, like colts or
puppies, could be taught and trained to their duties. None of them
ever entered any house but his own, unless sent thither by Cato or by
his wife: and if they were asked what Cato was doing, they always
answered that they did not know. His rule was, that a slave ought
either to be doing his business or to be asleep; and he greatly
preferred good sleepers, as he thought that they were more easy
tempered than wakeful persons, and also that men who had slept well
were better able to work than those who had lain awake. Knowing that
love affairs lead slaves into mischief more than anything else, he
permitted them to consort with his own female slaves at a fixed price,
but forbade them to have anything to do with other women.

Cato in his earlier days, being a poor man, and always employed in
service in the field, never complained of any thing that he ate, and
thought it most disgraceful to quarrel with his servant for not having
pleased his palate. Subsequently, however, as he became richer, he
used to invite his friends and colleagues to dinner, and after the
repast was wont to punish with the scourge those servants who had made
mistakes or cooked the food badly. He always endeavoured to establish
some quarrel amongst his slaves, so that they might plot against one
another, instead of combining against himself; and when any of them
appeared to have committed any crime deserving to be punished by
death, the offender was formally tried, and if found guilty, was put
to death in the presence of all his fellow-servants.

As Cato grew more eager to make money, he declared that farming was
more an amusement than a source of income, and preferred investing his
money in remunerative undertakings, such as marshes that required
draining, hot springs, establishments for washing and cleaning
clothes, land which would produce an income by pasturage or by the
sale of wood, and the like, which afforded him a considerable revenue,
and one which, as he said, not Jupiter himself could injure, meaning
that he was not dependent upon the weather for his income, as farmers
are. He also used to deal in marine assurance, which is thought to be
a most dangerous form of investment, which he managed in the following
manner. For the sake of security he made those who wished to borrow
money form themselves into an association of fifty persons,
representing as many ships, and held one share in the undertaking
himself, which was managed