joined their masters in offering up thanksgivings and prayer to the gods,[1] and partook of their meals in common with their masters,[2] though not at the same table with them, but upon benches placed at the foot of the couch. But with the increase of numbers, and of luxury among the masters, the ancient simplicity of manners was changed. A certain quantity of food was allowed them, which was granted either monthly or daily. Their chief food was the grain called far, of which the allowance was about one quart per day. They also had an allowance of salt and oil. Meat seems to have been hardly ever given them.
Under the republic, they were not allowed to serve in the army; though after the battle of Canæ, when the state was in such imminent danger, 8000 slaves were purchased by the state for the army, and subsequently manumitted on account of their bravery.[3]
The offenses of slaves were punished with severity, and frequently with the utmost barbarity. One of the mildest punishments was that of degrading them in rank, and obliging them to work in fetters. They were frequently beaten with sticks or scourged with the whip; but these were such every-day punishments that many slaves ceased to care for them.
Runaway slaves (fugitivi) and thieves were branded on the forehead with a mark. Slaves were also punished by being hung up by their hands, with weights attached to their feet, or by being sent to the ergastulum, or private prison, to work in chains. The toilet of the Roman ladies was a dreadful ordeal to the female slaves, who were often barbarously punished by their mistresses for the slightest mistake in the arrangement of the hair or a part of the dress. Masters might work their slaves as many hours in the day as they pleased, but they usually allowed them holidays on the public festivals. At the festival of Saturnus, in particular, special indulgences were granted to all slaves. This festival fell towards the end of December, at the season when the agricultural labors of the year were fully completed. It was celebrated in ancient times by the rustic population as a sort of joyous harvest home, and in every age was viewed by all classes of the community as a period of absolute relaxation and unrestrained merriment. During its continuance no public business could be transacted; the law courts were closed; the schools kept holiday; to commence a war was impious; to punish a malefactor involved pollution. Special indulgences were granted to the slaves of each domestic establishment; they were relieved from all ordinary toils, were permitted to wear the badge of freedom, were granted full freedom of speech, partook of a banquet attired in the clothes of their masters, who waited upon them at table.[4]
There was no distinctive dress for slaves. It was once proposed in the Senate to give slaves a distinctive costume, but it was rejected, as it was considered
