Marks of consideration by the master will go far in giving happiness to your hands:  as, for instance, by asking the opinion of those of them who have done good work, as to how the work ought to be done, which has the effect of making them think less that they are looked down upon, and encourages them to believe that they are held in some estimation by the master.

Those slaves who are most attentive to their work should be treated more liberally either in respect of food or clothes, or in holidays, or by giving them permission to graze some cattle of their own on the place, or some thing of that kind.  Such liberality tempers the effect of a harsh order or a heavy punishment, and restores the slaves’ good will and kindly feeling towards their master.

XVIII.  On the subject of the number of slaves one will require for operating a farm, Cato lays down the two measures of the extent of the farm and the kind of farming to be carried on.  Writing about the cultivation of olives and vines he gives these formulas, viz.: 

For carrying on an olive farm of two hundred and forty jugera, thirteen slaves are necessary, to-wit:  an overseer, a housekeeper, five labourers, three teamsters, an ass driver, a swineherd and a shepherd:  for carrying on a vineyard of one hundred jugera, fifteen slaves are necessary, to-wit:  an overseer, a housekeeper, ten labourers, a teamster, an ass driver and a swineherd.

On the other hand Saserna says that one man is enough for every eight jugera,[76] as a man should cultivate that much land in forty-five days:  for while one man can cultivate a jugerum in four days, yet he allows thirteen days extra for the entire eight jugera to provide against the chance of bad weather, the illness or idleness of the labourer and the indulgence of the master.[77]

At this Licinius Stolo put in.

“Neither of these writers has given us an adequate rule,” he said.  “For if Cato intended, as he doubtless did, that we should add to or subtract from what he prescribes in proportion as our farm is of greater or less extent than that he describes, he should have excluded the overseer and the housekeeper from his enumeration.  If you cultivate less than two hundred and forty jugera of olives you cannot get along with less than one overseer, while if you cultivate twice or more as much land you will not require two or three overseers.  It is the number of labourers and teamsters only which must be added to or diminished in proportion to the size of the farm:  and this applies only if the land is all of the same character, for if part of it is of a kind which cannot be ploughed, as for example very rocky, or on a steep hillside, there is that much less necessity for teams and teamsters.  I pass over the fact that Cato’s example of a farm of two hundred and forty jugera is neither a fair nor a comparable unit.[78] The true unit for comparison of farms is a centuria, which contains two hundred jugera, but