[127]. A drink precisely similar, and manufactured in the same manner, is known in the wine districts of France under the name of piquette. Commonly, also, it is there appropriated to the use of the domestics. Among the ancient Egyptians the poor, and, à fortiori, it may be conjectured, the slaves were condemned to rely upon beer for the delights of intoxication. Athen. i. 61.
[128]. Nevertheless, Trygæos considers it a misfortune to be confined to this kind of food, since he wishes that the armourers, who desire that their trade may flourish, might fall into the hands of robbers, and be dieted on barley-bread:—ληφθεὶς ὑπὸ ληστῶν ἐθίοι κριθὰς μόνας. Pac. Aristoph. 448. Küst. Vid. Schol. 447. But this was to wish them long life and sharp senses, since the longevity and keen sight of the Chaldæans, which enabled them, I suppose, to look into futurity, are chiefly attributed to their bannocks of barley-meal. Luc. Macrob. § 5. Cf. Poll. ii. 353. Thucyd. iii. 49. Schol. Aristoph. Eq. 816. We find, from the same scholiast, (Eq. 488.) that barley-dough was designated by a particular term, φύραμα. Cf. Athen. ix. 67.
[129]. Luc. Quomod. Hist. Sit conscrib. § 20, where the sophist ridicules a slave who, having inherited his master’s property, neglected the dainties set before him, such as poultry, pork, and game, and fell to on the articles of his former diet. Similar traits were exhibited by the French servants, who made great fortunes during the Mississippi scheme. For example, a footman who had enriched himself and purchased a carriage, instead of entering got up behind it. Lord John Russell. Hist. of Europe, t. ii. p. 217.
[130]. Athen. viii. 15. Servile names were usually brief, as Mida, Phryx, &c. Schol. Arist. Vesp. 433. Cf. Strab. l. vii. t. i. p. 467. a. Casaub.
[131]. Euripides describes in a few verses the two very different views taken of servitude by the freeman and the slave:
Orest. Δοῦλος ὢν φοβεῖ τὸν Ἄιδην
ὅς σ’ ἀπαλλάξ εκ κακῶν.
Phryx. Πᾶρ’ ἀνὴρ κἂν δοῦλος
ἦι τις ἥδεται τὸ φῶς ὁρῶν.
Orest. 1537, sqq.