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

Condemnation to Hard Labour 127

Therewas,however,somethingmorethanaparallelisminthetreatmentof
freemenoflowstatusandslaves,forthosecondemnedtothevariousforms
ofhardlabourincludednotmerelyfreemensufferingapenaltywhichgave
themtheeffectivestatusofslaves,butactualslavesenduringafurtherpun-
ishmentfordisobedienceorcrime.Thus,inthepassagequotedabove,Macer
continues(48,19,10pr.):

Andforthoseoffencesforwhichafreemanisbeatenwithrodsand

puttoopus publicum,aslaveisorderedtobebeatenwithwhipsandre-

turnedtohismasterunderthepenaltyofbeinginshackles[vincula]for

thesameperiod.If,whenitisorderedthatheshouldbereturnedto

hismasterunderpenaltyofvincula,heisnotaccepted,itisorderedthat

he should be sold and, if no buyer is found, that he should he given

overtoopus publicum,andmoreoverinperpetuity.

Thusbydifferentroutesbothfreemenoflowstatusandslavesmightfinish
upcondemnedtoopus publicum,whosenaturewillbediscussedlater,asthey
mightalsotometallum.Slavesmightalsobereturnedtotheirmasteronthe
strictconditionofbeingkeptinshackles.Thatpenaltytoocameonoccasion
tobeextendedtofreemenandwasquitedistinctfromtemporaryretention
inprison—carcerorcustodia(discussedinthenextsection).Themasterhad
of course always had the power to shackle his slave if he sowished,or to
puthimtoworkinparticularlylaboriousordegradingconditions,orboth.
Such steps are perhaps to be understood as the background to the famous
descriptioninApuleius’Metamorphosesofmenworkinginamill:^8

Their skins were seamed all over with the marks of old floggings,

as you could easily see through the holes in their ragged shirts that

shaded rather than covered their scarred backs; but some wore only

loin-cloths.They had letters branded [or rather tattooed—frontes lit-

terati—seeabove]ontheirforeheads,andhalf-shavedheadsandirons

ontheirlegs.Theircomplexionswerefrightfullyyellow,theireyelids

cakedwiththesmokeofthebakingovens,theireyessoblearyandin-

flamedthattheycouldhardlyseeoutofthemandtheywerepowdered

likeathletesinthearena,butwithdirtyflour,notdust.

Themenmustbeintendedtobeunderstoodbythereaderasbeingofslave
status.Butthehalf-shavenheadsandtheshacklesrecalltheChristiancon-
victsofthe250sinthemetallaof Numidia,andthetattooedforeheadsthe

8.Met.9,12,trans.Graves.SeeF.Millar,‘‘TheWorldoftheGolden Ass,’’JRS71(1981):
63,onp.65(chapter15inthisvolume).