The Deipnosophists, or Banquet of the Learned of Athenaeus Part 73

But barley dearer is to hungry men Than gold or Libyan ivory;

as Achaeus the Eretrian says in his Cycnus.

100. And when Cynulcus had said this, he was on the point of rising up to depart; but turning round and seeing a quant.i.ty of fish, and a large provision of all sorts of other eatables being brought in, beating the pillow with his hand, he shouted out,--

Gird thyself up, O poverty, and bear A little longer with these foolish babblers, For copious food and hunger sharp subdues thee.

But I now, by reason of my needy condition, do not speak dithyrambic poems, as Socrates says, but even epic poems too. For, reciting poems is very hungry work. For, according to Ameipsias, who said in his Sling, where he utters a prediction about you, O Laurentius,--

There are none of the rich men In the least like you, by Vulcan, Who enjoy a dainty table, And who every day can eat All delicacies that you wish.

For now, I see a thing beyond belief-- A prodigy; all sorts of kinds of fish Sporting around this cape--tenches and char, White and red mullet, rays, and perch, and eels, Tunnies, and blacktails, and cuttle-fish, and pipe-fish, And hake, and cod, and lobsters, crabs and scorpions;

as Heniochus says in his Busybody; I must, therefore, as the comic poet Metagenes says--

Without a sign his knife the hungry draws, And asks no omen but his supper's cause--

endure and listen to what more you have all got to say.

101. And when he was silent, Masyrius said,--But since some things have still been left unsaid in our discussion on servants, I will myself also contribute some "melody on love" to the wise and much loved Democritus.

Philippus of Theangela, in his treatise on the Carians and Leleges, having made mention of the Helots of the Lacedaemonians and of the Thessalian Penestae, says, "The Carians also, both in former times, and down to the present day, use the Leleges as slaves." But Phylarchus, in the sixth book of his History, says that the Byzantians used the Bithynians in the same manner, just as the Lacedaemonians do the Helots.

But respecting those who among the Lacedaemonians are called Epeunacti, and they also are slaves, Theopompus gives a very clear account in the thirty-second book of his History, speaking as follows:--"When many of the Lacedaemonians had been slain in the war against the Messenians, those who were left being afraid lest their enemies should become aware of their desolate condition, put some of the Helots into the beds of those who were dead; and afterwards they made those men citizens, and called them Epeunacti, because they had been put into the beds[426:1] of those who were dead instead of them." And the same writer also tells us, in the thirty-third book of his History, that among the Sicyonians there are some slaves who are called Catonacophori, being very similar to the Epeunacti. And Menaechmus gives a similar account in his History of the affairs of Sicyon, and says that there are some slaves called Catonacophori, who very much resemble the Epeunacti. And again, Theopompus, in the second book of his Philippics, says that the Arcadians had three hundred thousand slaves, whom they called Prospelatae, like the Helots.

102. But the cla.s.s called Mothaces among the Lacedaemonians are freemen, but still not citizens of Lacedaemon. And Phylarchus speaks of them thus, in the twenty-fifth book of his History--"But the Mothaces are foster-brothers of Lacedaemonian citizens. For each of the sons of the citizens has one or two, or even more foster-brothers, according as their circ.u.mstances admit. The Mothaces are freemen then, but still not Lacedaemonian citizens; but they share all the education which is given to the free citizens; and they say that Lysander, who defeated the Athenians in the naval battle, was one of that cla.s.s, having been made a citizen on account of his preeminent valour." And Myron of Priene, in the second book of his history of the Affairs of Messene, says, "The Lacedaemonians often emanc.i.p.ated their slaves, and some of them when emanc.i.p.ated they called Aphetae,[427:1] and some they called Adespoti,[427:2] and some they called Erycteres, and others they called Desposionautae,[427:3] whom they put on board their fleets, and some they called Neodamodes,[427:4] but all these were different people from the Helots." And Theopompus, in the seventh book of his history of the Affairs of Greece, speaking of the Helots that they were also called Eleatae, writes as follows:--"But the nation of the Helots is altogether a fierce and cruel race. For they are people who have been enslaved a long time ago by the Spartans, some of them being Messenians, and some Eleatae, who formerly dwelt in that part of Laconia called Helos.

