tual activity. The
strongest symptom of this was the prevalence of a morality of tips,
which put on the forms of liberality. It was no more disgrace to take
gifts than to give them. Senators took gifts from the emperor, and all,
including the emperor, reckoned on legacies. Thus the lack of character
spread.[785] Slavery proved a great corrupter of both slaves and owners.
It was the chief cause of the downfall of the state which had been
created by it. It made cowards of both owners and slaves. "The woes of
negro slaves were insignificant, like a drop to an ocean, in comparison
with the sufferings of ancient slaves, for the latter generally belonged
to civilized peoples."[786]

+291. Rise of the freedmen in industry.+ The freedmen were the ones who
were free from the old Roman contempt for productive labor. They seized
the chances for industry and commerce and amassed wealth. "Not only are
they crowding all the meaner trades [in the first and second centuries
of the Christian era], from which Roman pride shrank contemptuously,
but, by industry, shrewdness, and speculative daring, they are becoming
great capitalists and landowners on a senatorial scale."[787] "The
plebeian, saturated with Roman prejudice, looking for support to the
granaries of the state or the dole of the wealthy patron, turned with
disdain from the occupations which are in our days thought innocent, if
not honorable."[788] "After all reservations, the ascent of the freedmen
remains a great and beneficent revolution. The very reasons which made
Juvenal hate it most are its best justification to a modern mind. It
gave hope of a future to the slave. By creating a free industrial class
it helped to break down the cramped social ideal of the slave owner and
the soldier. It planted in every municipality a vigorous mercantile
class, who were often excellent and generous citizens. Above all, it
asserted the dignity of man."[789] But for the freedmen the society
seems to have contained but two classes,--"a small class of immensely
wealthy people, and an almost starving proletariat."[790]

+292. The freedmen in the state.+ Every despot needs ministers. The
history of all despotisms shows that they find those best suited to
their purpose in persons of humble rank. They can use such ministers
against nobles or other great men, and can command their complete
loyalty. Julius Caesar made some of his freedmen officers of the mint. It
was simply an extension of the usa