Condemnation to Hard Labour 141tohaveworked,fortheirgeographicallocationsandfortheadministrative
frameworkinoperation.Asregardstypes,metallumisofcourseambiguousas
between‘‘mine’’and‘‘quarry.’’Ulpian,however,statesthatsalt-works(salinae)
couldfunctionasanequivalentplaceofsentence,ascouldlimeorsulphur
quarries(48,19,8,8–10).Pomponiusmentionsawomancondemnedin opus
salinarumandthencapturedinaraidby‘‘banditsofaforeigntribe’’(49,15,6).
Asregardsgeographicallocation,wesawthatChristianswereservingin
metallain Numidia in 258; Cyprian’s previous letter to them, addressed to
three groups,who reply separately (Ep. 77–79),would imply, if taken lit-
erally,thattheseweregoldorsilvermines(Ep.76,2,2).Ifsotheyarenot
identifiable.However,thegeographicallocationofoneofthethreegroups
of confessors in themetalla, to whom Cyprian had written, can be deter-
mined,atleastapproximately.Theywerethebishops,presbyters,andothers
dwellingapud metallum Siguense(Ep.79).SigusliesincentralNumidia,and
withinaradiusofsomefortykilometresthereareonyxquarries,andmines
forlead,zinc,antimony,andcopper;onlythelatteristhoughttohavebeen
exploited in the Roman period.^29 Norcan we firmly identify the alabaster
mineinEgyptfromwhichaslavewasreleasedin209(seeabove),thoughtwo
possiblesitesareknown(ESARII,240).However,AeliusAristides(Or.36
Keil,67)describesaporphyryquarryinEgyptandsaysthat,likeotherlitho-
tomiai,itwasworkedbyconvicts.Wecanreasonablytakethistobethesame
porphyryquarryintheThebaidinwhichChristianconfessorswereserving
in308,beforeninety-sevenofthemweretransferredtoPalestine.^30 Thesite,
MonsPorphyrites(GebelDokhān),intheeasterndesertofEgyptnearMyos
Hormos,wasguardedbysoldiers,asinscriptions,ostraca,andpapyriattest.^31
This quarry was therefore probably imperial property, and the same is
more certainly true of the mines in Cyprus towhich Christian confessors
weresentin309/10(Eusebius,MP13,2).Itisreasonabletosupposethatthese
werethesameminesofwhichAugustushadgivenHerodasharein12b.c.
andwhichGalenvisitedinthemiddleofthesecondcentury.Atthattime
themineworkingswereunderthedirectcontrolofanimperialprocurator,
andatleastsomeoftheworkerswerefettered.^32 Asimilarpatternmayhave
obtainedinSardinia,illuminatedbyHippolytus’accountofthechequered
- SeeU.Saumagne,Saint Cyprien, évêque de Carthage(1975),152andn.3.
- Eusebius,MP8,1;cf.9,1.
- SeeK.Fitzler,Steinbrüche und Bergwerke im ptolemäischen und römischen Ägypten(1910),
94–95;J.Lesquier,L’armée romaine d’Égypte(1918),439–44;RE,s.v.‘‘Porphyrites’’;D.Mere-
dith,‘‘TheRomanRemainsintheEasternDesertofEgypt,’’JEA38(1952):94.Cf.A.Ber-
nand,PanduDésert(1977),44–45.
32.ERW,184–85.