103. But Timaeus of Tauromenium, forgetting himself, (and Polybius the Megalopolitan attacks him for the a.s.sertion, in the twelfth book of his Histories,) says that it is not usual for the Greeks to possess slaves.

But the same man, writing under the name of Epitimaeus, (and this is what Ister the pupil of Callimachus calls him in the treatise which he wrote against him,) says that Mnason the Phocian had more than a thousand slaves. And in the third book of his History, Epitimaeus said that the city of the Corinthians was so flourishing that it possessed four hundred and sixty thousand slaves. On which account I imagine it was that the Pythian priestess called them The People who measured with a Chnix. But Ctesicles, in the third book of his Chronicles, says that in the hundred and fifteenth Olympiad, there was an investigation at Athens conducted by Demetrius Phalereus into the number of the inhabitants of Attica, and the Athenians were found to amount to twenty-one thousand, and the Metics to ten thousand, and the slaves to four hundred thousand. But Nicias the son of Niceratus, as that admirable writer Xenophon has said in his book on Revenues, when he had a thousand servants, let them out to Sosias the Thracian to work in the silver mines, on condition of his paying him an obol a day for every one of them. And Aristotle, in his history of the Const.i.tution of the aeginetae, says that the aeginetans had four hundred and seventy thousand slaves. But Agatharchides the Cnidian, in the thirty-eighth book of his history of the Affairs of Europe, says that the Dardanians had great numbers of slaves, some of them having a thousand, and some even more; and that in time of peace they were all employed in the cultivation of the land; but that in time of war they were all divided into regiments, each set of slaves having their own master for their commander.

104. After all these statements, Laurentius rose up and said,--But each of the Romans (and this is a fact with which you are well acquainted, my friend Masyrius) had a great many slaves. For many of them had ten thousand or twenty thousand, or even a greater number, not for the purposes of income, as the rich Nicias had among the Greeks; but the greater part of the Romans when they go forth have a large retinue of slaves accompanying them. And out of the myriads of Attic slaves, the greater part worked in the mines, being kept in chains: at all events Posidonius, whom you are often quoting, the philosopher I mean, says that once they revolted and put to death the guards of the mines; and that they seized on the Acropolis on Sunium, and that for a very long time they ravaged Attica. And this was the time when the second revolt of the slaves took place in Sicily. And there were many revolts of the slaves, and more than a million of slaves were destroyed in them. And Caecilius, the orator from Cale Acte, wrote a treatise on the Servile Wars. And Spartacus the gladiator, having escaped from Capua, a city of Italy, about the time of the Mithridatic war, prevailed on a great body of slaves to join him in the revolt, (and he himself was a slave, being a Thracian by birth,) and overran the whole of Italy for a considerable time, great numbers of slaves thronging daily to his standard. And if he had not died in a battle fought against Licinius Cra.s.sus, he would have caused no ordinary trouble to our countrymen, as Eunus did in Sicily.

105. But the ancient Romans were prudent citizens, and eminent for all kinds of good qualities. Accordingly Scipio, surnamed Africa.n.u.s, being sent out by the Senate to arrange all the kingdoms of the world, in order that they might be put into the hands of those to whom they properly belonged, took with him only five slaves, as we are informed by Polybius and Posidonius. And when one of them died on the journey, he sent to his agents at home to bring him another instead of him, and to send him to him. And Julius Caesar, the first man who ever crossed over to the British isles with a thousand vessels, had with him only three servants altogether, as Cotta, who at that time acted as his lieutenant-general, relates in his treatise on the History and Const.i.tution of the Romans, which is written in our national language.

But Smindyrides the Sybarite was a very different sort of man, my Greek friends, who, when he went forth to marry Agaroste, the daughter of Cleisthenes, carried his luxury and ostentation to such a height, that he took with him a thousand slaves, fishermen, bird-catchers, and cooks.

