Note 99 — Chapter VII · SLAVES.
Reading edition
Suid. v. ἱμαῖον ᾆσμα, t. i. p. 1239. c. Poll. vii. 180. Of the mill-houses of the ancients we have the following description in Apuleius: “Ibi complurium jumentorum multivii circuitus intorquebant molas ambage varia; nec die tantum, verum perpeti etiam nocte prorsus instabili machinarum vertigine lucubrabant perviligem farinam.” He then sketches a frightful picture of the slaves who work there: “Homunculi vibicibus livedinis totam cutem depicti, dorsumque plagosum scissili centunculo magis inumbrati, quàm obtecti; nonnulli exiguo tegili tantummodo pubem injecti, cuncti tamen sic tunicati, ut essent per pannulos manifesti; frontes literati, et capillum semirasi, et pedes annulati.” Metamorph. ix. p. 204, seq. Cf. Pignor. De Servis, p. 9, seq.