[20] See Grote, "H. G." v. p. 510 note.

Another point is the extraordinary amount of license[21] granted to
slaves and resident aliens at Athens, where a blow is illegal, and a
slave will not step aside to let you pass him in the street. I will
explain the reason of this peculiar custom. Supposing it were legal
for a slave to be beaten by a free citizen, or for a resident alien or
freedman to be beaten by a citizen, it would frequently happen that an
Athenian might be mistaken for a slave or an alien and receive a
beating; since the Athenian People is no better clothed than the slave
or alien, nor in personal appearance is there any superiority. Or if
the fact itself that slaves in Athens are allowed to indulge in
luxury, and indeed in some cases to live magnificently, be found
astonishing, this too, it can be shown, is done of set purpose. Where
you have a naval power[22] dependent upon wealth[23] we must perforce
be slaves to our slaves, in order that we may get in our slave-
rents,[24] and let the real slave go free. Where you have wealthy
slaves it ceases to be advantageous that my slave should stand in awe
of you. In Lacedaemon my slave stands in awe of you.[25] But if your
slave is in awe of me there will be a risk of his giving away his own
moneys to avoid running a risk in his own person. It is for this
reason then that we have established an equality between our slaves
and free men; and again between our resident aliens and full
citizens,[26] because the city stands in need of her resident aliens
to meet the requirements of such a multiplicity of arts and for the
purposes of her navy. That is, I repeat, the justification for the
equality conferred upon our resident aliens.

[21] See Aristot. "Pol." v. 11 and vi. 4; Jowett, op. cit. vol. i. pp.