For the Romans, work was to be done by slaves, and only two occupations were suitable for a free man--agriculture and big business (Maywood, 1982). A goal of these endeavors, as defined by the Roman culture, was to achieve an "honorable retirement into rural peace as a country gentleman" (Tilgher, 1930, p. 8). Any pursuit of handicrafts or the hiring out of a person's arms was considered to be vulgar, dishonoring, and beneath the dignity of a Roman citizen.
