148 The Imperial Government
Conclusions
Lookedatfromthepointofviewofpenalprinciplesandpractice,thedevel-
opmentundertheEmpireofcustodialpenaltiesinvolvingthesubjectionof
freepeopletobeating,fettering,andhardlabourrepresentsaradicalinno-
vationbothinthecoercivecapacitiesofthestateandintheattitudetoindi-
viduals.Inspiteoftheimmensebulkofthesurvivingjuristicliteraturefrom
thisperiod,itwould,however,hardlybepossibletocharacterisethischange
asanevolutioninlegaltheory,fornotraceofanysystematicjustificationor
discussionofitsvariousaspectscanbediscerned.Therecouldthushardlybe
agreatercontrastwiththeintensedebatesandthoroughgoingapplications
ofnewpenaltheoriesintheeighteenthandnineteenthcenturies,analysed
inMichelFoucault’sSurveiller et punir: naissance de la prison(1975).Nonethe
less,thejuristicwritingonthissubject,asonmanyothers,isheavilycharged
withvaluesandpresuppositionswhichmakeitanessentialpartofthesocial
andideologicalhistoryoftheEmpire.SoalsoistheChristianliteratureof
reactiontosavagepunishments,andaboveallthewritingofTertullian.
Inthiscontemporaryliteraturethenotionthatconvictlabourmightfunc-
tionasasubstituteforadecliningsupplyofslavelabourplaysabsolutelyno
part.Thatwillhardlyoccasionsurpriseand,ofcourse,constitutesnoproof
that it did not have such a function.What is much more significant is the
apparentabsenceofconvictlabourfromagriculture.Yetitdoesnotneedto
bestatedthattheuseofslavesinshackleswasknown,orthatitwascom-
monforslaveownerstokeepslaveslockedinergastula(cf.Columella1,6,3),
intowhichunwarytravellers,bothfreeandslave,mightdisappearbywayof
kidnapping (Suetonius,Aug. 32). However, although we might reasonably
expecttofindconvictlabourbeingusedinagriculture,mostofthepossible
evidenceforthisseemsinfacttoalludetoslavelabour.Forinstance,Colu-
mella’sreferencestousingasavinedresseranoxius(criminal)boughtdelapide
(attheslavemarket)(3,3,8)seemsclearlytorefertoaslavesoldasapunish-
ment;similarlyhisallusiontothelabourinvineyardsofalligati(personsin
bond)whowerenoxiiseemstoindicatepeoplewhowerepartofthefamilia
(1,9,4–5).ItisratherlesscertainwhetherPlinytheElder,speakingofthe
currentformofagriculturallabour(18,21),isnecessarilyreferringtoslaves:
thetasks,hesays,formerlyperformedwiththeirownhandsbysenatorsand
generalswerenowfulfilledbymenwiththeirfeetinchains,condemnedand
tattooedontheface(‘‘vinctipedes,damnataemanusinscriptiquevultus’’),
whocamefromtheergastula.^51 If,asitseems,thistooisareferencetoslaves
- Forafulldiscussion,seeR.Étienne,‘‘Recherchessurl’ergastule,’’Actes du Colloque
1972 sur l’esclavage(1974),249.