PAST CRIMESwas a drawback. In order to prevent slaves bringing false accusations against
free citizens, Roman law dictated that evidence from slaves was only
acceptable if it had been obtained through torture. It was common for all the
slaves in the household of a suspected criminal to be rounded up and tortured
to gain the necessary evidence for a conviction. Nevertheless, the system was
successful enough that citizens coined a saying– ‘Every slave, an enemy’.^4
In most provinces of the Empire, the task of maintaining law and order fell
to the Roman Army, with perhaps some local watchmen. When crimes were
committed, the victims or their families were obliged, as in earlier times, to
inform a magistrate, and set up their own investigation. In Rome itself, by the
beginning of the first millenniumAD, the population had risen to nearly a
million, and a more formal system was clearly needed. Two functions were
combined–that of firefighting, and that of apprehension of criminals and
escaped slaves. The city was divided into fourteen districts, to which were
posted seven cohorts ofvigiles,each cohort having responsibility for two of
the districts. A prefect was appointed to oversee this force, with a subprefect
and a tribune for each cohort. Each cohort was divided into seven centuries,
each with its own commander, who oversaw the activities of around 70 men.
They were given equipment to fight fires–buckets, pumps, axes and hooks
to pull down burning walls. Straw mats soaked in water and vinegar were used
to smother fires. Thevigileshad medical orderlies and priests attached to their
units, reflecting the dangerous nature of the job. In addition to fighting fires
and catching criminals, thevigilesacted as night watchmen, and with the
support of the soldiers of the Urban Cohort, helped to maintain order. Some of
the cohorts were stationed at Rome’s ports, rotating these duties with those in
the city. It was not a popular job at first, and incitements had to be offered to
recruit enough men–such as full citizenship and a cash bonus after a number
of years’service.
Their policing duties were mostly concerned with small crimes,
safeguarding properties, and breaking up disturbances, while major crimes fell
into the province of the Urban Cohort, a much more military band.
At first, thevigilesstations were just buildings compulsorily seized for the
purpose by the state, but by the middle of the second century, purposebuilt
stations were built, and later substations were added. The sites of four of the
seven secondcentury stations have been identified. The substations, or
watchhouses, were calledExcubitoria.One of these, a watchhouse of the
Seventh Cohort, has been identified from a graffito found on one of the walls
(Figure 10). This site, in the Trastevere district, which was found in the 1850s,
fell into disrepair until restoration began in 1966. It consisted of a hall with a