But this man, wishing to display how magnificently he was used to live, according to the account given to us by Chamaeleon of Pontus, in his book on Pleasure, (but the same book is also attributed to Theophrastus,) said that for twenty years he had never seen the sun rise or set; and this he considered a great and marvellous proof of his wealth and happiness. For he, as it seems, used to go to bed early in the morning, and to get up in the evening, being in my opinion a miserable man in both particulars. But Histiaeus of Pontus boasted, and it was an honourable boast, that he had never once seen the sun rise or set, because he had been at all times intent upon study, as we are told by Nicias of Nicaea in his Successions.

106. What then are we to think? Had not Scipio and Caesar any slaves? To be sure they had, but they abided by the laws of their country, and lived with moderation, preserving the habits sanctioned by the const.i.tution. For it is the conduct of prudent men to abide by those ancient inst.i.tutions under which they and their ancestors have lived, and made war upon and subdued the rest of the world; and yet, at the same time, if there were any useful or honourable inst.i.tutions among the people whom they have subdued, those they take for their imitation at the same time that they take the prisoners. And this was the conduct of the Romans in olden time; for they, maintaining their national customs, at the same time introduced from the nations whom they had subdued every relic of desirable practices which they found, leaving what was useless to them, so that they should never be able to regain what they had lost.

Accordingly they learnt from the Greeks the use of all machines and engines for conducting sieges; and with those engines they subdued the very people of whom they had learnt them. And when the Phnicians had made many discoveries in nautical science, the Romans availed themselves of these very discoveries to subdue them. And from the Tyrrhenians they derived the practice of the entire army advancing to battle in close phalanx; and from the Samnites they learnt the use of the shield, and from the Iberians the use of the javelin. And learning different things from different people, they improved upon them: and imitating in everything the const.i.tution of the Lacedaemonians, they preserved it better than the Lacedaemonians themselves; but now, having selected whatever was useful from the practices of their enemies, they have at the same time turned aside to imitate them in what is vicious and mischievous.

107. For, as Posidonius tells us, their national mode of life was originally temperate and simple, and they used everything which they possessed in an unpretending and unostentatious manner. Moreover they displayed wonderful piety towards the Deity, and great justice, and great care to behave equitably towards all men, and great diligence in cultivating the earth. And we may see this from the national sacrifices which we celebrate. For we proceed by ways regularly settled and defined. So that we bear regularly appointed offerings, and we utter regular pet.i.tions in our prayers, and we perform stated acts in all our sacred ceremonies. They are also simple and plain. And we do all this without being either clothed or attired as to our persons in any extraordinary manner, and without indulging in any extraordinary pomp when offering the first-fruits. But we wear simple garments and shoes, and on our heads we have rough hats made of the skins of sheep, and we carry vessels to minister in of earthenware and bra.s.s. And in these vessels we carry those meats and liquors which are procured with the least trouble, thinking it absurd to send offerings to the G.o.ds in accordance with our national customs, but to provide for ourselves according to foreign customs. And, therefore, all the things which are expended upon ourselves are measured by their use; but what we offer to the G.o.ds are a sort of first-fruits of them.

108. Now Mucius Scaevola was one of the three men in Rome who were particular in their observance of the Fannian law; Quintus aelius Tubero and Rutilius Rufus being the other two, the latter of whom is the man who wrote the History of his country. Which law enjoined men not to entertain more than three people besides those in the house; but on market-days a man might entertain five. And these market-days happened three times in the month. The law also forbade any one to spend in provisions more than two drachmae and a half. And they were allowed to spend fifteen talents a-year on cured meat and whatever vegetables the earth produces, and on boiled pulse. But as this allowance was insufficient, men gradually (because those who transgressed the law and spent money lavishly raised the price of whatever was to be bought) advanced to a more liberal style of living without violating the law.

For Tubero used to buy birds at a drachma a-piece from the men who lived on his own farms. And Rutilius used to buy fish from his own slaves who worked as fishermen for three obols for a pound of fish; especially when he could get what is called the Thurian; and that is a part of the sea-dog which goes by that name. But Mucius agreed with those who were benefited by him to pay for all he bought at a similar valuation. Out of so many myriads of men then these were the only ones who kept the law with a due regard to their oaths; and who never received even the least present; but they gave large presents to others, and especially to those who had been brought up at the same school with them. For they all clung to the doctrines of the Stoic school.

