[1587] Cod Th XI 3 § 2.
[1588] The _capitatio_.
[1589] Cod Just XI 48 § 7.
[1590] _Schatzungsordnung_ pp 313-4.
[1591] Rostowzew _Geschichte des Röm Colonates_ pp 381-97 traces the
abandonment of the policy of favouring _coloni_, and adoption of reliance
on great possessors, as a result of the pressing difficulties of the
collection of revenue.
[1592] Cod Just XI 50 § 1 (Constantine).
[1593] Cod Just XI 50 § 2.
[1594] Cod Th XI 1 § 12 (365).
[1595] Wallon, _Esclavage_ III 266, 282.
[1596] For instance cod Th XI 11 (date somewhere 368-373), IV 13 §§ 2, 3
(321). Also XI 7-10, 16 § 10, etc.
[1597] Seeck, _Schatzungsordnung_ pp 285-308, with an account of local
variations. For instance, in Africa and Egypt there was no _capitatio_.
[1598] See cod Th VII 13 § 7, 8 (375, 380). Even the imperial estates
made liable, ibid § 12 (397). Dill p 196. In 379 Theodosius had to raise
recruits from γεωργοί, Libanius XXIV 16.
[1599] Cod Th VII 18 § 10, cf VIII 2 § 3 (380). See Seeck II 490-1.
[1600] Cod Th VIII 2 § 3. By long use the word had become quite official.
Cf _inopes ac vagi_ in Tac _ann_ IV 4, etc.
[1601] Cod Just XII 33 § 6.
[1602] De Coulanges pp 168-9 points out that in the early Middle Age we
find _ingenui_ = _coloni_.
[1603] _temonaria functio._ See Dirksen under _temo_. Cod Th XI 16 §§ 14,
15, 18, cf VII 13 § 7, VI 26 § 14.
[1604] Wallon III 149, 476.
[1605] Cod Th VII 13 § 7, where occur the words _cum corpora postulantur_
opposed to _aurum_. For the money-commutation (_adaeratio_) often
accepted from the landlords see Mommsen _Ges Schr_ VI p 254 _Das Röm
Militärwesen seit Diocletian_. Also Rostowzew in the _Journal of Roman
Studies_ vol VIII on _Synteleia tironon_, and Wagner on Ammianus XIX 11 §
7.
[1606] Cf Vegetius _rei milit_ I 7, of the disasters caused by slovenly
recruiting, _dum indicti possessoribus tirones per gratiam aut
dissimulationem probantium tales sociantur armis quales domini habere
fastidiunt_.
[1607] Cod Th IV 13 §§ 2, 3, kept with variants in cod Just IV 61 § 5.
[1608] Cod Th XI 8.
[1609] Cod Th XI 16 § 10, 17 §§ 2-4.
[1610] For the special position of imperial senators see Dill pp 126,
166, 196, 218 foll.
[1611] Cod Th XI 11, kept with some omissions in cod Just XI 55 § 2.
[1612] Cod Th XI 16 § 4, cod Just XI 48 § 1.
[1613] Seeck I, chapter on _die Ausrottung der Besten_.
[1614] Pliny _NH_ XVIII 296. Palladius VII 2.
[1615] _hoc compendio._ Pall.
[1616] _Orat_ 50. I take the date given by Förster.
[1617] For such properties see cod Th X 3.
[1618] φιλανθρωπότατε βασιλεῦ.
[1619] § 36 γράμμασι, which I take to be = _indictiones_.
[1620] In cod Th the title XI 24 is _de patrociniis vicorum_, and the
laws range from 360 to 415. Cod Just XI 54 shews that the evil was still
in existence in 468.
[1621] _Orat_ 47 §§ 8-10. Zulueta (see below) points out that the
protection given by the patrons was exerted quite as much by improper
influence on judges as by use of force.
[1622] § 6 τοῦτο καὶ λῃστὰς γεωργοὺς ἑποίησε.
[1623] § 11 ἀλλὰ καὶ οἷς εἷς ὁ δεσπότης.
[1624] §§ 19-21.
[1625] § 24 ὦν εἰσιν (οἱ γεωργοί).
[1626] §§ 17, 18.
