The Manner in which Slaves were used at Rome. "Mafters, at Rome, were poffeffed of an unlimited power of inflicting chaf tifements upon their flaves, over whofe life and death they had, moreover, an abfolute authority. A great number of different inftruments were accordingly contrived for punishing flaves. Some confifted of a flat ftrap of leather, and were called ferula; and to be lafhed with the ferule was confidered as the mildeft degree of punishment. Others were made of a number of cords of twifted parchment, and were called feutica. Thefe feutice were confidered as being one degree higher in point of feverity than the ferule, but were much inferior to that kind of fcourge which was called flagellum, and fonetimes the terrible flagelium which was made of thongs of ox-leather, the fame as thofe which carmen ufed for their horfes. We find, in the third Satire of Horace, an account of the above inftruments, and of the gradation in point of feverity that obtained between them: Adfit Regula peccatis quæ pœnas irroget æquas, "The following is the literal tranflation of thefe lines: Make fuch a rule of conduct to yourself, that you may always proportion the chaftifement you inflict to the magnitude of the offence; and when the offender only deferves to be chattifed with the whip of twisted parchment, do not expofe him to the lafh of the horrid leather fcourge; for, that you should only inflict the punishment of the flat ftrap on him who deferves a more fevere lathing, is what I am by no means afraid of. "A certain particular kind of cords, manufactured in Spain, were alfo ufed for lafhing flaves, as we are alfo informed by Horace, who, in one of his Odes, addreffes one Menas, who had formerly been a flave, by the following words: "Thou, whofe fides are ftill difcoloured (or burnt) with the ftripes of Spanish cords. (Ibericis perufte funibus latus). "So generally were whipping and lafhing confidered among the Romans as being the lot of flaves, that a whip, or a fcourge, was pofitively become a mong them the emblem of their condition. Of this we have an inftance in the fingular cuftom mentioned by Camerarius. It was ufual, that author GENT. MAG. June, 1788. 497 relates, to place in the triumphal car, behind the triumpher, a man with a whip in his hand; and the meaning of this practice was, to fhew, that it was no impoffible thing for a person to fall from the highest pitch of glory into the most abject condition, even into that of a flave. "Suetonius also relates a fact, which affords another remarkable inftance of this notion of the Romans, of looking upon a whip as a characteristic mark of dominion on the one hand, and of fla very on the other. Cicero (fays Sue. tonius, in the life of Auguftus), having accompanied Cæfar to the capitol, re lated to a few friends, whom he met there, a dream which he had had the night before. It feemed to him (he faid) that a graceful boy came down from Heaven, fufpended by a golden chain; that he ftopped before the gate of the capitol, and that Jupiter gave him a whip (flagellum). Having afterwards fuddenly feen Auguftus, whom (as he was ftill perfonally unknown to feveral of his near relations) Cæfar had fent for and brought along with him to be prefent at the ceremony, he affured his friends that he was the very perfon whofe figure he had feen during his fleep.' Juvenal likewife, in one of his Satyrs, fpeaks of Auguftus conformably to the above notion of the Romans. The fame (fays he) who, after conquering the Romans, has fubjected them to his whip.' Ad fua qui domitos deduxit flagra Quirites. "So frequently were flagellations the lot of flaves, that appellations and reproachful expreffions alluding to that kind of punishment were commonly ufed to denominate them. Plautus, who had been fervant to a baker, and who was much acquainted with every thing that related to flaves, has made a most frequent use of such nicknamee and expreffions. Slaves are called in his fcenes, reftiones, on account of their being beaten with cords, and bucæde, on account of the ox-leather thongs ufed for the fame purpose. The fame author ufually denominates flaves with the words flagritribe (à flagris terere) ulmitriba, plagipatida, &c. Terence, though an author remarkable for his obfervance of decorum, frequently ufes the expreflions of verberones, and fla griones, in fpeaking of flaves. The expreflions, verberones and fubverbussi (thofe (those who are burnt with ftripes), have alfo been used by Tertullian as common