and after the Peloponnesian war Athenian citizens who had previously enjoyed comparative affluence were obliged to support themselves by working at any sort of manual labor for daily wages.

It appears to have been a special object of the polity of Solon, whose archonship commenced in 594 B. C., to increase the number of artisans and the amount of the manufactures of Athens. For this purpose he prohibited the exportation of any of the products of the soil, with the single exception of olive oil, which was extremely plentiful. He also forbade the granting of citizenship to immigrants unless they had forever abandoned their former abodes, and came to Athens for the purpose of carrying on some industrial occupation. The senate of Areopagus was directed to keep watch over the lives of citizens generally, and punish all who had no regular occupation to support them; and if a son had not been taught some art or profession by his father the laws of Solon relieved him from the obligation of supporting that father in his old age. It was the wish of this lawgiver that the exports of Athens should consist of the products of artisan labor rather than the produce of the land. This policy probably had much influence in promoting the success of Athens in manufactures and increasing the number of her free artisans. Respecting the rates of wages it is necessary to depend mainly upon occasional indications, such as the incidental mention of wages paid in particular occupations. Lucian states that in the age of Timon (about 420 B. C.) the daily wages for garden or field labor was 4 oboli, or about 13 cents; but Bock appears to think it probable that this author refers to earlier what really belongs to later times. The same sum is mentioned by Aristophanes as the wages of a porter, and also as that of a day-laborer, who carried manure. The philosophers Menedemus and Asclepiades are said to have earned 2 drachmas (about 39 cents) a night by grinding corn in a mill; but this appears to be quite an exceptional rate of pay. The crew of the Paralos, one of the two sacred triremes belonging to the Athenian state, always received 4 oboli (13 cents) a day, although this vessel was usually kept in port. It may be remarked that the members of the crew were all freemen. The pay of the soldiers varied between 2 oboli and 2 drachmas a day, but the larger amount included the allowance for subsistence to a hoplite (a heavy armed soldier) and his attendant. The pay of a hoplite was never less than 2 oboli per diem, with an equal amount for subsistence. This was the customary rate in the time of Demosthenes, who calculates the cost of the subsistence of a hoplite at 10 drachmas, (60 oboli,) and that of a cavalryman at 30 drachmas (about $5.85) a month. At the beginning of the Peloponnesian war each of the hoplites engaged in the siege of Potidea received 2 drachmas a day for himself and his attendant; and the same pay is mentioned by Aristophanes as having been asked by certain Thracian mercenaries, subsistence in each case being included in the sum named. The troops of the Athenian army operating in Sicily received 1 drachma a day, of which one-half was for subsistence, and the archers who formed the civic guard of Athens were paid at the same rate. After the destruction of Mantinea, the cities in alliance with Sparta furnished money in lieu of troops at the rate of 3 Eginetan oboli* per diem for each foot-soldier, and 12 for each cavalryman. From the instances given it will be seen that the pay of the cavalry was twice, thrice, or even four times as much as that of the infantry. Among the Athenians it was usually three times as high, and the same rule held good among the Romans. It is said that a soldier could maintain himself sufficiently well for 2 or 3 oboli (63 to 93 cents) a day, especially as living in many places

* Three Egineton oboli were worth 5 Attic oboli.

where he had to serve was much cheaper than in Athens. The allowance for subsistence was usually equal to the pay. Out of the latter the soldier had to provide clothing and arms, and after doing this he commonly had a surplus left, which, when opportunity favored him, he frequently augmented by plunder. In this way a soldier would often amass quite a little fortune. Theopompus says that with a daily pay of 2 oboli a soldier could maintain a wife, and that with 4 oboli his fortune was complete, by which he evidently means so much pay independent of the allowance for subsistence.

