Condemnation to Hard Labour 135towhomTrajan referred at the end of his letter, as persons who normally
carriedoutwork,ofapunitivekind,ontheutilitiesofthecities.
Ifthiswaswhatthelawyersmeantbyopuspublicum,itisimmediatelyevi-
denthowandwhyitdifferedsoprofoundlyfromanyformofcondemnation
tothemines.Firstly,thequestionoftransportingthecondemnedtodistant
regions did not arise; they were put to work in their own city. Secondly,
althoughitwasahumiliatinganddegradingpenalty,itwaslesssothanmetal-
lumoropus metalli(from which it was totallydistinct; see below).Thirdly,
itwascommontoimposeitforlimitedperiods.Fourthly,theoccasiondid
notarisefordiscussing,aswiththosecondemnedtothemines,whetherthey
were‘‘slavesofthefiscus’’or‘‘slavesofthepoena[penalty].’’For,althoughthey
toowerecondemnedbyprovincialgovernors,theywerenotatworkin‘‘the
minesofCaesar,’’butincities.
Thispenaltyseemsregularlytohavebeenprecededbyfloggingwithrods
(fustes)(forfreemen,seeabove),andinvolvedheavyandhumiliatinglabour.
TheOneirocriticaofArtemidorus(1,21)alsomakesclearthatconvictsofthis
category had half of their heads shaved, evidently to aid identification in
caseofescape:‘‘[W]heneversomeone[dreamsthathe]hashisheadhalf-bald
and is of a bad conscience, hewill be condemned to the penaltyof public
work[ergon dēmosion].Forinthisinstancetoothisisthemarkofthecon-
demned.’’Asinthecaseofallotherphysicallydegradingpenalties,exemp-
tion was granted to decurions (CJ9, 47, 3), and toveterans and their sons
(47,5).Ontheotherhandthereisnospecificindicationthatthoseengaged
onopuspublicumhadtowearchains.^22 Andaboveallthepenaltymightbeim-
posedforrelativelyshortperiods,suchasoneyear(Coll.11,3,1PauliSent.5,
18,1)ortwotothreeyears(precededbybeatingwithfustes),asHadrianlaid
downforthoselower-classpersonswhoassistedinthemovingofboundary
stones.^23 Themaximumperiodmentionedforfixed-termcondemnationto
opus publicumistenyears;butcondemnationinperpetuitywasalsopossible.
So,accordingtoPaulus,nocturnalhouse-breakersweretobebeatenwith
fustesandsenttometallum;diurnalones,afterbeatingwithrods(fustium cas-
tigatio),wenttoopuspublicum,eithertemporaryorpermanent(Dig.47,18,2).
Flightduringthesentencemightleadtodoublingofthesentence,oritsper-
petuation,ortransfertoopus metalli(Dig.48,19,8,7).ThoughPliny(above)
seemsnottohaveenquiredastowhetheranyofthosecondemnedin opus
had been serving fixed terms, it seems in general that those enduringopus
- Brasiello(n.6),360–61,iswrongtoassociatethispenaltywithvincula publica.
- SoColl.13,3,2;biennioinDig.47,21,2.