appellations of flaves. "Sometimes the. flagellations inflict. ed upon flaves, or the fear they entertained of incurring them, ferved Plautus as incidents for the conduct of his plots. Thus, in his Epidicus, a flave, who is the principal character in the play, concludes, upon a certain occafion, that his mafter has difcovered his whole fcheme, becaufe he has fpied him, in the morning, purchafing a new fcourge at the shop in which they were fold. The fubject of flagellations has been an inexhaustible fund of pleasantry for Plautus. In one place, a slave, intending to laugh at a fellow flave, afks him how much he thinks he weighs, when he is fufpended naked, by his hands, to the beam, with an hundred weight (centupondium) tied to his feet; which was a precaution taken, as commentators inform us, in order to prevent the flave who was flagellated from kicking the man (virgator) whofe of fice it was to perform the operation. And, in another place, Plautus, alluding to the thongs of ox-leather with which whips were commonly made, introduces a flave engaged in deep reflection on the furprizing circumftance of dead bullocks, that make incurfions upon living men. Vivos homines mortui incurfant boves! Nor was it upon their flaves only that mafters, among the Romans, inflicted the punishment of flagellation: they fometimes found means to ferve in the fame manner the young men of free condition, who infinuated themfelves into their houfes, with a defign to court their wives. As the most favourable difguife on fuch occafions was to be dreffed in flaves clothes, becaufe a man thus habited was enabled to get into the honte, and go up and down without being noticed, rakes, engaged in amorous pursuits, ufually chofe to make ufe of this kind of dreis. When the hulband happened to difcover them, he utually feigned to mistake the man for a run-away flave, or fome ftrange flave who had got into his houfe to commit theft, and treated him accordingly. Indeed, the opportunity was a moft favourable one for revenge; and if to this confideration we add that of the fevere temper of the Romans, and the jealous difpofition that has always prevailed in that country, we hall eafily conclude He that fuch an opportunity, when obtain ed, was feldom fuffered to escape. A Roman fpark, caught in the above difguife, and engaged in the laudable purfuit of feducing his neighbour's wife, was, with a centupondium to his feet, fadly rewarded for his fpirit and ingenuity. A misfortune of this kind actually befel! Salluft the hiftorian was caught in a familiar intercourfe with Fauftina, wife to Milo, and daughter of the Dictator Sylla. The husband caufed him to be foundly lafhed (ioris bene cælum); nor did he release him till he had made him pay a confiderable fum of money. The fat is related by Aulus Gellius, who has extracted it from Varro. To this circumflance the violent part was very probably owing which Salluft afterwards took against Milo, while the latter was under profecution for flaying the tribune Clodius, and the tumult he raised on that occa fion, by which Cicero was prevented from delivering the fpeech he had prepared. "An allufion is made to the above facts in one of Horace's Satyrs. He fuppofes in it, that his flave, availing himself of the opportunity of the Saturnalia, to fpeak his mind freely to him, gives him a lecture on the bad courfes in which he thinks him engaged, and uses, among others, the following arguments: "When you have ftripped off the marks of your dignity, your equefirian ring, and your whole Roman drefs, and, from a man invefted with the office of judge, fhew yourfelf at once under the appearance of the flave Dama; difgraced as you are, and hiding your perfumed head under your cloak, you are not the man whom you feign to be: you are at leaft introduced full of terror, and your whole frame thakes through the ftruggles of two oppofite paffions. In fact, what advantage is it to you, whether you are cut to pieces with rods, or flaughtered with iron weapons?' Tu cum projectis infignibus, annulo equestri Romanoque habitu, prodis ex judice Dama, Turpis, odoratum caput obfcurante lacernâ Non es quod fimulas; metuens induceris, "The above uncontrouled power of inflicting punishments on their flaves, enjoyed by matters in Rome, was at laft abufed by them to the greatest degree. The fmalleft faults coinmitted in The Manner in which Slaves were used at Rome. their families by flaves, fuch as breaking glaffes, feafoning dishes too much, or the like, expofed