[1627] § 34.
[1628] §§ 36-8 δὸς δὴ νεῦρα τῷ νόμῳ καὶ ποίησον αὐτὸν ὡς ἀληθῶς νόμον
ἀντὶ ψιλῆς προσηγορίας ... etc.
[1629] Cod Th XI 24 § 2 (Valens).
[1630] Note that the law Cod Th XII 1 § 128, sternly forbidding
_militares viri_ to interfere with _curiales_ or to use any violence to
leading men in the municipalities, is dated 392 July 31. Also that it is
retained in Cod Just X 32 § 42. Zulueta _de patrociniis vicorum_ pp 38-40
concludes that it is uncertain to what emperor Libanius is appealing, and
places the date in 386-9 AD. He finds the reference in Cod Th V 17 § 2
(Theodosius), not in XI 24 § 2.
[1631] The leading authority on Symmachus is O Seeck. In particular the
dating of many of the letters in his great edition (MGH, Berlin 1883) is
often helpful.
[1632] See _epist_ II 6, 7, 52, IV 5 (4), 18, 21, IX 14, 114 (124), X 2,
21, _relat_ 3 §§ 15-18, 9 § 7, 18, 35, 37.
[1633] _epist_ III 55, 82, IV 54, 74, VII 38, 68, _relat_ 18.
[1634] _epist_ II 6, III 55, 82, IX 42, VII 68, _relat_ 9, 18, 37.
[1635] _epist_ VII 66, IX 10, _relat_ 18.
[1636] _epist_ II 55, IV 68.
[1637] _epist_ VI 15 (14).
[1638] _epist_ VI 15 (14), VII 18, 68. Seeck, V 284, 555.
[1639] _epist_ I 5 _ut rus quod solebat alere nunc alatur_. Cf cod Th XI
1 § 4.
[1640] _epist_ VI 82 (81).
[1641] _nihilque iam colonis superest facultatum quod aut rationi
opituletur aut cultui._
[1642] _epist_ VII 56 _cum sit colonus agrorum meorum atque illi debita
magis quam precaria cura praestetur_.
[1643] _epist_ IX 6. Cf IX 11.
[1644] _epist_ IX 47 (50).
[1645] _epist_ IX 140 (X 18).
[1646] _epist_ VIII 2. Plin _epist_ I 6, V 6 § 46.
[1647] Amm Marc XXVIII 4 § 18 _alienis laboribus venaturi_.
[1648] _epist_ II 22.
[1649] _epist_ V 18.
[1650] _epist_ II 52. Cf the cases contemplated in Dig XIX 2 §§ 13⁷, 15².
[1651] _epist_ VII 38.
[1652] _epist_ IX 45 (48).
[1653] _epist_ VI 11.
[1654] _epist_ IX 27 (30).
[1655] _epist_ VII 66, IX 49 (52). In the law of 414 Cod Th XVI 5 § 54 we
have these _conductores privatorum opposed to conductores domus nostrae_
in Africa. See above, chapter on the African inscriptions.
[1656] _epist_ VI 12.
[1657] In _quality_ the Apulian wheat was thought excellent. Varro _RR_ I
2 § 6.
[1658] _epist_ IX 29.
[1659] _epist_ VII 126 _res ... non tam reditu ampla quam censu_.
[1660] _epist_ IX 11 _sed maior opitulatio ex tui arbitrii favore
proveniet, cum causae eius etiam iustitia non desit_.
[1661] _epist_ IX 37 (40).
[1662] _ut perspiciatur in discretione iudicium._
[1663] _epist_ IX 47 (50).
[1664] _epist_ IX 10.
[1665] _epist_ VI 59 (58), 65 (64).
[1666] _epist_ IV 74.
[1667] _epist_ II 7.
[1668] _quanto nobis odio provinciarum constat illa securitas._
[1669] _relatio_ 40.
[1670] _quod nihil subsidii decreta dudum oppida conferebant._ This seems
to imply a previous grant to Tarracina, levied on other towns. Cf _relat_
37 _decretae provinciae_, referring to supply of Rome.
[1671] _Capuana legatio._ Meaning _Campanian_, I take it.