109. But of the extravagance which prevails at the present time Lucullus was the first originator, he who subdued Mithridates, as Nicolaus the Peripatetic relates. For he, coming to Rome after the defeat of Mithridates, and also after that of Tigranes, the king of Armenia, and having triumphed, and having given in an account of his exploits in war, proceeded to an extravagant way of living from his former simplicity, and was the first teacher of luxury to the Romans, having ama.s.sed the wealth of the two before-mentioned kings. But the famous Cato, as Polybius tells us in the thirty-fourth book of his History, was very indignant, and cried out, that some men had introduced foreign luxury into Rome, having bought an earthen jar of pickled fish from Pontus for three hundred drachmae, and some beautiful boys at a higher price than a man might buy a field.

"But in former times the inhabitants of Italy were so easily contented, that even now," says Posidonius, "those who are in very easy circ.u.mstances are used to accustom their sons to drink as much water as possible, and to eat whatever they can get. And very often," says he, "the father or mother asks their son whether he chooses to have pears or nuts for his supper; and then he, eating some of these things, is contented and goes to bed." But now, as Theopompus tells us in the first book of his history of the Actions of Philip, there is no one of those who are even tolerably well off who does not provide a most sumptuous table, and who has not cooks and a great many more attendants, and who does not spend more on his daily living than formerly men used to spend on their festivals and sacrifices.

And since now this present discussion has gone far enough, let us end this book at this point.

FOOTNOTES:

[361:1] Odyss. xvi. 49.

[361:2] Ib. i. 141.

[370:1] The text is supposed to be corrupt here.

[373:1] Iliad, xvii. 575.

[375:1] It is said to have been a proverb among the Greek women, "Smoke follows the fairest."

[381:1] The preceding names are the names of eatables, in the genitive case, though here used as nominatives for persons; ????? means a sort of tench; ????d?? (as has been said before), a lark; ?????a are husks, bran; s????? is the generic name for the tunny fish; se?da??? is fine wheat flour, semilago.

[385:1] We know little more of the gynaeconomi, or ???a?????s?? as they were also called, than what is derived from this pa.s.sage. It appears probable that they existed from the time of Solon; though the duties here attributed to them may not have formed a part of their original business. _Vide_ Smith, Dict. Ant. in voc.

[398:1] Demeter, ???t??, or as it is written in the text ???t?a.

Ceres, the mother of Proserpine.

[403:1] s???a, a cuc.u.mber.

[411:1] The exact meaning of this t.i.tle is disputed, some translate it, "hard to sell," or "to be sold," others merely "miserable."

[412:1] From ???, a curse.

[413:1] A slave's name.

[414:1] _Chrysoneti_ means bought with gold, from ???s??, gold, and ????a?, to buy. _Clarotae_ means allotted, from ??????, to cast lots. It is not known what the derivation or meaning of _Aphamiotae_ is.

[415:1] From ?at?e??, to serve.

[419:1] ???? contr. from ?????, a servant, especially belonging to a temple.--L. & S.

[419:2] Te??p??, a servant, in early Greek especially denoting free and honourable service.--L. & S.

[419:3] ?????????, as subst., a follower, attendant, footman.--L. & S.

[420:1] ????????, a servant, a waiting man.--L. & S.

[420:2] ?p???t??, any doer of hard work, a labourer, a helper, a.s.sistant, underling.--L. & S.

[420:3] ??t???, a workman for hire, a hired servant.--L. & S. N.B.

Liddell and Scott omit p???? altogether.

[421:1] The Paeonium, if that is the proper reading, appears to have been a place in Athens where there were pillars on which an aqueduct was supported. But there is a doubt about the reading.

[425:1] In the Greek, ?????? p??????s??, which is a phrase also commonly used in Greek for "the forenoon," when the market-place was full, and the ordinary business was going on.

[426:1] From ?p?, and e???, a bed.

[427:1] ?f?t??, from ?f???, to liberate.