124 The Imperial Government
supervision of that labour. On the one hand it is quite certain that it was
common (at least) for imperial properties of all types to be leased out to
privatetenantsorcontractors.Thatbeingso,itisinprinciplepossiblethat
convicts were put towork for such contractors and were therefore, in the
firstinstance,subjecttoprivateexploitation.Whethersuchasystemoper-
atedornot,itisontheotherhandalsocertainthatsoldierswereemployed
inguardingsomeminesandquarries.Itisanimportantfeatureoftheim-
perialsystemthatthearmyconstitutedtheonlysourceofmanpower,inthe
employmentofthestate,whichcouldbedeployedforpolicefunctionsor
forlow-leveladministrativeones.Inhisreferencestoprisonsandtosoldiers
guardingtemples,aswellashisallusionelsewhere(Apol.2,8)totheroleof
themilitarypost(militaris statio)inrepressingbrigandage,Tertulliantouches
alsoontheequallylargeanddifficultquestionofthemaintenanceofpub-
licorderintheprovinces.Theevidencemaywellsuggest,thoughcertainly
cannotprove,asteadyextensionofthepolicefunctionsoftheRomanarmy
duringtheimperialperiod,withaconsequentdilutionofthemilitaryman-
power grouped in units and available for strategic and tactical use against
externalenemies.^5 Thepotentialrelevanceofthattothehistoryofthethird
andfourthcenturiesneedhardlybestressed.
Inthisarea,asinotheraspectsoftheinterconnectedwebofthemesout-
linedabove,ourevidencehardlyallowsustowriteanactualhistoryshowing
howinstitutionsevolved.Ifnothingelse,theconcentrationofourlegalevi-
denceinthelatesecondandearlythirdcenturiesproducesadistortionwhich
canneverfullybeovercome.Nonetheless,theselegalsourcesthemselves
doatleastpermitaninsightintoattitudesandpresumptionswhichillumi-
natenotonlyeconomic,administrative,andpenalhistory,butconceptions
ofsocialclassandofthetreatmentofthehumanbody.Sinceitisprecisely
thelatterwhichisofcrucialimportance,itisnecessarytobeginwithlia-
bilitytofloggingandcruelpunishmentsbeforemovingontoimprisonment
andhardlabour.
BeatingandCruelFormsofExecution
Therapidextensionoftherangeofcriminalpunishmentsinuse,whichchar-
acterisestheimperialperiod,hasbeendiscussedmanytimes;sohasthereser-
- There is no general up-to-date discussion of this important question. Note, e.g.,
O. Hirschfeld, ‘‘Die Sicherheitspolizei im römischen Kaiserreich,’’Kleine Schriften(1913),
576;G.Lopuszanski,‘‘LapoliceromaineetlesChrétiens,’’Ant. Class.20(1951):1;R.Mac-
Mullen,Soldier and Civilian in the Later Roman Empire(1963),55–56.