[1672] Neratius Cerealis, praef annonae 328, praef urbi 352-3, consul
358. Godefroi’s Prosopographia, Wilmanns inscr 1085, and cod Th XIV 24.
The order is given thus, _eum frumenti numerum, quem Cerealis ex multis
urbibus Romano populo vindicarat, restitui omnibus_.
[1673] _secretum._
[1674] XVI 5 §§ 14, 15.
[1675] Seeck, _Schatzungsordnung_ p 306, keeps the MS reading _capitulis_
here. See his remarks, and for the word _capitulum_ cf cod Th XI 16 § 15
(382) _capituli atque temonis necessitas_, ibid § 14 _capitulariae sive
... temonariae functionis_.
[1676] The title cod Th XI 28 is _de indulgentiis debitorum_.
[1677] _norat enim hoc facto se aliquid locupletibus additurum, cum
constet ubique pauperes inter ipsa indictorum exordia solvere universa
sine laxamento conpelli._ We shall return to this point in connexion with
Salvian.
[1678] XVII 3.
[1679] _quicquid in capitatione deesset ex conquisitis se supplere._
_conquisita_ are the sums produced by a _superindictio_ raising
the amount to be levied. Cf cod Th XI 1 § 36, and title XI 6 _de
superindicto_.
[1680] Cf XXX 5 § 6 _provisorum_, cod Th XII 1 § 169 _tuae provisionis
... incrementis_.
[1681] _indictionale augmentum._
[1682] _sollemnia ... nedum incrementa._
[1683] XVIII 1.
[1684] _quorum patrimonia publicae clades augebant._
[1685] XVIII 2 § 2 and references in Wagner’s edition. Schiller,
_Kaiserzeit_ II p 313.
[1686] XXIX 5 §§ 10-13.
[1687] _messes et condita hostium virtutis nostrorum horrea esse._
[1688] As when in Pannonia (373) they crossed the Danube and _occupatam
circa messem agrestem adortae sunt plebem_, XXIX 6 § 6.
[1689] XXIX 5 § 13 _in modum urbis exstruxit_.
[1690] XXIX 5 § 25 _muro circumdatum valido_. In XXX 10 § 4 we find
_Murocincta_ as the name of a _villa_ and _Triturrita_ in Rutilius _de
reditu_ I 527, 615. Cf cases in Caesar’s time, _Bell Afr_ 9, 40, 65.
[1691] XXVIII 6 § 8.
[1692] XXX 2 § 10 _negotiis se ruralibus dedit_.
[1693] There was much jealousy on this score, and a powerful reaction, as
after the death of Valentinian in 375, but even then the foreign element
prevailed. Schiller II 389.
[1694] XXXI 4 §§ 4, 5.
[1695] _ex ultimis terris tot tirocinia._ Cf XIX 11 § 7.
[1696] _et pro militari supplemento, quod provinciatim annuum pendebatur,
thesauris accederet auri cumulus magnus._ I hope I am right in referring
this to the _temonaria functio_ or obligation of paying the _temo_ = the
price of a recruit. Cod Th XI 16 §§ 14, 15.
[1697] XXXI 6 § 5.
[1698] _dudum a mercatoribus venundati, adiectis plurimis quos primo
transgressu necati inedia vino exili vel panis frustris mutavere
vilissimis._
[1699] XXXI 10 § 17, _inventute valida nostris tirociniis permiscenda_.
[1700] XXVIII 5 § 15 of Theodosius defeating Alamanni, _pluribus caesis,
quoscumque cepit ad Italiam iussu principis misit, ubi fertilibus pagis
acceptis iam tributarii circumcolunt Padum_. 370 AD. Cf XXXI 9 § 4, 377
AD, and XX 4 § 1, 360 AD.
[1701] For instance, _in Rufinum_ I 200-5, _de bello Gildon_ 105-12, _de
IV cos Honor_ 412-8.
[1702] _in Rufin_ I 380-2.
[1703] _in Rufin_ I 189-92.
[1704] _metuenda colonis fertilitas._
[1705] _in Eutrop_ I 401-9.
[1706] _de bello Gildon_ 49-74.
