BOOK I. VIII. 9-12 



of the slave household he should have an eye to 

 usefulness rather than appearance, taking care to 

 keep them fortified against wind, cold, and rain, all 

 of which are warded off ^\^th long-sleeved leather 

 tunics, garments of patchwork, or hooded cloaks. If 

 this be done, no weather is so unbearable but that some 

 work may be done in the open. He should be not 10 

 only skilled in the tasks of husbandrv', but should also 

 be endowed, as far as the ser\ile disposition allows, 

 with sucli qualities of feeUng that he may exercise 

 authority without laxness and \\athout cruelty, and 

 always humour some of the better hands, at the 

 same time being forbearing even \\'ith those of 

 lesser worth, so that they may rather fear his 

 sternness than detest his cruelty. This he can 

 accomplish if he will choose rather to guard his sub- 

 ordinates from ^^Tongdoing than to bring upon 

 himself, through his own negligence, the necessity 

 of punishing offenders. There is, moreover, no 11 

 better way of keeping watch over even the most 

 worthless of men than the strict enforcement of 

 labour, the requirement that the proper tasks be 

 performed and that the overseer be present at all 

 times ; for in that case the foremen in charge of 

 the several operations are zealous in carrying out 

 their duties, and the others, after their fatiguing toil, 

 will turn their attention to rest and sleep rather than 

 to dissipation. 



Would that those well-known precepts, old but 12 

 excellent in morality, which have now passed out of 

 use, might be held to to-day : That an overseer shall 

 not employ the services pf a fellow-slave except on 

 the master's business ; that he shall partake of no 

 food except in sight of the household, nor of other 



89 



