128 The Imperial Government
customwhichConstantineabolished(orratheraltered),whilethemarksof
beatingsonthebackindicateconvictsandslavesequally.Arethesemenslaves
enduringpunishmentbytheirownmaster,orslavessentbytheirmasterto
amillownedbysomeoneelse,orconsignedtherebypublicauthority(see
below)?Ormightpublicauthorityhavealreadycometodeployconvictsof
free status as a labour force for such private establishments? The question
maybepostponedforamomentwhilewelookatthe(relativelyunimpor-
tant)useofprisonandshacklesinthedetentionoffreemen.Butthispassage,
apartfromitsvalueasoneofthemostvividpresentationsfromantiquityof
whattheextractionofvaluefromthepoorreallymeant,ishighlysignificant
preciselybecausewecannotbequitesurewhetherthevictimsareslaves,or
slavessentforpunishment,orconvicts.
CarcerorCustodia,andVincula
In59b.c.CicerowrotetohisbrotherQuintus,thenproconsulofAsia,men-
tioningamongotherthingsanescapedslavewhohadbeenapprehendedin
Ephesus:‘‘acertainPlatoofSardes...ar restedthemanandhandedhimover
tocustodiainEphesus,butwhethertopubliccustodyortoapistrinum,Ihave
notbeenabletodetermineadequatelyfromhisletter.’’^9 Theletterillustrates
perfectlytheuseofamillorbakeryasaplaceofdetentionandpunishment
forslaves(seebelow).Thealternativewaspublica custodia,thepublicprison
ofthecity.TheevidenceoncityprisonsintheareasunderRomanrulehas
never been fullycollected;^10 but Vitruvius, for instance, regards a treasury
(aerarium),carcer,andcuria(council house) as the standard public buildings
whichoughttobeplacednexttotheforumofamunicipium(5,2,1).Anec-
dotalevidencerevealsforexampletheprison(phylakē)inthecoloniaofPhi-
lippi where Paul and Silas passed a somewhat disturbed night after being
beatenontheordersoftheduoviri(Acts16,22–40).Similarlythemartyracts
illustrate the presence of city prisons at Lugdunum and Smyrna; the pris-
onsareunderthecontrolofthecitymagistratesand,asatPhilippi,staffed
bycityemployees.TheyfunctionasplaceswhereChristiansarelockedup
toawaittrialbeforethegovernor.^11 InApuleius’Metamorphoseswefindcity
magistrates,actingindependently,havingaslavewhoissuspectedofacrime
9.Ad Qf.1,2,14(Shackleton-Bailey2).- SeeREandDarembergandSaglio,s.v.‘‘Carcer’’;RAC,s.v.‘‘Gefangenschaft.’’[See
nowJ.-U.Krause,Gefängnisse im Römischen Reich,Habes23(1966)]. - H.Musurillo,Acts of the Christian Martyrs,no.5(Eusebius,HE5,1,8;27)(Lyon);
no.10,10–17(Smyrna).