Slaves were useful to the extent that they were inexpensive to keep. Frugality and profitability should be the operative motivation for owning slaves. Diogenes, according to Seneca, had only one slave, named Manes, who ran away. When Diogenes caught up with him, he decided not to pursue Manes because the costs associated with food, clothing, and thefts outweighed the benefit of Manes’s servitude.