The earnings of professional men, including musicians and actors, in Athens were, at least in some instances, very large. The celebrated physician, Democedes of Croton, being invited to Athens, received from the state a salary of 100 minas, or a little less than $2,000 in gold, which for that age (540 B. C.) was a large amount. Flute-players sometime obtained almost incredible prices for their services, and distinguished actors equally large amounts. Thus Palus, or Aristodemus, is said to have earned a talent (nearly $1,200 in gold) in one or two days. The teachers of philosophy and rhetoric, or sophists, were also a wellpaid class. Protagoras, of Abdera, the first who taught for money, charged a pupil 100 minas for his complete course of instruction, and Georgias exacted the same amount; but in later times, when the number of these teachers had multiplied, the rates of tuition were considerably reduced.

The cost of the necessaries of life in ancient Greece was comparatively low, especially in the early period of Grecian history. In the time of Solon, (that is in the early part of the sixth century before the commencement of the Christian era,) the medimnus of grain (about a bushel and a half) was sold at Athens for a drachma, or about 19 cents. From that time to the time of Demosthenes there was a gradual rise in breadstuffs, as well as in most other commodities. In the days of Socrates barley-meal was worth an obolus for 4 chonices, or 2 drachmas the medimnus. Diogenes, the cynic, mentions about the same rate as having prevailed in his day, though, in the opinion of Boeck, this could only have been true in regard to the years when the price was lowest. The author just named infers from a passage in Aristophanes that about the ninety-sixth and ninety-seventh Olympiads (396–392 B. C.) wheat was worth about 3 drachmas a medimnus, which corresponds very well with the price of barley as just quoted; but in the time of Demosthenes, at least during periods of scarcity, 5 drachmas the medimnus, or about 65 cents a bushel for wheat, was considered a moderate price. Even barley must have sold as high as 6 drachmas the medimnus for a considerable period, as 18 drachmas, an extravagantly high rate, are referred to in the speech against Phoenippus, as being three times the former price. In other Grecian states the prices do not appear to have differed very much from those which prevailed at Athens. For example, it is stated in the second book of the Economics, attributed to Aristotle, that barley-meal at Lampsacus sold at 4 drachmas the medimnus, or about 52 cents a bushel; but that the state on one occasion fixed the price at 6 drachmas, in order to make a profit on the difference. During the siege of Athens by Sulla wheat was sold as high as 1,000 drachmas the medimnus, the inhabitants being reduced to the necessity of subsisting on shoes and leathern bottles. The price of bread among the Greeks appears to be unknown. Indeed, it is probable that this commodity was usually, if not always, made at home by the women of the family or the female slaves; for though Greece, or at least Athens,

was noted for the excellence of her bread, it is not clear that there were any professional bakers who manufactured that commodity for sale.

In early times the price of meat in Greece must have been very low, as in the days of Solon an ox, probably one selected for a sacrifice, was sold at Athens for 5 drachmas, or about 973 cents. A sheep at the same period was worth only a drachma, or about 194 cents. During the Peloponnesian war, a sucking-pig sold at Athens for 3 drachmas, or about 58 cents. A small sheep selected for a sacrifice is estimated in Menander at 10 drachmas, or about $1.95; and in one instance a lot of fifty-five sheep seem to have been estimated at a value of 1,000 drachmas, or about $3.90 per capita. If these two rates be assumed to indicate that the price of sheep in the flourishing period of Athens ranged from 10 to 20 drachmas, the price of oxen may be supposed to have ranged from 50 to 100 drachmas, or from $9.75 to $19.50.

The price of wine in Greece was extremely low. At Athens common wine sold at 4 drachmas the metretes, which is at the rate of about 74 cents a gallon; and an agreement is mentioned in Demosthenes in which 3,000 casks of Mendæan wine supposed to have contained a metretes each were valued at 6,000 drachmas, or at the rate of only 2 drachmas the metretes, which is less than 4 cents a gallon; yet Mendæau wine (of which, however, there may have been various qualities) was used by the Macedonians in their most sumptuous entertainments. But even in those days some wines were quite expensive. Thus the Chian wine, in the days of Socrates, sold for a mina the metretes, or nearly $2 a gallon.

