Page:The Ancient City- A Study on the Religion, Laws, and Institutions of Greece and Rome.djvu/353

 ^HAP. 'I. THE CLIENTS BECOME FREE. 847 classes were not without results. An invincible neces- sity obliged the masters, little by little, to relinquish soDfio of their omnipotence. When authority ceases to appear just to the subjects, time must still elapse be- fore it will cease to appear so to the masters. But this 'happens after a while, and then the master, who no longer believes in the justice of his authority, defends it badly, or ends by renouncing it. Besides, this in- ferior class was useful; by cultivating the earth, it accumulated the riches of the master, and by carrying arms, it constituted his strength in the midst of family rivalries. It was therefore wise to satisfy these men, and interest united with humanity to recommend con- cessions. It appears certain that the condition of clients im- proved by degrees. At first they lived in the master's house, cultivating the common domain together. Later a separate lot of land was assigned to each. The cli- •ent must already have found himself happier. He still worked for his master's profit, it is true ; the field was not his; he rather belonged to that. Still he cultivat- ed it for a long succession of years, and he loved it. There grew up between it and him, not that bond which the religion of property had created between it and the master, but another bond — that which labor i < suffering even can form between the man who gives his care, and the earth which gives its fruits. Later came new progress. He no longer worked for the master, but for himself. On condition of an an- nual rent, which at first was perhaps variable, but which afterwards became fixed, lie had the benefit of the har- vest. He thus found some recompense for his labor, and his life was at the same time freer and more inde- f)endent. • "The chiefs of families," says one of the