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auctore liberati sunt, hos oportebit poenae suae reddi: si qui vetustiores invenientur et senes ante annos decem damnati, distribuamus illos in ea ministeria quae non longe a poena sint. Solent enim eiusmodi ad balineum, ad purgationes cloacarum, item munitiones viarum et vicorum dari.

idoneo auctore. Cf. Cic. Brut. 15, 57, 'cuius eloquentiae est auctor, et idoneus quidem mea sententia, Q. Ennius.'

vetustiores, of longer standing in regard to their position as convicts.

senes, in regard to age.

ministeria, inferior employments. Cf. Sen. de Benef., 'beneficium esse quod alienus dat: officium esse filii, uxoris, etc., ministerium esse servi quem conditio sua eo loco posuit ut nihil eorumque praestat imputet.'

sint; subj., because quae practically= å äv.

eiusmodi, men of this sort.

ad balineum, for cleansing the public baths. The managers of the baths, who generally undertook the work on contract, were bound by their agreement to keep the baths open between certain hours, to have fresh water every day, and to clean the baths out at least every month. Cf. Hübner and Mommsen, Lex Metalli Vipascensis, Eph. Epigr. iii 105 seq. The last duty was usually performed by convicts.

ad purgationes cloacarum, At Rome the cloacae were under the charge of the 'curatores riparum et alvei Tiberis et cloacarum sacrae urbis,' Wilmann, 851. These officials let the duty out on contract to certain mancipes or redemptores, who were especially looked down upon; cf. Juv. iii 32; and the workmen employed were usually criminals. Prof. Mayor quotes Hieronymus, 'in urbibus eos qui aliquid commisere flagitii videmus mundare spurcitias cloacarum.'

ad munitiones viarum. Cf. Suet. Calig. 27, cited above.

vicorum. A vicus was properly a complex of buildings; and so in a city, either a quarter, or a street, 'quod ex utraque parte viae sunt aedificia,' Varro, de l. Lat. 5, 145. The streets of a city, however, are also sometimes 'viae'; cf. Lex. Iul. Municip. 7, 'quae viae in urbem Romam proprius ve urbem Romam passus M., utei continente habitabitur, sunt,' etc.; see Tac. Ann. xv 38, 'flexis atque enorminibus vicis.'

XXXIII [XLII]

De collegio fabrorum Nicomedensium instituendo

C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI

I

Cum diversam partem provinciae circumirem, Nicomediae 1 vastissimum incendium multas privatorum domos et duo publica opera quamquam via interiacente, Gerusian et Iseon, absumpsit. 3 Isson, B. and Ald.

While I was absent in another part of the province, Nicomedeia was visited with a serious fire, which destroyed many private houses and two public buildings, the Gerusia and the Iseon. The fire spread, both owing to the wind and the lethargy of the people, who are said to have remained mere spectators of the disaster. And indeed there are no fireengines or buckets, and no appliances for extinguishing fires. I have given

K

orders for these to be provided. It is for you to decide whether a collegium of firemen should not be formed, not to exceed 150 in number. I will take care that they are bona-fide firemen, and that their privileges are not used for other purposes. It cannot be hard to watch so small a number.

§1. circumirem, i.e. to attend at the various conventus in the province.

vastissimum incendium. Fires were

2 Est autem latius sparsum primum violentia venti, deinde inertia hominum, quos satis constat otiosos et inmobiles tanti

2 quos, Ritterhusius.

extremely frequent in Rome, and though mention of them in other towns is rare, they were not likely to be fewer in the provinces, where less adequate precautions were taken against them. The height of the houses, the narrowness of the streets, and the wooden projections which were frequently attached to the lower stories, all helped to make the danger greater. In 27 A.D. there was a great fire on the Caelian, Tac. Ann. iv 64; in 37 A.D. one on the Aventine and in the Circus, Tac. Ann. vi 45. Fires in Caligula's time are incidentally mentioned, Suet. Calig. 16. The great fire under Nero is described, Tac. Ann. xv 38 seq. after which temples were protected by having their open spaces enclosed by a wall. Under Titus there was a fire in the Campus Martius for three days and nights, Suet. Tit. 8. Under Antoninus Pius 340 dwelling-houses were destroyed by a single fire. All this took place in Rome in spite of the 7000 firemen or vigiles instituted by Augustus, and distributed into the seven cohortes vigilum under the command of the praefectus vigilum. In the provincial towns there can hardly have been more protection against fire as a rule than Pliny finds at Nicomedeia. In 58 A.D. Lugdunum was almost completely destroyed in a single night, Seneca, Epp. 91; Tac. Ann. xvii 13. In 53 A.D. Bononia suffered much by a fire, and was assisted by a grant of ten million sesterces; Tac. Ann. xii 58.

quamquam, with partic. Cf. Plin. Ep. i 12, 3, 'quamquam plurimas vivendi causas habentem'; also iii 4, 5; and iii 6, 4; Juv. iv 60, 'quamquam diruta'; and Ep. 39.