At Athens, and probably in most of the Greek cities, fish, especially the smaller kinds, were abundant and very cheap, and were a favorite article of food. Of aphuas, which were very small, a great quantity could be bought for an obolus, or 34 cents. The larger varieties brought a better price, and such as were scarce and were sought for by the rich as delicacies were quite high. Thus a copaie eel in the time of Aristophanes cost 3 drachmas, or about 583 cents. At Athens salted provisions, more particularly fish, were imported in large quantities, and could be bought cheap, but they were chiefly consumed by the poorer people of the country. Vegetables, such as cabbage, are said to have been cheap. A choenix of olives, about a quart, sold for a quarter obolus, or of a cent. The best honey cost as much as 5 drachmas the cotyla, or nearly a dollar a pint, probably an exceptional price. The warm beverage which the ancients used instead of tea cost a chalcus, or of an obolus a cup, and a piece of dressed meat, prepared for eating, could be bought, according to Aristophanes, for half an obolus.

4

Judging by the price of houses, rents among the Greeks must have been quite moderate. The orator Isæus mentions a small house, the value of which he estimates at 3 minas, or about $59; another at Eleusis worth 5 minas, (about $97,) and a dwelling-house at Athens worth 13 minas, or somewhat over $250. Demosthenes mentions a house belonging to poor people, which was pledged for 10 minas, ($194,) and a lodging-house in the country valued at 16 minas, or about $311. A house behind the Acropolis at Athens was valued at 20 minas, and others respectively worth 30, 44, 50, 100, and 120 minas are mentioned by various writers. The mina being equal to about $19.44, gold, the reader can easily reduce these amounts to their equivalents in United States money. The highest price mentioned is only $2,332.80; but as the Greek writers only mention the value of houses in an incidental way, it would not by any means be safe to infer that this sum was really the price of a house of the most expensive class. It is well

known that the Athenian houses generally were of a very inferior kind, as might naturally be inferred from their values as given above. The only precise statement on the subject of house-rent occurs in Isæus, according to whom a house at Melite worth 30 minas, and one at Eleusis worth 5 minas, together produced 3 minas a year, or 84 per cent.; but, in the opinion of Boeck, this must have been below the general average, as it is considerably below the ordinary rate of interest.

In this connection it may not be amiss to refer to the value of land, which in Attica is estimated by Beck at 50 drachmas the plethron, or about $43 an acre. But of course prices must have varied greatly according to locality, and must also have undergone frequent changes in the course of history, increasing with prosperity and a rapid increase of population, and diminishing when war depopulated the country, or rendered the operations of agriculture insecure.

Fuel in Athens appears to have commanded a comparatively high price, 2 drachmas, or 39 cents, being in one case mentioned as the ordinary price of such a load of wood as could be brought into the city on the back of an ass. Charcoal was extensively used, and being lighter than wood, would cost proportionately less for transportation.

Of the price of clothing only an imperfect idea can be obtained. Socrates, according to Plutarch, considered an exomis cheap at 10 drachmas, or $1.95. This was an upper garment worn by the common people, and had only one sleeve, the arm on the other side being left bare. The same philosopher mentions purple as selling at Athens for 3 minas, or a little less than $60, and by this he is supposed to have meant an expensive upper garment of that color. Garments made of the byssus, which grew in Achaia, were sold for their, weight in gold. A pair of Sicyonic women's shoes could be bought for 2 drachmas, or 39 cents. Eight drachmas, or $1.56, is once mentioned as the price of a pair of men's shoes; but this is supposed to refer to some ornamental kind much dearer than those commonly in use.

