Plantations Flashcards
(Cato, 52-3)
The overseer must not be a gadabout, he must always be sober, and must not go out to dine. He must keep the servants busy and see that the master’s orders are carried out He must not assume that he knows more than the master___ He must be the first out of bed, the last to go to bed___ He must extend credit to no one without orders from the master, and must collect the loans made by the master. He must lend to no one seed- grain, fodder, spelt, wine, or oil. He must have two or three households, no more, from whom he borrows and to whom he lends.
How important it was to pick a good overseer and how much trust you should have in them
also shows how much responsibility these slaves could have
VARRO ON OVERSEERS
The good will of the foremen should be won by treating them with some degree of consideration and those of the hands who excel the others should also be consulted as to the work to be done_ When this is done they are less inclined to think that they are looked down upon, and rather think that they are held in some esteem by the master_ They are made to take more interest in their work by being treated more liberally in respect either of food, or of more clothing, or of exemption from work, or of permission to graze some cattle of their own on the farm, or other things of this kind so that, if some unusually heavy task is imposed, or punishment inflicted on them in some way, their loyalty and kindly feeling to the master may be restored by the consolation derived from such measures
claims they should get better treatment and benefits from having this role,
COLUMELLA ON SUPERVISORS
On far distant estates, however, which it is not easy for the owner to visit, it is better for every kind of land to be under free farmers than under slave overseers, but this is particularly true of grain land_
Quarters should be provided for the overseer alongside the entrance, so that he may have oversight of all who come in and go out and for the steward over the entrance for the same reason, and also that he may keep close watch on the overseer_ (1_67)
claims that again they should get more benefits basically
Sandy and Phillips
‘The enslaved overseer offered a combination of advantages obedience, low cost, “‘bondage” to the estate, and proven capacity to carry out managerial duties
in US there were some black overseers e.g Washington was racist but had enslaved overseers. This was illegal as it showed black people are equal to whites aka can do the same jobs
(Pliny the Elder Natural History 18.37).
Farming done by slaves from the prison is utterly bad, as is everything else done by desperate men. It may appear rash to quote one dictum of the old writers, and perhaps it may be judged impossible to credit unless its value is closely examined it is that nothing pays less than really good farming
Pliny does not like farming done by slaves from prison as they dont work well
(Pliny the Younger Letters 3.19.7).
The last owner [of a farm Pliny has bought] on more than one occasion sold up the tenants’ possessions, so that he temporarily reduced their arrears but weakened their resources for the future, and consequently their debts mounted up again. They will have to be set up and given a good type of slave, which will increase the expense; for nowhere do I employ chained slaves myself, and no one uses them there
does not like chained slaves on farms as they don’t work well according to him- he will only hire a good slave
COLUMELLA
vinedresser should do his work in company with others and under supervision (because they are smart), and because the unruly are for the most part possessed of quicker understanding, which is what the nature OF this work requires. For it demands of the helper that he be not merely strong but also quick-witted; and on this account vineyards are commonly tended by chained slaves. Still there is nothing that an honest man of equal quickness will not do better than a rogue
But if he should wish to gather the fruit [grapes] of each kind at intervals of time [i_e_ for different vintages], he must first take the risk of carelessness on the part of the vintagersi for it would be impossible to assign the same number of overseers, one to each man, to watch over them and give orders that the sour grapes shall not be gathered (Supervised but not overly so).
sounds like gang labour, claims vine slaves are smart and thus due to this they need to be watched more
(Columella, I _81 8).
Accordingly, a careful master inquires not only of them, but also of those who are not in bonds, as being more worthy of belief, whether they are receiving what is due to them under his instructions he also tests the quality of their food and drink by tasting it himself, and examines their clothing, their mittens, and their foot-covering. In addition he should give them frequent opportunities for making complaint against those persons who treat them cruelly or dishonestly In fact, I now and then avenge those who have lust cause for grievance, as well as punish those who incite the slaves to revolt, or who slander their supervisors, and, on the other hand, I reward those who conduct themselves with energy and diligence
they might not be in chains but were made to work by threat of punishment and some were locked up at night
very similar to US
CATO
The chained slaves should have a ration of four pounds of bread through the winter, increasing to five when they begin to work the vines, and dropping back to four when the figs ripen (56)_
rations, acting as an incentive to work it seems
(Cato 24)
When the slaves were sick, such large rations should not have been issued
using rations as motivation, stopping feeding sick ones as waste of money and encourages them to get back to work
(Varro, 1 _ 175)
They [overseers] are not to be allowed to control their men with whips rather than with words, if only you can achieve the same result.
claims whipping was not allowed but sometimes they had no choice but to
(Columella 1 2_ 1 7,
“Both amongst the Greeks and afterwards amongst the Romans down to the time which our fathers can remember, domestic labour was practically the sphere of the married woman”
seems women did slave work, before slaves
CATO
See that the housekeeper performs all her duties___ She must be neat herself and keep the farmstead neat and clean_ She must clean and tidy the hearth every night before she goes to bed. On the Kalends, Ides, and Nones, and whenever a holy day comes, she must hang a garland over the hearth, and on those days pray to the household gods as the opportunity offers. She must keep a supply of cooked food on hand for you and the [other] slaves. She must keep many hens and have plenty of eggs. She must have a large store of dried pears, sorbs, figs, raisins, sorbs in must, preserved pears and grapes and quinces_ She must also keep preserved grapes in grape-pulp___ and in pots buried in the ground, as well as fresh Praenestine nuts kept in the same way, and Scantian quinces in jars, and other fruits that are usually preserved, as well as wild fruits_ All these she must store away diligently every year.
description of a womans duties, cleaning and cooking. Passage supports idea that slaves supplemented rations with stuff like grapes and things on estates
THE v/1/(A -COLUMELLA (12)
Storage — “‘She must carefully inspect everything that is brought into the house to see that it is not damaged, and receive it after it has been examined and found intact, then she must set apart what has to be consumed and guard what can be placed in reserve, so that the provision for a year may not be spent in a month_” (12.15)
Wool working and supervising wool working — “But in order that she may have recourse to wool-work on rainy days or when, owing to cold or frost, a woman cannot be busy with field-work under the open sky, there should be wool prepared and combed out ready, so that she may be able more easily to carry out the task of spinning and demand this work also from others.”
suggests storage is job of Vilica
and that women could do field work but were primarily domestic
Cato
[Speaking to the Vilicus] If the master has given [the vilica] to you as wife, keep yourself only to her. (Cato 1 43)
claims Vilicus should be given Vilica as his only wife, stops him sleeping with slaves on farm causing issues
