tastes and habits of the Ro-
mans were simple, their lot, while painful
and humiiating, as all bondage is, was
not so bad as 1t became when thousands
of slaves took the place of hundreds, when
frugality and simplicity gave way to lux
ury and pOmp, when increase of power
and spread of empire made even individual
Romans naughty and arrogant, when wild
BEAST combats and gladiatorial butcheries
had either blunted or destroyed gentle
and kindly feelings.
In the earlier days slaves often took
their meals in the room with their master
ana his family, sitting on benches placed
at the end of the family table, their food
being on a lower board They had the
privilege of Offering prayers and thanks
giving to their gods in company with their
owners; but with the growth of power
ana wealth and the increase in the num-
per OF slaves, all this passed awav and
the b0ndman became merely an article of
prosperity, like a house or a chair. re-
garded only in the light of usefulness and
labor.
ne received once a month in some
houses oally in others, an allowance of
Ioou' winch consisted of the meal of a
gram called far and a small measure Of
salt and oil. Now and then, when the
master was in a good humor, his slaves
received also little wine and fruit: meat
ana vegetables were luxuries they sell
dom enjoyed
Iheir lives were dreary, monotonous and
often filled only with toll and punishments
FOR long period the master could punish
ms slaves, even to the extent of killing
snem. Slight offenses were followed by
stern punishment regulated only by the
whlm or caprice of rage of the master
Graver misdeeds brought upon the poor
slaves the torture of being hung up by the
hands while weights were tied to the feet:
OF having to carry on the neck, wherever
they went, wooden instrument called
furca, shaped thus: V or II, while they
were beaten with rods as they walk I'd !;
of being forced to fight with wild beasts
ana OF other cruelties which the ingenuity
of hendish masters could invent.
If slave tried to escape his bitter lot
by running away and was caught, in ad-
ditlon to receiving other punishment, his
forehead was branded and he was ever
afterward known as a ',branded slave"
Sometimes the inhuman barbarity of a
master provoked one or more of his slaves
to kill him. Then, as the law once stood
all the fellow slaves, innocent or guilty
were executed. Commonly they were slap
ped and beaten with rods so often that
they ceased to care for these things. We
learn from three celebrated Latin authors
that ladies' maids had a dreadful life
They hardly ever assisted at the toilets
of their mistresses without receiving slaps,
being scratched in the face, or having a
needle stuck into their flesh.
A brighter side to the dark picture was
that quite frequently slaves obtained their
freedom Now and then bondman show
ed an especial aptitude for business, for
acting, for medicine, ETC., and then the
master occasionally let him go forth into
the world and make money, a part OF
which he was generally allowed to retain
After he had accumulated considerable
sum, he could purchase his freedom. In
those days, as in succeeding ages, there
were many kind masters, who treated
their slaves humanely, and some who
freed them without price. Cicero and the
younger Pliny were especially gentle in
their conduct toward their bondmen, ane
even wrote of them and to them affec-
tionately. But the spread of Christianity
the influence of the Christ's teaching and
his disciples work, did more to alleviate
their sad lot than all other things. Many
of the slaves of Rome embraced the faith
of the church, and many, too, witnessed
their faith in the amphiteather.
But although hundreds were contented
in the kind treatment of masters thou
sands were miserable and hated their mas
tiers. with the bitterness of death. A few
were probably philosophers, and agreed
with the conclusion of a great Roman
poet:
1T is hard; but whatever it is impossf-
Bile to alter is made lighter by patient en-
durance."