In regard to the aggregate cost of living, Bock estimates that at Athens the poorest family, comprising as many as four free adults, if they did not live on bread and water, must have spent, upon an average, from 390 to 400 drachmas, or from $77 to $79 a year; and he thinks that "if, in the time of Socrates, four persons could live upon 440 drachmas a year, they must have passed a very wretched existence." Elsewhere he says that "in the flourishing times of the state one person could live but moderately upon 2 or even 3 oboli a day;" so that a workingman, who had to support a family on 4 oboli a day, must have earned but a scanty subsistence. Allowing two hundred and fifty working days to the year, 4 oboli a day would amount to only 1663 drachmas a year, which is less than half the sum which Boeck thinks necessary even to 66 a very wretched existence.” *

But the number of wage-laborers in Greece was comparatively small, a great majority of the working people being in the condition of slaves or serfs. In war the life of the prisoner was considered as forfeited, and if the captor spared him it was usually to devote him to a life of servitude, a fate which often befell persons who, in their own country,

*In this connection it may not be amiss to notice the conclusion of the able French author, Dureau de la Malle, who, after a review of the prices of commodities, the rates of wages, and the pay of troops in Greece and in Asia, remarks that the value of the precious metals in ancient times, as compared with military service, labor, and subsistence, was much smaller than has generally been supposed. "For example," says he, "the 3 oboli allowed for the subsistence of a hoplite are within 4 centimes (four-fifths of a cent) of the amount now allowed for the subsistence of a terrace-maker, a mason, or a carpenter in two-thirds of the departments of France."

had occupied stations of honor and influence. Many persons were also sold into slavery by kidnappers, who practiced their nefarious trade along the shores of the Mediterranean, as similar miscreants in modern times have done on certain portions of the African coast. As luxury increased among the Greeks the demand for slaves was such that a regular commerce in these unfortunate beings was kept up, the enterprise of the slave-traders leading them to distant parts, particularly to the southern shores of the Black Sea, where slaves could be had in great numbers. The first Greeks who engaged in this trade are said to have been the Chians, who also pursued the infamous business of making eunuchs for the eastern market. A just retribution ultimately fell upon them, when Mithridates, of Cappadocia, having conquered the island, delivered them up to their own slaves to be carried away captive into Colchis.

In Sparta the Helots outnumbered the citizens by about five to one, and Boeck estimates the ratio of slaves to citizens in Attica at very nearly four to one.*

According to an enumeration made during the archonship of Demetrius Phalerus, about 309 B. C., there were 21,000 citizens, 10,000 resident aliens, and 400,000 slaves. Boeck, however, supposes, apparently with very good reason, that this number of slaves includes women and children, whereas the number of citizens and of resident aliens includes only adult males. "This number of slaves," says the author just cited, "cannot appear too large, if the political circumstances of Attica are taken into consideration. Even among the poorer citizens it was common to have a slave for the care of household affairs. In every moderate establishment many were employed, such as grinders, bakers, cooks, tailors, errand-boys, or to accompany the master and mistress, who seldom went out without an attendant. Any one who was expensive and wished to attract attention took perhaps three attendants with him. We even hear of philosophers who kept ten slaves. Slaves were also let out as hired servants. They performed all the labor connected with the care of cattle and agriculture; they were employed in the working of the mines and furnaces; all manual labor and the lower branches of trade were in a great measure carried on by them; large gangs were employed in the numerous workshops for which Athens was celebrated; and a considerable number labored in merchant-vessels and in the fleet. Not to enumerate many instances of persons who had a smaller number of slaves, Timarchus kept in his workshop 11 or 12; Demosthenes' father 52 or 53, besides the female slaves in his house, and Lysias and Polemarchus, 120 each. Plato expressly remarks that the free inhabitants had frequently 50 slaves, and the rich even more. Philemonides had 300, Hipponicus 600, and Nicias 1,000 slaves in the mines alone. These facts prove the existence of an immense number of slaves.” It is stated by Timæus that Corinth once had 460,000 slaves, and Aristotle is authority for the assertion that the small island of Ægina had contained as many as 475,000. That the Corinthians really possessed a very large number of slaves is indicated by the fact that they were sarcastically called "choenix-measurers "-an appellation based on the common practice of measuring out grain to the slaves by the choenix, which contained a fraction less than one quart.

Among the Locrians and Phocians it is said slavery did not exist in early times, but at a later day Mnason, a Phocian, and a friend of Aristotle, is reported as having purchased a thousand slaves for his own

* Public Economy of Athens, book i, chap. vii., p. 36.