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

Condemnation to Hard Labour 139

withexileormetallum‘‘inaccordancewiththerankoftheperson’’(Dig.48,
13,8,1).Thereafter,forinstance,Ulpianstatesthatdecurions(andtheirfami-
lies)cannotbecondemnedtometallumoropus metalli(seebelow),nortothe
furca(gallows)orbeingburntalive(48,19,9,11–15).Mistakesdidoccur,of
course.ThusSeverusAlexanderrepliedtoamannamedDemetrianus:‘‘Ifit
isprovedthatyourmotherwasthedaughterofadecurion,itwillbeevi-
dent that she should not have been condemned toministerium metallicorum
[seebelow]nortoopus metalli’’(CJ9,47,9).Thereasonswhicharegivenfor
this distinction again relate directly to the connection between social and
physicaldignity,orindignity.ThusCallistratuswrites:‘‘Allwhomitisfor-
biddentobeatwithfustesoughttoenjoythesamerespectforrank[honoris
reveretiam]asdecuriones.Foritisinconsistenttosaythatthoseforwhomim-
perialconstitutionshaveforbiddensubjectiontobeatingcanbecondemned
tometallum’’(48,19,28,5).

3. The consequences for a person’s legal status, if he or she were con-
   demnedtometallum,wereprofound.Anycriminalcondemnationreduced
   aperson’sexistimatio(reputation),by,forinstance,disqualifyingthemfrom
   public office.Metallumextinguished theirexistimatioaltogetherand(unlike
   opus publicum) removed their formal possession of the status of a free per-
   son (Dig. 50, 13, 5, 2–3). It was primarily in connection with this penalty
   thatthereappearedtheconceptofaservus poenae,‘‘slaveofthepenalty’’(see
   below).Metallumcarriedwithittheconfiscationofaperson’spropertyand
   thelossofallrightsof inheritanceortestament.Thesentencewasforlife,
   unlessreleasecamebyanindividualorgeneralimperialindulgentia;^28 though
   AntoninusPiusruledthataprovincialgovernorcouldreleasethosefound
   to be incapable of work through age or ill-health, provided that they had
   servedatleasttenyearsandhadsomelivingrelatives(48,19,22).
   AswithmanyaspectsofRomancriminallaw,therulesaboutgradations
   anddistinctionsrelatingtoconvictlabourinmetallawerenotentirelycon-
   sistent.Hadrianreplied,evidentlyinanswertoaletterfromagovernor,ora
   privatepetition:‘‘Nooneoughttobecondemnedtoopus metalliforafixed
   term[ad tempus].Whoeverhasbeencondemnedad tempusoughtnot,evenif
   heiscarryingoutmetallicum opus,toberegardedashavingbeencondemned
   in metallum;forhislibertas[statusasafreeman]isretained,whichthosewho
   arecondemnedtoopus perpetuumlose’’(48,19,28,6).Itisthusnotclearwhat
   wasthestatusoftheslavewhomapapyrusof209showsbeingreleasedafter
   afive-yearsentencetothealabaster-mineinEgypt(SB4639).Alittlelater
   Herennius Modestinus implies that a fixed-term sentencewas normal and


4. See,e.g.,Pauli Sent.4,8,22(24);CJ9,49,4;51,2;4.