their master but actually with him, were prepared to die for him so great was their loyalty. They would willingly stand between him and any danger that threatened him. They might talk when they served him his dinner, but they kept silent when they were being tortured by his enemies for information that might harm him.
If you think slaves are our enemies then you should remember that they are enemies only because we make them so. There are so many ways in which people treat them cruelly and inhumanely, as if they were no more than dumb animals rather than human beings. When, for example, we recline on our couches to dine, while they have to stand around and wait to clear up the vomit from those who have either eaten or drunk too much, or more likely both. Or when some poor slave has the job of carving expensive pheasants and fowl. He skilfully guides his well-trained hand around the bird’s breast and rump as he carves it up. But he won’t get any of the meat, poor man. He lives for no other purpose than to skilfully carve up roast chicken. The master who feels he has to teach a slave this skill is more to be pitied than the slave who has no choice but to learn it.
Another slave pours the wine. The young man is dressed like a woman and struggles to look as youthful as he can, although signs of his manhood are starting to appear. Another slave’s job is to measure how the guests behave. He stands there nervously and makes a note of those who behave so outrageously that they are worth inviting back tomorrow. There are slaves who prepare the menu and know every detail of their master’s taste. They know exactly what will perk up his taste buds and
amuse
his
bouche
, as it were. They know what kinds of presentation please him, what kind of novel cuisine will liven him up when he feels sick. They understand what bores him and when he will crave certain things. Needless to say, the master wouldn’t dream of eating with these cooks because he thinks it would be beneath him to share a table with a slave.
I once saw the master of a certain slave leave him standing outside in the rain while his guests were invited inside to dine. The master later put him up for sale among a group of particularly worthless slaves – the kind who were sold in the first lot of the day when the auctioneer is just warming up. And what became of this supposedly worthless slave? Why, he became a notoriously powerful freedman, who rose to a position of great influence under the emperor. He ended up with thirty large onyx columns in his dining room. And he made sure he paid his old master back for the contempt with which he had treated him.
You must think carefully about the fact that the man whom you call your slave was born in the same way as you, breathes like you, and dies like you. You must see through his servile exterior and recognise the free man within, in the same way that he can see your inner slave. Fate is always bringing men down and making even those of the highest birth grovel in the dirt. Do you really think you should disrespect a slave whose status is one to which you yourself might one day be reduced, if chance wishes it so?
I don’t want to give you a lecture about how to treat your slaves. What I really want to say to you is this. Treat your slaves as you would wish to be treated by your own superior. Whenever you think about how much power you have over your slaves, remember how much power your master has over you. And if you object that you don’t have a master then remember what chance can do and how there may well come a day when you do have one.
So forgive your slaves when they make mistakes, have conversations with them, be courteous to them, share a meal with them. At this point all those who go in for luxurious living will scream at me: what a disgusting and undignified way to behave! But can’t you see that this was how our great ancestors wanted us to behave towards our slaves? They called them ‘members of the
If you think slaves are our enemies then you should remember that they are enemies only because we make them so. There are so many ways in which people treat them cruelly and inhumanely, as if they were no more than dumb animals rather than human beings. When, for example, we recline on our couches to dine, while they have to stand around and wait to clear up the vomit from those who have either eaten or drunk too much, or more likely both. Or when some poor slave has the job of carving expensive pheasants and fowl. He skilfully guides his well-trained hand around the bird’s breast and rump as he carves it up. But he won’t get any of the meat, poor man. He lives for no other purpose than to skilfully carve up roast chicken. The master who feels he has to teach a slave this skill is more to be pitied than the slave who has no choice but to learn it.
Another slave pours the wine. The young man is dressed like a woman and struggles to look as youthful as he can, although signs of his manhood are starting to appear. Another slave’s job is to measure how the guests behave. He stands there nervously and makes a note of those who behave so outrageously that they are worth inviting back tomorrow. There are slaves who prepare the menu and know every detail of their master’s taste. They know exactly what will perk up his taste buds and
amuse
his
bouche
, as it were. They know what kinds of presentation please him, what kind of novel cuisine will liven him up when he feels sick. They understand what bores him and when he will crave certain things. Needless to say, the master wouldn’t dream of eating with these cooks because he thinks it would be beneath him to share a table with a slave.
I once saw the master of a certain slave leave him standing outside in the rain while his guests were invited inside to dine. The master later put him up for sale among a group of particularly worthless slaves – the kind who were sold in the first lot of the day when the auctioneer is just warming up. And what became of this supposedly worthless slave? Why, he became a notoriously powerful freedman, who rose to a position of great influence under the emperor. He ended up with thirty large onyx columns in his dining room. And he made sure he paid his old master back for the contempt with which he had treated him.
You must think carefully about the fact that the man whom you call your slave was born in the same way as you, breathes like you, and dies like you. You must see through his servile exterior and recognise the free man within, in the same way that he can see your inner slave. Fate is always bringing men down and making even those of the highest birth grovel in the dirt. Do you really think you should disrespect a slave whose status is one to which you yourself might one day be reduced, if chance wishes it so?
I don’t want to give you a lecture about how to treat your slaves. What I really want to say to you is this. Treat your slaves as you would wish to be treated by your own superior. Whenever you think about how much power you have over your slaves, remember how much power your master has over you. And if you object that you don’t have a master then remember what chance can do and how there may well come a day when you do have one.
So forgive your slaves when they make mistakes, have conversations with them, be courteous to them, share a meal with them. At this point all those who go in for luxurious living will scream at me: what a disgusting and undignified way to behave! But can’t you see that this was how our great ancestors wanted us to behave towards our slaves? They called them ‘members of the
Similar Books
