122 The Imperial Government
exile,relegatio,andinvariablyofthemoresevereform,deportatio.Inthedevel-
opedsystemdeportatiowastheharshestpenaltyapplicabletoupper-classper-
sons,exceptforparticularlyoffensiveordangerouscrimes,suchasparricide,
treason, and laterarson.With these exceptions, there did not develop any
clearrelationshipbetweentypeofcrimeandformofpenalty.Socialstatus,
notthespecificcrime,becamethedeterminingfactor.Inthesetwoformsof
exile,definedinthecourseofthefirstcenturya.d.,therethusevolved,for
convictsofhighstatus,somethingresemblingacustodialpenalty,afeature
unknowntotheRepublic.Thirdly,wefindquitedifferentformsofcustodial
penalty,whichapplied(inprinciple)onlytoslavesandlower-classpersons;it
isthese,whichinvolvedhardlabour,whichformthesubjectofthischapter.
This last development gives rise to major questions which involve the
natureofstateandsociety.Doestheuseofconvictsforhardlabourimplythe
pursuitofstrictlyeconomicobjectivesbytheemperors,orsomeemperors?
Doesit,ashasbeensuggested,reflecttherelativedecreaseintheinflowof
slavesafterthecessationofmajorwarsofconquest?Onthisviewtheuseof
convicts,whowerereduced,asweshallsee,toslavestatus,willhavebeen
anattempttofindapartialsubstituteforslavelabour.^4 Thequestionisgiven
addedsignificancebytheclaimmadebyG.E.M.deSte.CroixinThe Class
StruggleintheAncientGreekWorld(1982)thatitwaspreciselytheenforcedpar-
tialshiftfromtheexploitationofslavestotheexploitationofthefreepoor
whichproducedthemoresavagepenaltiesappliedintheimperialperiodto
lower-classconvicts.
Therearealsootherproblems,whichequallyrelatetothenatureofthe
imperialstate.Whatformsofestablishmentforthetemporary,long-term,
orpermanentretentionofprisonersorconvictsexisted?Inreturning,alittle
laterintheApology(44,3),tocriminalsandtheirtreatment,Tertullianmen-
tions the institution of the prison (carcer) as well as the mines: ‘‘It is with
your people [pagans] that the prison is packed,with yours that themetalla
groan,withyoursthatthebeastsarefattened,withyoursthatthosegiving
showscanmaintaintheirgangsofconvicts[noxiorumgreges].’’Asweshallsee,
while thecarcerwas employed for the retention of prisoners awaiting trial
or punishment, any tendency for it to be used as a place of sentence was
alwaysresisted.Atnostagewastheconceptofaprisonsentence,foraterm
orforlife,everadopted.Butifthatisclear,moreimportantquestionsarise
concerningthestatusandmanagementofthecarcereswhich existed in the
- E.g., U. Täckholm,Studien über den Bergbau der römischen Kaiserzeit(1937), 132;
S.Mrozek,‘‘Lesesclavesdanslesminesd’orromainesenDacie,’’Archeologia15(1964):119,
inPolishwithRussianandFrenchrésumés,pp.126–28.