Smith, William: A smaller dictionary of Greek and Roman antiquities (London, 1871)

SERVUS.

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SERVUS.

limiting the quantity of public land ■which a
person might possess. In Sicily, which sup-
plied Rome with so great a quantity of corn,
the number of agricultural slaves was im-
mense : the oppressions to which they were
exposed drove them twice to open rebellion,
and their numbers enabled them to defy for
a time the Roman power. The first of these
servile wars began in b. c. 134 and ended in
b. c. 132, and the second commenced in b. c.
102 and lasted almost four years. Long,
however, after it had become the custom to
employ large gangs of slaves in the cultiva-
tion of the land, the number of those who
served as personal attendants still continued
to be small. Persons in good circumstances
seem usually to have had one only to wait
upon them, who was generally called by the
name of his master with the word por (that
is, puer) affixed to it, as Caipor, Lucipor,
Marcipor, Publipor, Quintipor, &c. But
during the latter times of the republic and
under the empire the number of domestic
slaves greatly increased, and in every family
of importance there were separate slaves to
attend to all the necessities of domestic life.
It was considered a reproach to a man not to
keep a considerable number of slaves. The
first question asked respecting a person's
fortune was Quot pascit servos, " How many
slaves does he keep I" Ten slaves seem to
have been the lowest number which a person
could keep in the age of Augustus, with a
proper regard to respectability in society.
The immense number of prisoners taken in
the constant wars of the republic, and the
increase of wealth and luxury, augmented
the number of slaves to a prodigious extent.
A freedman under Augustus, who had lost
much property in the civil wars, left at his
death as many as 4,116. Two hundred was
no uncommon number for one person to keep.
The mechanical arts, which were formerly
in the hands of the clients, were now entirely
exercised by slaves: a natural growth of
things, for where slaves perform certain
duties or practise certain arts, such duties or
arts are thought degrading to a freeman.
It must not be forgotten, that the games of
the amphitheatre required an immense num-
ber of slaves trained for the purpose. [Gla-
diatores.] Like the slaves in Sicily, the
gladiators in Italy rose in b. c. 73 against
their oppressors, and under the able general-
ship of Spartacus, defeated a Roman con-
sular army, and were not subdued till b. c.
71, when 60,000 of them are said to have
fallen in battle.—A slave could not contract
a marriage. His cohabitation with a woman
was contubcrnium; and no legal relation
between him and his children was recognized.

A slave could have no property. He was
not incapable of acquiring property, but his
acquisitions belonged to his master. Slaves
were not only employed in the usual do-
mestic offices and in the labours of the field,
but also as factors or agents for their masters
in the management of business, and as me-
chanics, artisans, and in every branch of
industry. It may easily be conceived that,
under these circumstances, especially as they
were often entrusted with property to a large
amount, there must have arisen a practice of
allowing the slave to consider part of his
gains as his own ; this was his Peculium, a
term also applicable to such acquisitions of a
filiusfamilias as his father allowed him to
consider as his own. [Patria Potestas.]
According to strict law, the peculium was
the property of the master, but according to
usage, it was considered to be the property
of the slave. Sometimes it was agreed be-
tween master and slave, that the slave
should purchase his freedom with his pecu-
lium when it amounted to a certain sum. A
runaway slave (fugitivus) could not lawfully
be received or harboured. The master was
entitled to pursue him wherever he pleased ;
and it was the duty of all authorities to give
him aid in recovering the slave. It was the
object of various laws to check the running
away of slaves in every way, and accord-
ingly a runaway slave could not legally be
an object of sale. A class of persons called
Fugitivarii made it their business to recover
runaway slaves. A person was a slave either
jure gentium or jure civili. Under the re-
public, the chief supply of slaves arose from
prisoners taken in war, who were sold by
the quaestors with a crown on their heads
[sub corona venire, vendere), and usually on
the spot where they were taken, as the care
of a large number of captives was inconve-
nient. Consequently slave-dealers usually
accompanied an army, and frequently after a
great battle had been gained many thousands
were sold at once, when the slave-dealers
obtained them for a mere nothing. The
slave trade was also carried on to a great
extent, and after the fall of Corinth and
Carthage, Delos was the chief mart for this
traffic. When the Cilician pirates had pos-
session of the Mediterranean, as many as
10,000 slaves are said to have been imported
and sold there in one day. A large number
came from Thrace and the countries in the
north of Europe, but the chief supply was
from Africa, and more especially Asia,
whence we frequently read of Phrygians,
Lycians, Cappadocians, &c. as slaves. The
trade of slave-dealers (mangones) was con-
sidered disrenutable; but it was very lucra-

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