The sun., 1909-02-28

MUG have been the multitids Of thsp,
In 4be city alone.
uis. however. quite impossible 10 max.
even q probable estimate OF the total
nu mber In Rome; the data are not forth.
coming. A German student Of the subject
Beloch, In his Bevolkerung. remarks that
though some families owned hundreds Of
slaves the number Of sioh families was
not large. quoting the words OF Philinpus
Tribune In is4 b. c., TO the effect that
there were not more than 1000 person,
of any substance in the State. Ths
great majority Of citizens living In Rome
had therefore, he thinks, no slaves
Assuming the whole free population to
have been about half million In the time
Of Augustus. including perigrini, or
resident aliens. our author arrives at a
slave population Of something like $50. 900;
but after all this is only guess.
Az to the effect OF the abundance OF
slave labor on the social economy Of thu
free population Mr.. Fowler points ou,
that we hear OF no outbreak Of feeling
against slave labor which might suggest
a rivalry between the two kinds OF work
paid and unpaid. In Cioero's time slave
labor seems to have filled the gap created
by abnormal circumstances. and did
not oust free labor entirely, though il
tended constantly to cramp II and doubt
less started notions OF work In general
which helped to degrade IL. On tho whole
Mr.. Fowler is Of the opinion that the
introduction of slave labor on a large
scale did valuable service TO Italian agri.
culture In the last century. b. c., by con.
tributing the material for its revival
at q time when the necessary free labor
could not have been found. In other
words he is convinced that the economic
history OF Italy when 1t comes to be
written will have TO give slavery credit
at this particular juncture for an ap-
preciable amount Of benefit.
As to the political aspect of Roman
slavery, It is hard to realize that the city
" Rome contained at least 200 900 human
beings over whom the State had no di.
rect control whatever. All such crimes,
serious or petty. as are now tried and dis.
posed of in criminal courts were then, IL
committed by a slave. punishable only
by his master. In other words the juris-
diction to which the slave was RESPONSE
BILE was private. like that OF the great
feudsl lord Of the Middle Ages who
had his own prison and his own gallows.
Under the circumstances a large slave.
holder naturally became a serious peril
to the good order Of the capital.
As TO the moral effect Of the system Of
Roman slavery on the slaves themselve,
and on the freemen who owned them
these are almost too obvious to be pointed
out. The fact that in Cioeros time
large proportion OF the population Of
Rome and Of Italy was composed OF human
beings destitute Of all natural ties and OF
all natural means of moral and social de-
yelopment introduced into the Roman
State a poisonous element OF terrible
volume and power. Equally patent is
he misohievous effect Of such a slave
systemi as the Roman upon the slave
class itself. The master OF horde
Of slaves had half his moral sense para
Iyzed because he had no feeling OF re-
sponsibility for the many human beings
with whom he came in contact every hour.
No Latin writer recognized that slave.
we're potentially moral beings until Chris
tianity gave it's sanction to dutiful sub
mission as an act Of morality that might
be consecrated by a divine authority.
The ordinary callousness OF human
nature had. under the baleful influence
,f slavery. become absolute blindness,
nor were mems eyes to be opened until
began TO leaven the world
With the doctrine of universal love-
M. w. H.