[1707] See Bury, _Later Roman empire_ I 108-9, Seeck, _Untergang_ V
379-80, Dill, _Roman Society_ p 233, Wallon, _Esclavage_ III 276-7. The
affair is referred to in cod Th X 10 § 25 (Dec 408).
[1708] _de cos Stilichonis_ II 204-7.
[1709] _in Eutrop_ II 194-210.
[1710] _bene rura Gruthungus excolet et certo disponet sidere vites._
[1711] _quem detinet aequi gloria concessoque cupit vixisse colonus quam
dominus rapto._
[1712] _in Eutrop_ I 406 _Teutonicus vomer_.
[1713] _de bell Goth_ 450-68.
[1714] _non iam dilectus miseri nec falce per agros deposita iaculum
vibrans ignobile messor ... sed vera inventus, verus ductor adest et
vivida Martis imago._
[1715] Cf Vegetius _rei milit_ I 7, of disasters in recent times, _dum
longa pax militem incuriosius legit_.
[1716] _in Eutrop_ II 370-5.
[1717] _de bell Goth_ 366-72.
[1718] _epitoma rei militaris_ I 3.
[1719] _rei milit_ I 5, _senos pedes vel certe quinos et denas uncias_
[has not _ad_ fallen out before _senos_?]. In a law of 367, cod Th VII 13
§ 3 _in quinque pedibus et septem unciis_.
[1720] _tunc._ When? From I 28 it might be inferred that he looks back to
the first Punic war. But I do not think so.
[1721] _necdum enim civilis pars florentiorem abduxerat iuventutem._ So I
7 _civilia sectantur officia_.
[1722] The assertion that _Martius calor_ has not subsided (I 28),
accepted by Seeck I 413, seems to me rhetorical bravado. Much more likely
is the view (_ib_ 414) that the improved standard of recruits in the
fifth century was due to prevalence of barbarians.
[1723] Seeck II 88 foll. Hence army service was called _militia armata_.
[1724] _mulomed_ I 56 §§ 11-13.
[1725] _si saepius et cum moderatione animalia sedeantur._ For _sederi_
cf § 35 _sub honesto sessore_, Spart Hadr 22 § 6, cod Th IX 30 § 3.
[1726] _servorum impatientia._
[1727] _neque enim de damno domini cogitant, quod eidem contingere
gratulantur._
[1728] Julian _orat_ VII p 232 a-b.
[1729] Above, p 393.
[1730] _de mortibus persecutorum_ 22-3.
[1731] For the _census_ under the new system, first in 297 and then every
fifth year, see Seeck II pp 263 foll. It was only concerned with the
land and taxation units liable to the levy of _annona_. De Coulanges pp
75-85 urges that the system already described by Ulpian in Dig L 15 §§ 3,
4, is much the same, and points out that monastic records shew it still
surviving in the early Middle Age. But practice, rather than principle,
is here in question.
[1732] _hominum capita._ In most provinces the taxable unit was fixed by
taking account of the number of able-bodied on each estate as well as of
the acreage. Seeck II 266 foll, also _Schatzung_ pp 285-7.
[1733] The urban taxation was conducted in each town by the local
_decemprimi_, aldermen, and was quite distinct.
[1734] _adscribebantur quae non habebantur_ may mean ‘were put on the
record as owning what they did not own.’
[1735] _pecuniae pro capitibus pendebantur._ The _capita_ here seem to
have a double sense.
[1736] De Coulanges pp 75-6 treats it severely on the score of Christian
prejudice.
[1737] Sulp Sev _dial_ II 3.
[1738] For instance cod Th VII 1 § 12, VIII 5, XI 10, 11.
[1739] Cod Th VII 20 § 7.
[1740] Sulp Sev _vita S Martini_ 2 § 5, and cf cod Th VII 22, also 1 § 8.
See the note of Seeck II 490.
[1741] This view has been challenged by Dill, pp 118-9. But cf Sidonius
_epist_ V 19, IX 6.
[1742] The earlier part of book V of the _de gubernatione Dei_,
especially §§ 34-50. The rising of the Bagaudae (286) in Gaul is dealt
with §§ 24 foll. See Schiller II pp 124-6.
