Odyss. ρ. 369. χ. 475, sqq. In most parts of the ancient world the punishments of slaves were to the last degree disproportionate and unjust: “Cibum enim adurere, mensam evertere, dicto tardius audientem fuisse, cruce, aut flagellis ad minus expiabantur. (Cf. Plut. De Cohibend. Irâ. § 13. 15.) Dixisses, omnes penitus dominos professos fuisse Stoicam sectam, adeò illis altè insederat, omnia servorum peccata æqualia esse. Quo factum est, ut servi nuper empti non quærerent an superstitiosum, vel invidum, sed an iracundum herum nacti essent. Seneca; (de Irâ. iii. 28) quid est, quare ego servi mei hilarius responsum, et contumaciorem vultum, et non pervenientem usque ad me murmurationem, flagellis et compedibus expiem.” Pignor. De Servis, p. 5. Footnote 33: Feith. Antiq. Hom. ii. 20. Footnote 34: Odyss. χ. 462. Footnote 35: Eustath. ad loc. p. 1934. Cf. Virg. xii. 603. ----- The practice of manumission already in the heroic ages prevailed.[36] Odysseus promises their freedom to his herdsman and swineherd if by their aid he should slaughter the suitors; and, according to Plutarch, Telemachos actually bestowed on Eumæos and his companions both their liberty and the rights of citizenship, and from them, he adds, the celebrated families of the Koliades and Bukoli were descended.[37] ----- Footnote 36: In later times freedmen accused of ingratitude returned, if convicted, to slavery. Etym. Mag. 124. 53, seq. This also was the practice under the Roman law, but among our own ancestors, a bondsman, once disenthralled, could never again be reduced to servitude. Fortescue de Laud. Leg. Angl. cap. 46. p. 108 b. Under certain circumstances, we find Athenian emancipated slaves accounted honourable and permitted to marry free women. Dem. in Steph. i. § 20. Mention occurs in Demosthenes of a magnificent monument made in honour of the wife of one of these freedmen. § 22. Footnote 37: Plut. Hellen. Problem. 14. ----- Nor does the illustrious race appear to be yet extinct, Professor Koliades[38] claiming to be a lineal descendant from Eumæos, which may very well be since he must be descended from somebody; and there is no reason why a descendant of Eumæos should not be a professor. ----- Footnote 38: See Mr. Nelson Coleridge, Introduction to the Study of the Greek Poets. Pt. 1. p. 306. -----