Even though as a master you may treat your slaves pretty much as you want, we recommend a combination of these two approaches. Metaphorically, slaves are like donkeys: sometimes they need a positive incentive like a carrot to get them to do what you want and some times they need a negative incentive like being hit with a stick.
We advise you to think of your slaves as humans, although they are under your control. A master cannot view his slaves as mindless objects but then blame them when something goes wrong, for if they are just mindless objects then the master should be to blame seeing as his own definition implies they have no capability to think. Slaves must be treated and controlled with care. They may be your property as Cato insists but don't forget they have minds as well, which are harder to control. There is no simple answer as to how masters should control their slaves.