[1743] _dediticios se divitum faciunt et quasi in ius eorum dicionemque
trascendunt._
[1744] _addicunt_, a technical law term.
[1745] _possesio ... capitatio._
[1746] _pervasio_ = attack, encroachment. Cf cod Th II 4 §§ 5, 6.
[1747] _fundos maiorum expetunt et coloni divitum fiunt._
[1748] _iugo se inquilinae abiectionis addicunt._ See cod Th V 18 (10)
_de inquilinis et colonis_, cod Just XI 48 § 13.
[1749] _fiunt praeiudicio habitationis indigenae._ That is, by
prescription they acquire a new _origo_. See cod Th V 17 (9) §§ 1, 2, 18
(10), cod Just XI 64 § 2, 48 § 16.
[1750] _extraneos et alienos_; that is, belonging to someone else.
[1751] _et miramur si nos barbari capiunt, cum fratres nostros faciamus
esse captivos?_
[1752] I think de Coulanges is too severe on the rhetoric of Salvian (pp
141-3). After all, the Codes do not give one a favourable picture of the
later colonate, and the Empire did fall in the West.
[1753] This arrangement was especially frequent in the East. See on
Libanius pp 400-1, and cod Th XI 24 _de patrociniis vicorum_, cf cod Just
XI 54. But so far as individuals were concerned it was widespread.
[1754] Seeck cites cod Th III 1 § 2 [337], XI 1 § 26 [399], 3 §§ 1-5
[319-391], and for the legal tricks used to defeat the rule XI 3 § 3.
[1755] _de gub Dei_ V § 18 _quae enim sunt non modo urbes sed etiam
municipia atque vici ubi non quot curiales fuerint tot tyranni sunt?_
[1756] From _adscribere_, to record the liability of the lord, his
_coloni_ came to be called _adscripticii_. Weber _Agrargeschichte_ p 258.
[1757] Cod Th XI 1 § 26 [399] refers especially to Gaul. He is _servus
terrae_ in fact, as Weber _Agrargeschichte_ p 258 remarks.
[1758] In Esmein’s _Mélanges_ [1886] there is an excellent essay on some
of the letters of Sidonius discussed here, forestalling a number of my
conclusions.
[1759] See Seeck II 175 foll.
[1760] Sidon _epist_ I 10.
[1761] See Dill, _Roman Society in the last century of the Western
Empire_, p 179.
[1762] See _epist_ II 2, 9, 14, IV 24, VIII 4.
[1763] _epist_ VII 12 § 3.
[1764] _quia sic habenas Galliarum moderarere ut possessor exhaustus
tributario iugo relevaretur._
[1765] Instances in _epist_ III 1, VI 10.
[1766] _epist_ III 5.
[1767] _suffragio vestro._
[1768] _epist_ VI 10.
[1769] _domesticis fidei_, already, it seems, a stereotyped phrase. See
Ducange.
[1770] _debitum glaebae canonem._
[1771] _epist_ VI 12.
[1772] See Dill, book IV ch 3.
[1773] _aggeres publici_, cf _epist_ II 9 § 2, IV 24 § 2. It is an
official expression, used by jurists.
[1774] No doubt some were castles, more or less defensible. The _burgus_
of Leontius by the Garonne was such, cf _carm_ XXII 121-5.
[1775] _epist_ I 6, VII 15, VIII 8.
[1776] _epist_ II 14.
[1777] _epist_ IV 9 § 1, VII 14 § 11. _liberti_ mentioned VII 16. See
Dill p 178.
[1778] _epist_ VIII 4 § 1.
[1779] _epist_ II 2. Cf Dill pp 168-72.
[1780] In _epist_ III 9 is a curious case of a farmer who owned slaves
and in his slack simplicity let them be enticed away to Britain.
[1781] Dill p 220, citing _epist_ IV 24. See Esmein pp 377-83 for the
legal points of the case.
[1782] _centesima_, that is 1% _per mensem_, I suppose.
[1783] _epist_ IX 6. See Dill pp 174-5.
[1784] _epist_ V 19.