them to grievous punishments; and it even was no unufual thing for mafters (as we may judge from the defcription of Trimalcion's entertainment in the Satire of Petronius) to order fuch of their flaves, as had been guilty of faults of the above kind, to be tripped, and whipped in the prefence of their guests, when they happened to entertain any at their houfes. "Befides all the abovementioned inftruments ufed for punishing flaves, and as if the terrible flagellum had not been of itfelf fufficiently fevere, new cantrivances were used to render the fame a ftill more cruel weapon: the thongs with which that kind of fcourge was made were frequently armed with nails, or fmall hard bones, and alfo with fmall leaden weights; these weights were fhaped like thofe which were fometimes won hanging about the fhoes, and were called afiragala, as mentioned by Hefychius: hence the name of aftragala commonly given to fuch fcourges as were armed with thefe kinds of leaden weights or knobs. "Thefe abufes which mafters, in Rome, made of the power they poffeffed over their flaves, either by making them deliberately fuffer death, or wantonly torturing them in numberlefs different ways, were at length carried to fuch a pitch, that, in the beginning of the reign of the Emperors, it was found neceffary to reftrain their licence. "Under the reign of Claudius (for it is not clear whether any provision to that effect was made under Auguftus) it was ordained, that mafters, who for. fook their flaves when fick, should lofe all right over them in cafe they recovered; and that thofe who deliberately put them to death, fhould be banished from Rome, "Under the Emperor Adrian, the cruelties exercifed by Umbricia, a Roman lady, over her female flaves, cauled new laws to be made on that fubject, as well as the former ones to be put in force; and Umbricia was, by a refcript of the Emperor, banished for five years (1. 2. in fire, Dig. L. I t. 6.). "New laws to the fame ends were likewife made under the following Einperors, among which civilians make particular mention of conftitution of Antoninus Pius (Diva Pius). In fub. fequent times, the church allo employed 5 499 its authority to prevent the like exceffes: in a canon which was framed in the council held at Elvira, the following provifion was inferted, in order to check the feverity of miftreffes in re gard to their female flaves. If a miftrefs, in a fit of anger and madness, hall lash her female flave, or cause her to be lashed, in fuch a manner that she fhall expire before the third day, by reason of the torture the has undergone; whereas it is doubtful whether it has defignedly happened, or by chance; if it has defignedly happened, the mistress fhall be excommunicated for feven years; if by chance, the fhail be excommunicated for five years only; though, if the falls into fickness, the may receive the communion.' "But the abufes made by mafters of their power over their flaves, were a diforder of fuch a nature as was not to be cured fo long as the custom itself of flavery was allowed to fubfift; and these apules have been at length remedied only by the thorough abolition of a cuftom which was a continual infult on humanity: an advantage this, for which we are indebted to the eltablishment of Chriftianity, whatever evils and calamitics certain writers may reproach it with having occafioned." The above facts and obfervations are extracted from the fourth chapter of Mr. De Lolme's Memoriais of Human Superftition, in which they are introduced by way of a digreffion. Letters to the People of Great Britain, on the Cultivation of their National HifloryLETTER V. AFTER having mentioned the period of our history which has been leaft illuftrated, let us proceed to confider in what other parts the neglect chiefly confifts. And, in the first place, as the British empire contains leveral diftinct kingdoms, it will be proper to enquire if the hiftory of any of these kingdoms be more neglected than that of another. In this point of view, it must occur that England, a country fuperior in wealth, population, and glory, to all the rett put together, muft naturally have attracted the chief attention to her hiftory, as in juftice the ought. But, while even the history of England has been to much neglected, it is not matter of furprize that the history of Wales, ireland, Scotland, fhould meet with very little attention. It is even fufpected, fufpected, that the hiftory of thefe countries has met with more difregard, both