Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Condemnation to Hard Labour 123

provinces. Arewe to imagine a chain of institutions set up by the Roman
stateassuch,andstaffedbyitsemployees—and,ifso,bycivilianemployees
orbysoldiers?Itwillbesuggestedthatwhilethereissomeevidenceforsuch
adevelopment,thebasicpatternwasquitedifferent,namelythedependence
ofRomanofficialsontheprisonswhichwereownedandrunbyprovincial
cities.Thesame,itwillbesuggested,istrueofonecategoryofhard-labour
penalty whose character has often been misunderstood, that is to say,opus
publicum(publiclabour).
Whetherornotthesesuggestionswillproveacceptable,itcanatleastbe
claimed both that no system of punishment can be understood except in
the framework of the relevant state and society, and that we can afford to
make no presumptions about the types of establishment in which punish-
mentmightbeinflicted.IntheRomanEmpirecityprisonsmightbetheonly
onesavailableforlockingupprisonersbeforetrialorexecution;and‘‘public’’
worksincitiescertainlyprovidedoneformoflong-termsentence.Further-
more,convictssentencedtodeathbyRomangovernorswereavailablefor
usebycitymagistratesputtingongladiatorialorwildbeastshows.Heretoo,
therefore,thecitywasinapositiontoprovidethemachinerywhichthestate
assuchlacked.
What othercontexts were possible for hard-labour sentences? It is cer-
tainthatslavescouldbepunishedbybeingsenttoworkinprivatemillsor
bakeries.Isitthereforepossiblethatfreeconvictsweretreatedsimilarly?If
so,thequestionarisesastowhatrangeofeconomicfunctionsmightgaina
laboursupplybythismeans.Themoreextensivetherangeofsuchfunctions,
andthescaleofconvictlabour,themorerelevantthispatternwouldbeto
theapparentdiminutioninthesupplyofslaves.
ItiscertainlyimpliedbyTertullianthatitwascommon,andperhapseven
typical,forminesorquarriestobeinimperialpossession,andtobeworked,
atleastinpart,byconvicts.Variousquestionsthereforearise.Wasitaprecon-
ditionofthegrowthofconvictlabourthatthereshouldhavebeenimperi-
allyownedestablishmentsinwhichtheconvictscouldwork?Wasconvict
labouremployedinanyandalltypesofimperialproperty(e.g.,agricultural
propertiesormanufacturingestablishments),oronlyinminesandquarries?
Ifthelatter,werethereasonsforsuchadeploymentofthelabourwhichwas
thusavailableinanysenseeconomic,orofaquitedifferentcharacter?Ifeco-
nomic, is this perhaps to be taken in the restricted sense,whichTertullian
mightbetakentoimplyinApol.12and29,ofensuringthedirectsupplyof
valuablemetalsandmarbleforpublicworksorcultstatues?
However, even if imperial mines or quarries were the normal places of
workforconvictlabour,thereremainsthequestionoftheorganisationand