[1785] _sub condicione concedo, si stupratorem pro domino iam patronus
originali solvas inquilinatu._
[1786] _mox cliens factus e tributario plebeiam potius incipiat habere
personam quam colonariam._
[1787] He calls his solution _compositio seu satisfactio_. Esmein pp
364 foll shews that _compositio_ was now a regular expression for
the practice of avoiding the strict Roman Law, under barbarian and
ecclesiastical influences.
[1788] See Index, _inquilini_, and de Coulanges pp 65, 74, 85.
[1789] See de Coulanges pp 100-1.
[1790] See this question fully discussed by Esmein pp 370-5. Also the
doubts of de Coulanges pp 101, 104.
[1791] For this point see Seeck, _Schatzungsordnung_ pp 314-5.
[1792] Cod Th V 18 [10] _si quis colonus originalis vel inquilinus_ ...
etc. And below, _originarius_ [419]. Cod Just XI 48 § 13 _inquilinos
colonosve, quorum quantum ad originem pertinet vindicandam indiscreta
eademque paene videtur esse condicio, licet sit discrimen in nomine_,
... etc, and § 14 _causam originis et proprietatis_. The limiting word
_paene_ may refer to difference in mode of payment of taxes. These laws,
retained in cod Just, date from 400.
[1793] Seeck just cited. Weber, _Agrargeschichte_ p 257.
[1794] E Meyer _Kl Schr_ p 185 takes the words of Aristotle _Pol_ I 2
§ 5 ὁ γὰρ βοῦς ἀντ’ οἰκέτου τοῖς πένησίν ἐστιν as proving that even in
Ar’s time the small farmer had to do without a slave. I think they prove
that if he could not afford a slave he must do with an ox only. For the
additional protection of the ox see Index. Cf Maine, _Early Law and
Custom_ pp 249-51.
[1795] E Meyer _Kl Schriften_ p 179 will only use the word _slaves_ of a
part of these, but the distinction does not matter here.
[1796] See Dig XXXII § 99 (Paulus), and XXXIII 7 _passim_, especially §
25¹.
[1797] That religious scruple was opposed to keeping members of the same
race-unit in slavery is most probable. This _trans Tiberim_ rule is known
from Gellius XX 1 § 47, referring to debt-slaves. Greeks however, even
when abhorring the enslavement of Greek by Greek in principle, did not
discontinue the practice. E Meyer _Kl Schr_ p 202 compares the medieval
scruple in reference to brother Christians. See also his remarks p 177.
For Hebrew law and custom see _Encyclopaedia Biblica_ (1903) vol IV and
Hastings’ _Dictionary of the Bible_ (1902) vol IV, articles _Slavery_.
[1798] Different also from the position of a food-producer class in a
great territorial state, being based on local conditions.
[1799] Illustrated with great clearness in the provisions of the Gortyn
laws.
[1800] Varro _RR_ I 17 § 2 on _obaerarii_ or _obaerati_.
[1801] The relative importance of land and the means of cultivation
[especially oxen] in early times, the power thus gained by chiefs
granting cattle to tenants, and the connexion of these phenomena with
legends of debt-slavery, are instructively discussed in Maine’s _Early
history of Institutions_, lecture VI.
[1802] Mr G G Coulton kindly reminds me of an analogy observable in the
history of Art. It is progressive on simple lines up to a certain point.
Then it begins to ramify, and differences of taste become more acute.
Hence an anarchy of taste, driving men to yearn (like Ruskin, Morris,
etc.) for the old simplicity. So the peasant up to a point is useful and
noble. But fresh currents of civilization alter his position. Then men
yearn for the old simplicity, only defective through being essentially
simple.
[1803] Mr Zimmern, _The Greek Commonwealth_ pp 265 foll, has some
interesting remarks on craftsmen as wage-earners, and points out their
preference for serving the state rather than private employers. The
latter plan would have put them almost in the position of slaves.
[1804] When food was provided, we must reckon it as part of his wage.
[1805] A vast number of Greek records of manumission refer to such cases.
[1806] See Francotte, _L’Industrie dans la Grèce ancienne_ book II
chap 5, _La concurrence servile_. I cannot follow E Meyer _Kl Schr_ pp
198-201. And the oft-cited passage of Timaeus (Athen VI 264 d), where
free Phocians object to slaves taking their employment, refers solely to
domestic and personal attendance.
