"Accordingly, the Chians, having entered into a treaty with him, and having made a truce for a certain time, Drimacus prepares measures and weights, and a private seal for himself; and, throwing it to the Chians, he said, Whatever I take from any one of you, I shall take according to these measures and these weights; and when I have taken enough, I will then leave the storehouses, having sealed them up with this seal. And as to all the slaves who desert from you, I will inquire what cause of complaint they have; and if they seem to me to have been really subject to any incurable oppression, which has been the reason of their running away, I will retain them with me; but if they have no sufficient or reasonable ground to allege, I will send them back to their masters.' Accordingly, the rest of the slaves, seeing that the Chians agreed to this state of things, very good-humouredly did not desert nearly so much for the future, fearing the judgment which Drimacus might pass upon them And the runaways who were with him feared him a great deal more than they did their own masters, and did everything that he required, obeying him as their general; for he punished the refractory with great severity: and he permitted no one to ravage the land, nor to commit any other crime of any sort, without his consent. And at the time of festivals, he went about, and took from the fields wine, and such animals for victims as were in good condition, and whatever else the [p. 418] masters were inclined or able to give him; and if he per- ceived that any one was intriguing against him, or laying any plot to injure him or overthrow his power, he chastised him.
Athenaeus. The Deipnosophists. Or Banquet Of The Learned Of Athenaeus. London. Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden. 1854.
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