The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-04-06
SLAVERY IN ANCIENT ROME.
Where the Slaves Came From and
Their Duties in Life.


A. P. Montague in Youths Companion.
Picture to yourself an ancient city
adorned with splendid temples, lofty COL
umns, arches and palaces; in the center of
this city an open space; in this long, fiat
stone or a wooden platform upon which
number of men stand, each with chalked
feet and bearing on his neck a scroll. Upon
one of these scrolls is written:
This man is from Cappadocia he is fit
ted to bear a litter; he has no disease;
there is in him no disposition to steal
run away or kill himself"
The city is Rome, the time nearly TWEEN,
tys centuries ago, and the scene is the
slave market.
The men who stand upon the platform
furnish a strange study. In the face of one
can be seen an indescrlbable sadness, a
look of unutterable longing for the little
home far away, it may be among the
green hills of Mysia, the plains of Syria,
or on the banks of the swift-aowlng
Rhine. There wife and little ones await
the husband and father whom the grim
chance of war has borne perhaps forever,
from their sight. Another looks with dumb
entreaty into the careless, laughing faces
and sees only curiosity mingled with con-
tempt. Still another, whose towering fig
ure and proud ,mien betoken the chieftain
in his native wilds, returns the glances
cast upon him with an air of naughty in
difference.
The auctioneer, used to these scenes and
grown callous in his vile trade, sells the
poor captives, some for 500 drachmae
about $50 apiece, others for perhaps more.
If any handsome youths are on the block,
and some rich Roman thinks that they
will adorn his dining room or grace his
CT tpaip fhaxY hVtVN
10000 sesterces, about $780,. each.
If Roman moved into a new neighbour
hood, and the old residents asked ques-
tons concerning him, the first inquiry al
ways was, How many slaves does he
feed?" According to the number of these
they gagged his standing in society.
If he possessed only fifty, he was re-
garded as Occupying moderate positions;
but if he owned 5000 slaves, his social
status was established beyond cavil. To
have fewer than ten was not to be thought
of for a moment. Some families owned so
many slaves, and these at times became
so noisy that special slave officers were
appointed, whose sole duty was to go
hither and thither in the house and keep
order.
Wealthy men nearly always had elegant
houses in the city and superb villas In
the country or at the seashore. They had
also two distinct classes of slaves the
city set and the country force. We must
suppose that the urban slaves gave them
selves great airs and held themselves far
above the rustics on occasions when they
accompanied their master to his rural es-
tate.
In the houses of the wealthy the slaves
We're divided into several classes or grades
the distinction between which was as rig
IDLY observed as the various degrees in
society. First came the chief slave, who
had control of the household under the
owner, and others who had charge of the
various departments of the domestic sys-
tenn, such as the manager of moneys and
accounts, the superintendent of the store
room and wine cellar, the silence max
er," already mentioned, who was a sort
of high-class policeman
We nnd, also, among the upper slaves
doctors and surgeons, who practiced unon
the family and domestics alike; teachers
who instructed the children of the house
readers, who amused the master and his
guests at banquets or who read simDlv
Tor the family circle or for the lord of
the house when he took a bath; copyists
men who wrote "a fair hand" and acted
as private secretaries for their owners:
actors, who enlivened entertainments by
playing scenes from standard dramas.
tumblers, vaulters, rope-dancers and dane
ers "in ordinary gladiators, who fought
CdVH OlllSI OF dHyDOuy VINO wanted to
fight buffoons and fools, who gave cspe-
cial delight; and even deformed creatures
and dwarfs, the possession of whom gave
to family particular eclat in society
All of these slaves enjoyed. to limited
extent, the confidence of their master, and
had at least, the distinction of being
known TO him personally. The great
crowd of lower servants performed all
sorts of mental duties. Among these was
he Nul,n
ed to post at the entrance of the mouse
to prevent him from running away and
whose duty was 10 attend to the front
of the premises, to let some people In and
to keep others out. Then there were nak-
ers and meat cooks walters and room
cleaners, htter-bearers and "step-follow-
ers," who accompanied the master when
he took a walk or paid visit.
Among the most important of the COM
mon slaves was 1.-The nomenclator" or
name caller. whose special fuction was to
go about with his owner and act as "a
walking dictionary of proper names. In
other words, his work was TO tell his mas
ter the names and social status of all
those whom they met, who happened TO be
unknown to the master or whom he had
forgotten.
In Rome nearly every man of social
prominence was a candidate for some Of
flee, and SO the Importance of slaves of
this class can be seen at once. They pos
sessed wonderful memories. on account of
having to cultivate them so assiduously;
but sometimes they forgot a name, and to
avoid the punishment sure TO follow an
admission of ignorance made up, in the
twinkling of an eve, the appellation, and
IL called upon TO do so, the genealogical
tree of the unknown. Their falsehOod |
may have caused the master to lose a |
vote, but it saved them a whipping
Whence did the Romans obtain their |