Among the Romans, with whom war and conquest were so long considered(445) the principal means of acquisition, slavery was relatively very hard.(446) But, later, there came to be several different grades of slavery (_servi ordinarii_ and _mediastini_ etc.); and in slavery, every gradation denotes some amelioration of condition.(447) The slave obtained the right to possess resources of his own (_peculium_).(448) In addition to this, emancipation became much more frequent in the later republic; so much so, that Augustus considered it necessary to pass laws taxing frivolous emancipation. (_L. Aelia Sentia_ and _Furia_.)(449) Where men like Terence, Roscius, Tiro, Phædrus and the father of Horace rose from the condition of slavery, the treatment of slaves cannot have been entirely brutalizing.(450) Under the emperors who oppressed the free citizens, legislation was directed more than ever towards the protection of the slaves.(451) Instead of permanent slavery, a condition of things was introduced and became more general every day, one in which the bondman might contract a legal marriage, have property of his own, and in which he was protected against an arbitrary increase of the quota he had to pay his master, whether in money or produce, although he still remained bound to the land. This class was formed not only of the _originarii_, or those born into it, but also of a large number of impoverished freemen, barbarian prisoners of war etc.(452)(453) Section LXXVI. (Appendix To Chapter IV.) The Domestic Servant System.