if you are sufficiently recovered, will be to come home with Mescinius the quæstor. He is a kindly man, and seemed to have a liking for you. But then, my dear Tiro, I wish you to be careful not only about your health but about the dangers of the passage. I would not have you hurry on any account. My sole anxiety is to have you safe and sound."
The society of the ancient world was founded on slavery, and in attempting to reconstruct the picture we cannot afford to neglect the background. At this epoch we already find traces of that secret power exercised by the slaves and freedmen of the leading statesmen, which grew to so scandalous a height under the Empire. We have seen in the first chapter the odious domination of Sulla's freedman, Chrysogonus. The first Cæsar was too strong a man to allow himself to be governed by his servants, but of the dependents of Pompey we hear only too much. Plutarch tells us[1] an entertaining story of Cato's experiences in Syria during the Mithridatic War. On approaching the city of Antioch Cato found that the population had turned out in festal attire with white robes and crowns and music. He naturally supposed that this greeting was intended for the Roman officer, and he scolded those of his escort who had been sent before to make preparations, because they had not stopped the display. But at this moment a venerable man, bearing a wand and appearing to be the marshal of the procession, advanced, and, without so much as saluting Cato, inquired
- ↑ Plutarch, Cato Minor, 13.
