Already, in the later times of the Roman empire, predial slavery had extensively transformed itself into a kind of serfdom: the coloni of the Romans were rather villeins than actual slaves;

• 在罗马帝国的后期，奴隶制就巳经广泛地转变成了一种农奴制。罗马人的所谓coloni与其说是事实上的奴隶不如说是农奴。