The steward on a country estate, although a slave, ought, according to the precept of the Carthaginian agronome Mago (ap.

Varro, R.R.

i.
17), to be able to read, and ought to possess some culture.

In the prologue of the "Poenulus" of Plautus, it is said of the hero of the title:- -Et is omnes linguas scit; sed dissimulat sciens Se scire; Poenus plane est; quid verbit opus't-?
10.

Doubts have been expressed as to the correctness of this number, and the highest possible number of inhabitants, taking into account the available space, has been reckoned at 250,000.