DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5625#0330
Degeneration in City and Country 297
to the republic, for they had tasted the power of kings without
tlle restraints of Roman law and Roman republican institutions
to hamper them.
The evils of the new wealth were not less evident outside of 587. Growth
r?r\ v*. of great es-
v°rne. It was not thought proper for a Roman senator or noble tates; decline
to undertake commercial enterprises or to engage in any busi- fj^ sma"
ness. The most respectable form of wealth was lands. Hence
*e successful Roman noble or capitalist bought farm after farm,
which he combined into a great estate or plantation. Only here
and there were still to be found groups of the little farms of
tlle good old Roman days. Large portions of Italy were in this
c°ndition. The small farm seemed in a fair way to disappear.
It was impossible for a wealthy landowner to work these 588. Cap-
py« 4. 1 1 i- j tives of war
51 eat estates with free, hired labor. Nor was he obliged to as slaves
^° so. From the close of the Hannibalian War onward the
•Roman conquests had brought to Italy great numbers of
CaPtives of war. These unhappy prisoners were sold as slaves.
The estates of Italy were now filled with them. The life of
Such slaves on the great plantations which they worked was
little better than that of beasts. When the supply of captives
from the wars failed, the Roman government winked at the
Practices of slave pirates, who carried on wholesale kidnaping
lri the ^Egean and eastern Mediterranean for years.
Thus Italy and Sicily were fairly flooded with slaves. The 589. Slave
hr i 1 1111 revolts and
urutal treatment which they received was so unbearable that at disorders
Various places in Italy they finally rose against their masters.
central and southern Sicily the revolting slaves gathered some
Slxty thousand in number, slew their masters, captured towns,
and set up a kingdom. It required a Roman consul at the head
°f an army and a war lasting several years to subdue them.
Slave labor and the great wars were meantime destroying 590. pe-
tlle small farmers of Italy. Never has there been an age in f^s'"^01
which the terrible and desolating results of war have so tragi- g™j Jj^nr
cally revealed the awful cost of military glory. Fathers and
elder sons had been absent from home for years holding their
to the republic, for they had tasted the power of kings without
tlle restraints of Roman law and Roman republican institutions
to hamper them.
The evils of the new wealth were not less evident outside of 587. Growth
r?r\ v*. of great es-
v°rne. It was not thought proper for a Roman senator or noble tates; decline
to undertake commercial enterprises or to engage in any busi- fj^ sma"
ness. The most respectable form of wealth was lands. Hence
*e successful Roman noble or capitalist bought farm after farm,
which he combined into a great estate or plantation. Only here
and there were still to be found groups of the little farms of
tlle good old Roman days. Large portions of Italy were in this
c°ndition. The small farm seemed in a fair way to disappear.
It was impossible for a wealthy landowner to work these 588. Cap-
py« 4. 1 1 i- j tives of war
51 eat estates with free, hired labor. Nor was he obliged to as slaves
^° so. From the close of the Hannibalian War onward the
•Roman conquests had brought to Italy great numbers of
CaPtives of war. These unhappy prisoners were sold as slaves.
The estates of Italy were now filled with them. The life of
Such slaves on the great plantations which they worked was
little better than that of beasts. When the supply of captives
from the wars failed, the Roman government winked at the
Practices of slave pirates, who carried on wholesale kidnaping
lri the ^Egean and eastern Mediterranean for years.
Thus Italy and Sicily were fairly flooded with slaves. The 589. Slave
hr i 1 1111 revolts and
urutal treatment which they received was so unbearable that at disorders
Various places in Italy they finally rose against their masters.
central and southern Sicily the revolting slaves gathered some
Slxty thousand in number, slew their masters, captured towns,
and set up a kingdom. It required a Roman consul at the head
°f an army and a war lasting several years to subdue them.
Slave labor and the great wars were meantime destroying 590. pe-
tlle small farmers of Italy. Never has there been an age in f^s'"^01
which the terrible and desolating results of war have so tragi- g™j Jj^nr
cally revealed the awful cost of military glory. Fathers and
elder sons had been absent from home for years holding their