202 Labour, how procured 



improbable. Whether we can detect any signs of its gradual introduction 

 will appear as our inquiry proceeds. We have already noted the few 

 references to tenant coloni under the Republic. It is enough to remark 

 here that, whatever degree of improvement in agriculture may have 

 taken place owing to the reestablishment of peace and order, it could 

 hardly have been brought about without employing the best labour 

 to be had. If therefore we find reason to believe that the supply of 

 skilled free labour for special agricultural work was gradually found 

 by giving a new turn to the tenancy-system, we may hazard a guess 

 that the first tentative steps in this direction belong to the quiet develop- 

 ments of the Augustan peace. 