Gerusian. This has nothing in common with the political institution of the same name in Ephesus, Strab. 14, 1, 21. Its true character is shown by a passage in Vitruvius, 2, 8, 10, 'Croesi (domum) Sardiani civibus ad requiescendum aetatis otio seniorum collegio Gerusiam dedicaverunt.' It is mentioned also by Pliny h.n. 35, 14, 9, and by many inscrr. of Asia Minor. In particular, an inscrip. recently found on the site of the Lycian town, Sidyma (mentioned in Mommsen, Rom. Gesch. v. p. 326) relates that the senate and people determined to institute a gerusia, and to elect for it fifty Bouλ

quod. Ald.

Eural and fifty other citizens, who were then to appoint a Gymnasiarch. It was no doubt a sort of πρυτανείον where there were common meals and common festivals for deserving citizens in their old age.

Iseon. This is no doubt the correct reading, instead of the meaningless Isson of the Aldine text. The worship of Isis was first introduced into Rome soon after the second Punic war, and the sanctuary of the goddess was placed on the Capitol, cf. 'Isis Capitolina,' C. I. L., i 1034; 'Isis triumphalis,' C. I. L. vi 355. Cf. also Suet. Dom. I; Tac. Hist. iii 74. In spite of frequent prohibitions of the senate, the worship gained ground, and 93 B.C. the first public temple to Isis was built by the triumviri in the Campus Martius, Dio Cass. 47, 15. Subsequently other temples were added, but all had to be outside the pomoerium, Dio Cass. 53, 2. The worship of Isis was particularly popular among women; cf. Juv. vi 522 seq. Tiberius tried to check it, Tac. Ann. ii 85, but later emperors favoured it, as Otho, Suet. Oth. 12, 'sacra etiam Isidis saepe in lintea religiosa que veste propalam celebrasse dicitur,' Domitian, Eutrop. 7, 23. Cf. also Lucan, 8, 831. The worship was extended throughout the western provinces. It is attested by inscrr. at Capua, Orell. 1871; Southern Gaul, Orell. 1876; Vicus Aquensis in Switzerland, Orell. 457; at Noreia in Noricum, Orell. 2034; in lower Germany, Orell. 1894. In the east and the Greek provinces the Isis-cult was both more ancient and more extended. The following inscrr. from Böeckh, C. I. Gr., prove its existence at Chios, 2230; Delos, 2293; Ephesus, 2955; Paros, 2411; Strabo mentions it in Cyprus; Appian in Rhodes. In Andros was discovered, on four slabs of marble, a hymn to Isis, edited by Sauppe in 1842.

§ 2. alioqui, apart from that.

sipho, properly a small pipe, 'quem diabeten vocant mechanici,' here and in the Digest a fire-engine.

hama, fire-bucket. Cf. Juv. xiv 305, 'Dispositis praedives hamis vigilare cohortem Servorum noctu Licinus iubet.'

nullum instrumentum ad incendia compescenda. A list of these instrumenta is given in the Digest, 23, 7, 18, 'Acetum quoque, quod extinguendi in

mali spectatores perstitisse; et alioqui nullus usquam in publico sipho, nulla hama, nullum denique instrumentum ad incendia conpescenda. Et haec quidem, ut iam praecepi, parabuntur. Tu, domine, dispice an instituendum putes collegium fabrorum 3 dumtaxat hominum CL. Ego attendam ne quis nisi faber

cendii

3 ut haec, Ald.1

et haec, Ald.2

causa paratur, item centones (pieces of sack-cloth) siphones, perticae quoque et scalae et formiones (mats) et spongias et hamas et scopas (brooms) contineri plerique et Pegasus aiunt.'