[1807] Of this there is abundant American evidence from writers on
Slavery. The hired slave sometimes got a higher wage than the hired
freeman.
[1808] See Whitaker’s Almanack, and the exposure of an impudent agency
for the purpose in the _Times_ 15 Sept 1914.
[1809] Compare Wendell Phillips ‘Before this there had been among us
scattered and single abolitionists, earnest and able men; sometimes, like
Wythe of Virginia, in high places. The Quakers and Covenanters had never
intermitted their testimony against slavery. But Garrison was the first
man to begin a _movement_ designed to annihilate slavery.’ Speech at G’s
funeral 1879.
[1810] Prof Bury, _Idea of Progress_ p 275, points out that Guizot noted
that Christianity did not in its early stages aim at any improvement of
social conditions.
[1811] The conclusions reached in this paragraph are in agreement with E
Meyer _Kl Schr_ pp 151-2, 155, 205, 209. But he seems to put the decline
of the slave-gang system rather earlier than I venture to do.
[1812] We must bear in mind that a tenant was naturally unwilling to work
for a margin of profit not to be retained by himself. Hence the tendency
to find means of constraining him to do so.
[1813] _coloni_ or _quasi coloni_, cf Dig XV 3 § 16, XXXIII 8 § 23³, or
XXXIII 7 §§ 12³, 18⁴, 20¹, and numerous other references.
[1814] The compulsory tenure of municipal offices is commonly cited as
illustrating the pressure even on men of means. It began in the second
century. See Dig L 1 § 38⁶, 2 § 1 [Ulpian], 4 § 14⁶ [Callistratus citing
Hadrian], and many other passages. Notable is L 4 § 4¹ _honores qui
indicuntur_ [Ulpian].
[1815] This topic is the subject of Churchill Babington’s Hulsean
dissertation, Cambridge 1846. I learn that a pamphlet by Brecht,
_Sklaverei und Christentum_, takes a less favourable view, but have not
seen it. The survival of the colonate and its heavy burdens in the early
Middle Age are treated by de Coulanges, particularly in connexion with
the estates of the Church.
[1816] The slow progress of emancipation is referred to by E Meyer _Kl
Schr_ p 178, of course from a very different point of view. He mentions
that slavery was not completely forbidden in Prussia till 1857, and is
against its abolition in German colonies. Seeley in his _Life of Stein_
points out that the armies of Frederic the Great were mainly recruited
from serfs.
[1817] The Turk and his Rayahs furnishes a very striking illustration.
[1818] E Meyer, _Kl Schr_ p 188.
[1819] Since writing this section I have found in Prof Bury’s _Idea of
Progress_ pp 269-70 a passage which seems to justify the objection here
raised, though it occurs in a different connexion.
[1820] It is perhaps hardly necessary to refer to the great economic
disturbance caused by the Black Death in fourteenth century England.
[1821] John Spargo, _Bolshevism, the enemy of political and industrial
Democracy_. London, J Murray 1919. I think I may accept the author’s
evidence on the points here referred to, confirmed as it is by other
observers. See his remarks pp 69, 156, 275, 278, in particular. That the
same sharp distinction between peasant and wage-earner is drawn by the
Socialists in other countries also, and is to them a stumbling-block, is
clearly to be seen in King and Okey’s _Italy today_. See appendix.
[1822] A remarkable article in the _Times_ of 10 May 1920 describes
the influences tending in the opposite direction in the United States,
particularly the workman’s prospect of proprietorship.
[1823] For the survival of the colonate in the West see de Coulanges pp
145-86.
[1824] See Krumbacher’s history of Byzantine Literature in Iwan Müller’s
Handbuch, and Oder’s article in Pauly-Wissowa.
[1825] Varro _RR_ I 17 §§ 3, 4.
[1826] In the _Journal of Hellenic Studies_ 1910 and 1912. There the
views of Zachariä are discussed.
[1827] The truth seems to be that serfage had never become so widespread
in the East as in the West, as Mr Bouchier, _Syria as a Roman Province_ p
181, points out.
[1828] Vol II pp 418-421.