The danger of arming slaves is not so great in
monarchies as in republics. In the former, a warlike people and a body
of nobility are a sufficient check upon these armed slaves; whereas the
pacific members of a republic would have a hard task to quell a set of
men who, having offensive weapons in their hands, would find themselves
a match for the citizens.
The Goths, who conquered Spain, spread themselves over the country,
and soon became very weak. They made three important regulations: they
abolished an ancient custom which prohibited intermarriages with the
Romans;
[17]
they enacted that all the freedmen
[18]
belonging to the
Fiscus should serve in war, under penalty of being reduced to slavery;
and they ordained that each Goth should arm and bring into the field the
tenth part of his slaves.
[19]
This was but a small proportion: besides,
these slaves thus carried to the field did not form a separate body;
they were in the army, and might be said to continue in the family.