§ 3. collegium fabrorum. Collegia might be either religious brotherhoods, as the Collegium Aesculapii et Hygiae, Wilm. 320, or burial clubs, as the Collegium Lanuvinum (Henz. 6086), or guilds of workmen, like the various collegia fabrum. In all cases, however, they had peculiar 'sacra' of their own, which were the outward sign of their union, definite officers, a common treasury, an annual fête-day, and a regular constitution drawn up in the lex collegii, of which the best example is the lex collegii Lanuvini. The original number of collegia fabrum said to have been founded by Numa Pompilius, gradually received both in Rome and the municipal towns large additions, some with, some without, the consent of the senate. In Rome the various collegia were under the control of the praefectus urbi, in the Italian towns of the aediles, in the provinces of the legati or proconsuls. Towards the close of the republic many of these collegia were used as political clubs, and caused disturbances and corruption at the comitia. In consequence in 68 B.C. by a senatus consultum, collegia sublata sunt quae adversus rempublicam videbantur esse,' Ascon. in Pis. 4. Clodius, however, in 58 B.C., restored these and added fresh ones; Cic. pro Sext. 25, ut collegia non modo illa vetera contra senatus consultum restituerentur sed. . . innumerabilia alia nova conscriberentur,' and Dio Cass. 38, 13. Caesar again, 'cuncta collegia praeter antiquitus constituta distraxit,' Suet. Caes. 42, a policy followed by Augustus, id. Aug. 32; and Claudius, Dio Cass. 60, 6; and Nero, Tac. Ann. xiv 17, 'collegia quae contra leges instituerant (Pompeiani) dissoluta.' The formula used for those which were legally constituted was 'quibus ex senatus consulto coire licet,' Orell. 1567, etc. Ulpian,

3 parabuntur, Cellarius. parabantur, B. and Ald.

Dig. 47, 22, 2, says, 'quisquis illicitum collegium usurpaverit, ea poena tenetur qua tenentur qui hominibus armatis loca publica vel templa occupasse iudicati sunt.' See also Dig. 47, 22, 1, 'Mandatis principalibus praecipitur praesidibus provinciarum ne patiantur esse collegia sodalicia neve milites collegia in castris habeant.' Among the collegia most frequently mentioned in inscrr. we find collegia fabrum et centonariorum, and simply coll. centonariorum. The centones were coverings of matting or cloth used for protecting military engines against fire, and also for extinguishing fires in towns; in which connection they are mentioned in the Digest cited above. In all probability these collegia centon. were corps of firemen such as Pliny wished to establish at Nicomedeia. They are found at Lugdunum, Henz. 7256; Sarmizegethusa, Henz. 6919; Aquileia, Orell. 4082; Salonae, Orell. 4429, and in a large number of Italian towns; see Index in Henzen, pp. 171 and 172. Marquadt, Privatleben, p. 698, supposes that the coll. dendrophororum and tignariorum were also used for firemen. also Marquadt, Staatsverw. ii p. 530. dumtaxat hominum CL. Dumtaxat

See

is often used in defining either a maximum or minimum in numerical statements. Cf. Dig. 25, 4, 1, 10, 'mittantur mulieres liberae dumtaxat quinque.' Lex Acil. Repet. 32, secum duxerit dumtaxat homines IIL.' For dumtaxat defining a minimum, see Dig. 50, 16, 202. The members (populus, plebs) of the collegia were sometimes a fixed number, sometimes unlimited. The collegium Aesculapii et Hygiae, e.g., was to be for 'hominibus numero LX.'

ne quis nisi faber. There were to be no honorary members by whom the coll. might be used for political ends. See Dig. 50, 6, 6, 12, 'nec omnibus promiscue qui adsumpti sunt in his collegiis immunitas datur, sed artificibus dumtaxat.'

recipiatur neve iure concesso in aliud utantur; nec erit difficile custodire tam paucos.

I utantur, Mommsen. utatur, Ald.

XXXIIII [XLIII]

TRAIANUS PLINIO S.

I Tibi quidem secundum exempla conplurium in mentem venit posse collegium fabrorum apud Nicomedenses constitui. Sed meminerimus provinciam istam et praecipue eas civitates eiusmodi factionibus esse vexatas. Quodcumque nomen ex quacumque causa dederimus iis qui in idem contracti fuerint 2 hetaeriae aeque brevi fient. Satius itaque est conparari ea quae I conplurium, Cat. conplurimum, B. and Ald. 5 fuerint, hetaeriae quae breves fient, B. and Ald. quamvis breves fient, Cat. èraipiai étaîpoi que brevi fient, Orell.

