262 Sanitation. Breeding, ergastulum 







'labouring herd/ and 'draught-cattle when they are putting in a good 

 spell of work.' So too the steward is to drive home his slave-gang at 

 dusk 'after the fashion 1 of a first-rate herdsman,' and on arrival first of 

 all to attend to their needs 'like a careful shepherd.' The motive of this 

 care is to keep the staff in good working order. Both steward and 

 stewardess are required to pay great attention to the health of the staff. 

 Not only are there prescriptions given for treatment of ailments and 

 injuries, but the slave really stale from overwork is to have a rest; of 

 course malingering must be checked. For the sick there is a special 2 

 sick-room, always kept clean and aired, and the general sanitation of 

 the farmstead is strictly enforced. This too is dictated by enlightened 

 self-interest, a part of the general rule 8 that upkeep is as important as 

 acquisition. The position of the female staff of the farm has also a 

 bearing on this subject. They do not appear to be numerous, though 

 perhaps proportionally more so than in the scheme of Varro. The vilica 

 has a number of maids under her for doing the various house- work 4 and 

 spinning and weaving. We have already noted the rewards of fertility 

 on their part. For the production of home-bred slaves (vernae}, always 

 a thing welcomed by proprietors, is most formally recognized by Colu- 

 mella. Why it needed encouragement may perhaps receive some illus- 

 tration from remarks upon the behaviour of certain birds in the matter 

 of breeding. Thus peafowl do well in places where they can run at 

 large, and the hens take more pains to rear their chicks, being so to 

 speak 5 set free from slavery. And other birds there are that will not 

 breed in captivity. The analogy of these cases to that of human slaves 

 can hardly have escaped the notice of the writer. 



The distinction between the slaves who are chained and those who 

 are not appears the more striking from Columella's references to the 

 lock-up chamber or slave-prison. His predecessors pass lightly over 

 this matter, but he gives it the fullest recognition. The ergastulum 

 should be a chamber 6 below ground level, as healthy as you can get, 

 lighted by a number of slits in the wall so high above the floor as to 

 be out of a man's reach. This dungeon is only for the refractory 

 slaves, chained and constantly inspected. For the more submissive 

 ones cabins (cellae) are provided in healthy spots near their work but 

 not so scattered as to make observation difficult. There is even a bath 



1 XI i 1 8 more optimi pastoris . . .idem quodille diligens opilio. 



2 valetudinarium xi i 18, XII i 6, 3 7, 8. 



3 IV 3 i quosdam emacitas in armentis, quosdam exercet in comparandis mancipiis ; de 

 tuendis nulla cur a tangit. Cf I 4 7. 



4 XII 3 especially i, 8, cipraef% 9. He refers to Xenophon. 



5 vni ii 2 tamquam servitio liberatae, also 12 and 15 7 parere cunctantur in servitute. 



6 I 6 3 vinctis quam saluberrimiim subterraneum ergastulum, plurimis idque angustis 

 illustratum fenestris atque a terra sic editis ne manu contingi possint. Cf XI i 22. 