among their refpective natives, and in England, than its difproportion deferves; and it is certain that the hiftory of Bretagne, of Burgundy, and other ancient kingdoms now conjoined in the French monarchy, has attracted infinitely more notice in France than that of the above kingdoms has found in England. The five volumes folio of original documents, concerning the hiftory of Bretagne alone. lately published in France, may, among many other proofs, eftablish the truth of this affertion. It is, therefore, propofed to con. fider the Welch, Irish, Scotifh history, each in a feparate letter; as being provinces of British history much neglect ed. A native of the British empire, though he may laudably give more attention to that country of it where he was born, muft yet be greatly interested in the hiftory of every kingdom of the empire; at least, far more fo than in any foreign hiftory. And a British Antiquary ought to defpife ancient enmities and prejudices, and to contribute with pleafure to ferve any denomination of his fellow-fubjects. It fhall only be further premifed, that the plan of thefe letters must neceffarily confine them to a few hints, efpecially concerning the leffer kingdoms: for the neglect of English hiflory is their most important province; and, if that began to be remedied, the other British kingdoms would follow the example of courfe. This letter fhall offer a few remarks on the hiftory of Wales. The ancient hittorical documents concerning Wales are very few; and it is matter of greater reproach that even thefe few have been neglected. When Nennius and Samuel wrote in conjunction, in the year 88, it is palpable, from their preface, that not one hiftorian had arifen in Wales before them. The complaint of Gildas, who wrote in the year 560, contains very few hiftoric hints. Gildas, Nennius, and Samuel, only go down to the arrival of the Saxons in the fifth century. From that period till 1150, when Geofrey of Monmouth published his monfrous romance, traní inted from a Tomance of Bretagne, which he miftook for a history, not a particle of Welch hiftory can be found, except in Beda, and the Saxon Chro nicle, and Iris Anuals. Geofrey only goes down to the death of his pretended Arthur, about the year 542. But Gildas, who lived at this very time, knew no. thing of Arthur; and he is now perfectly understood to be a non-existence, a mere phantom of thofe romances which began to appear in the north of France in the time of the crufades. If in the libraries in Wales any hif toric document whatever can be reco vered, written before the twelfth cen tury, it cannot be too highly valueď. As it is, the whole hiftory of Wales, from the beginning to the twelfth century, refts upon Caradoc of Llancarvon, who wrote about the year 1160; a va luable and judicious writer, but who cannot be greatly credited for events that happened many centuries before him, and of which, to the best of my knowledge, there is no other native record. But the fingularity is, that Caradoc, the only original hiftorian of Wales, remains yet to be published! We have only tranflations of his work, grofsly interpolated by a fucceffion of abfurd editors, fo that it is impoffible to fay wha parts are Caradoc's, what not. The original ought to be published from the oldeft MSS. extant, with a verbal Latin tranflation. But those gentlemen who are skilled in the Welch language, rather chufe to ficken the publick with their dreams concerning the Welch language and antiquities, than to acquire great fame by publishing the original authors; a phrenzy alfo general in Ireland, but no where else to bę found. The Era Cambro Britannica, pub. lifhed by Williams at the end of Lloyd's Commentariolum, I cannot believe more ancient than the thirteenth century. And I wish to be informed if, excepting only the laws of Howel Dha in the tenth, there be any fpecimen of the Welch language preceding the twelfth century. The lift of Welch MSS. given by Davis in his Welch Diction ary, and Lluyd in his Archæologia, jumps at once from the fixth to the twelfth century. To the fixth century are afcribed certain bards, Taliefin, Merlin, Aneurim, &c. and after them we find no Welch writer till the twelfth century. Mr. Evans, who deferves the greateft praife for his labours, has published fpecimens of the poems afcribed to thefe bards. Unhappily they are all in rhime; while we know from Gualdus Cambienfis, who wrote about the year 1180, that rhime was totally unklown to the Welch poetry even of |