You think that a society of firemen might be formed at Nicomedeia, as at many other places. But we must remember that your province has been especially disturbed by factions arising from such institutions. Whatever name they bear, it is almost certain that men so united will become a political club. It will be better therefore to supply the necessary apparatus in case of fire, to warn the landlords to take precautions for themselves, and, in case of necessity, to make use of the populace in extinguishing fires.

secundum exempla conplurium. See the Index in Henzen for places where these collegia existed.

provinciam istam, your province. Cf. supra, Ep. 32, 'te in istam provinciam missum.'

praecipue eas civitates, i.e. Nicomedeia and perhaps Nicaea. These disturbances were among the 'multa emendanda' which made a special imperial legate necessary. We learn from Dio Chrys. how Nicomedeia and Nicaea were always quarrelling about the title of πрúτη Toλs, and very likely the collegia may have had an active part in these contentions, just as we find that the quarrel between Nuceria and Pompeii caused the dissolution of a number of illegal collegia, Tac. Ann. xiv 17, cited above.

qui in idem contracti fuerint. This was the common definition of all collegia, which were a collection of a number of personae for some common object.

hetaeriae aeque brevi fient. They will become political associations all the

same. The Bodleian MS. and Aldus read hetaeriae quae breves fient. Keil supposes the original to have been hetaeriae que brevi fient after a lacuna. The reading in the text is an admirable conjecture of Bishop Lightfoot. The

Taipiai at Athens were societies not recognised by the state, but at best only tolerated. Their aim was always more or less political. They were sometimes πì KATAλÚσEL TOû dýμov, Demosth. contr. Steph. ii § 26, or ἐπὶ νεωτέροις πράγμασιν ; sometimes they were συνωμοσίαι ἐπὶ δίκαις kai apxaîs, Thuc. viii 54. Cf. Demosth. in Mid. § 139; in Zenoth. § 10, etc. To what an extent the collegia did actually mingle in politics is shown in the Pompeian wall inscrr. See especially Wilmann, 1952 g p. etc. . . . where the muliones, furunculi, aurifices, lignarii, tonsores, and pomarii recommend their special candidate for the aedileship. In Aurelian's time the monetarii caused what Vopiscus, Aurel. 38, describes as bellum in the city.

§ 2. dominos praediorum. Here the praedia are the urbana praedia; cf. Dig. 50, 16, 198, urbana praedia omnia aedificia accepimus. . . ; urbanum praedium non locus facit sed materia.'

ut et ipsi inhibeant, to employ these means at their own expense; a rare use of the word. Cf. 'imperium inhibere,' Liv. 36, 28.

adcursu populi. Cf. Tac. Ann. iv 41, 'populi adcursus multitudinem adfluentium increpat.' Ovid. Fast. ii 372, ' adcursu praeda recepta Remi.'

ad coërcendos ignes auxilio esse possint admonerique dominos praediorum ut et ipsi inhibeant, ac si res poposcerit, adcursu populi ad hoc uti.

XXXV [XLIIII]

Votorum nuncupatio

C. PLINIUS TRAIANO IMPERATORI

Sollemnia vota pro incolumitate tua, qua publica salus continetur, et suscepimus, domine, pariter et solvimus, precati deos ut velint ea semper solvi semperque signari.

2 suscepimus, Gierig.

We have offered our annual vows, sire, for your safety and that of the empire which is involved in it. May heaven grant that they may always be both offered and confirmed.

This letter was written on the 3rd January 112 A.D.

sollemnia vota. The 'vota publica' for the emperor's safety were solemnly paid on the Capitol at Rome, in the various camps and in the provinces, and fresh vows undertaken for the coming year, on the 3rd January. Cf. Plut. Cic. 2, Capitol, Pert. 6' denique tertium nonarum diem (Ianuarii) votis ipsis,' etc., vota solvere= to pay vows for the past year; suscipere vota to make vows for the coming year; nuncupare vota solemnly to repeat the vows made. Cf. Mart. viii 4, 'Quantus

suscipimus, B. and Ald.

in aras,

io Latias mundi conventus Suscipit et solvit pro duce vota suo.' Suet. Aug. 97, Tac. Ann. iv 17, 'pontifices eorumque exemplo ceteri sacerdotes, cum pro incolumitate principis vota susciperent, xvi 22,' etc., Gaius, Dig. 16, 233, § 1. Post Kalendas Ianuarias die tertio pro salute principis vota suscipiuntur.' Publica vota were also made on the anniversary of the emperor's accession; cf. Ep. 52, and Panegyr. 94; on his return from a journey, Suet. Tib. 38, 'vota pro itu et reditu suo suscipi passus'; and on his birthday, Mart. iv 1.

signari. Catanaeus says, 'post enim nuncupationem signata servabantur ad finem anni cum persolvebantur et alia nova nuncupabantur.'

XXXVI [XLV]

TRAIANUS PLINIO S.

Et solvisse vos cum provincialibus diis inmortalibus vota pro mea salute et incolumitate et nuncupasse libenter, mi Secunde carissime, cognovi ex litteris tuis.

I am rejoiced to hear, my dear Pliny, that you and the provincials have paid

your vows for my safety and renewed them for the coming year.

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