I] SIZE OF THE STAFF 53 



keep the following thirteen slaves: a bailiff, his 

 wife, five labourers, three herdsmen, one ass-driver, 

 one swineherd, and one shepherd. The second 

 case with which he deals has to do with a vineyard 

 of 100 iugera (67 acres), for which he considers 

 necessary these fifteen slaves : one bailiff, his wife, 

 ten labourers, one herdsman, one ass-driver, and one 



1 swineherd. Saserna states in his book that one man 

 is enough for eight iugera^ and that he should dig 

 them over in forty-five days, though four days' work 

 should suffice for each iugerum. The thirteen days 

 left over he allows for cases of illness, bad weather, 



Sunskilfulness, and idleness. Neither of these two 

 authors has left us a very clear explanation of his 

 standards, for if Cato meant us — as he must have 

 done — to add or subtract in proportion to the greater 

 or less extent of the farm, he should have said so, 

 and he ought to have excluded the bailiff and his 

 wife from the working-staff of slaves, for certainly, 

 if the olive plantation which you are cultivating 

 should be of less than 240 iugera ^ you cannot have 

 less than one bailiff, nor, should your farm be twice 

 as big or more, are you bound therefore to have 



4 two or three. Practically, it is only the number of 

 labourers or herdsmen that must be increased accord- 

 ing to the size of the farm ; and this rule, too, holds 

 good only if the land is of uniform character. If, 

 however, it is not so, to the extent of being un- 

 ploughable in parts, being of a broken nature and 

 having stiff hills, then you need fewer oxen and 

 fewer herdsmen. I pass over the fact that the stand- 



