140 The Imperial Government
states that an indefinite sentence should be construed as one of ten years
(47,19,23),whileConstantinelaysdownatwo-yearcondemnationin metal-
lumforpersonsof‘‘arusticorimpoverishedconditionoflife’’whowrongly
challengedaverdict(CTh1,5,3).
4.Three different varieties of convict labour inmetallaare mentioned:
metallum,opus metalli,andministerium metallicorum.AccordingtoUlpianthe
differencebetweenthefirsttwolaysolelyintheweightofthechainswhich
theconvictswore,metallumimplyingheavierchains;thosewhoescapedfrom
opuspublicumandwererecapturedmightbesenttoopusmetalli;escapeesfrom
thelatterwenttometallum(48,19,8,6–7).Thereisnoindicationhereorelse-
whereastowhat(ifany)differenceoffunctiontherewasbetweenthesetwo
categories. Ulpian’s evidence, however, confirms the Christian testimony
(above)thatalltheconvictswereshackled;theywerealso,asCallistratusput
it,‘‘coercedwithservilelashes’’(49,14,12).Ulpianseemstoimply,asregards
ministerium metallicorum,thatitwasafunctionreservedforfemaleconvicts:
‘‘[I]t is customary for women to be condemned toministerium metallicorum
eitherin perpetuumorad tempus....Iftheyhavebeencondemnedin perpe-
tuumtheyareregardedasservae poenae;butifad tempustheyretaintheircivil
rights’’(48,19,8,8).Sincemetallicimeansthepersonscondemnedtometallum,
itiseasytosupposethatthewomenperformedmenialfunctionsforthemin
themetalla.Aswesawabove,amancomplainedtoSeverusAlexanderabout
theimpropercondemnationofhismothertoministerium metallicorumoropus
metalli.ButHermogenianus,attheendofthethirdcentury,speaksofmen
beingcondemnedtoministerium metallicorum,andbecomingservi poenae(48,
19,36).
5.Unlikeopus publicum,whichcouldbeservedinaperson’snativetown,
condemnationtometallumnecessarilyinvolvedtransportationovergreater
orlesserdistances.Thecondemnedacquiredthestatusofmetallici(andwill
thushavebeenchained)assoonassentencewaspassed,‘‘althoughtheyhave
notyetbeenbroughttotheplacewheretheyareduetolabour’’(48,19,10,1).
SimilarlyUlpianwrites,‘‘Someprovinceshavethem[metalla]andsomedo
not. But thosewhich do not send [convicts] to thosewhich have’’ (48, 19,
8, 4).That it was presumed to beworth the effort of directing soldiers to
actasescorts,sometimesoversubstantialdistances,isanindicationthatthis
form of labour was felt to be particularlyappropriate as a punishment for
seriousoffences.Thereisnothingasyettoshowwhetherthiswasbecauseof
thepunitivenatureofthelabourinvolved,orbecauseoftheparticularvalue
oftheproducts.
6.Itwillbeeconomicaltoconsidertogethertheevidence,fragmentary
and accidental as it is, for the types ofmetallawhere convicts are known