Praefectus vigilum

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The praefectus vigilum was the commander of the city guards in Rome ( vigiles ) , a type of fire and security police , who were responsible for maintaining law and order at night since the time of Emperor Augustus .

Status and tasks

The praefecti vigilum were not magistrates , but imperial agents ( prefects ). The first praefecti vigilum were knights , later this position was also occupied by senators . Without the participation of the Senate or the Roman people, they were appointed by the emperor for an indefinite period of time and also arbitrarily dismissed. Although operating in the city of Rome, they were not civil but military officials.

The night watch was reorganized by Augustus in 6 AD because of the frequent fires in the city, which were especially dangerous at night. Before that, there had already been private fire brigades in Rome. B. one set up by Marcus Licinius Crassus and that set up by Marcus Egnatius Rufus . Augustus created a militarily organized force consisting of seven cohorts (each with 1000 men), with one cohort each being responsible for two of the 14 districts ( regio ). At first these units were only recruited from freedmen and therefore enjoyed a lower reputation than the regular army. The troops received accommodation in the city and were paid from the state treasury.

The vigiles were spread over all the districts of the city, kept watch at night and made sure that fires were discovered and put out quickly. As fire stations, they were equipped with rope ladders, fire hooks and other extinguishing equipment and were trained to climb from wall to wall.

In order to be able to put criminals, arsonists or looters down quickly, the office of praefectus vigilum was also linked to police and judicial powers. If a case was of great importance, it had to be reported to the city prefect ( praefectus urbi ) . The originally simple office became more difficult because it soon included a subordinate but extensive jurisdiction over arson, burglary, theft, robbery and theft.

Meaning of office

As the commander of an important force directly available in Rome, the praefectus vigilum was already important under Emperor Tiberius , when his confidante Lucius Aelius Seianus , when he had lost the favor of the emperor, was arrested by officials of this authority. Under Emperor Claudius , the praefectus vigilum was executed in 48 because it was involved in an attempted coup.

The office also existed in Constantinople during the later imperial period .

Well-known praefecti vigilum

literature

  • Wilhelm Adolf Becker , Joachim Marquardt : Handbook of Roman antiquities . Volume II.3. Leipzig 1849.
  • Miriam Griffin : Seneca. A Philosopher in Politics . Clarendon Paperbacks, 1992. Appendix: Annaeus Serenus as Prefect of the Watch . ISBN 0198147740 .
  • William Smith (ed.): Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities . Boston, 2nd ed. 1859. Keyword " Exercitus, Cohortes Vigilum ". P. 510.

Remarks

  1. ↑ Cassius Dio 54, 4.
  2. ↑ a b cf. Wilhelm Adolf Becker, Joachim Marquardt: Handbook of Roman antiquities . Volume II.3. Leipzig 1849, p. 285.
  3. ↑ Becker, Marquardt: Handbook of Roman Antiquities , p. 276.
  4. ↑ Suetonius, August 30; Cassius Dio 55.26.
  5. ↑ Suetonius, August 30; Cassius Dio 55, 8.
  6. ^ Cassius Dio 58, 9, 12.
  7. ↑ Tacitus , Annalen 11, 35.
  8. ^ Becker, Marquardt, Handbook of Roman Antiquities , p. 285 f.
  9. ^ Cassius Dio 60, 23, 3.
  10. ↑ Tacitus, Annalen 11, 35.
  11. ↑ Laelianus held the office until 54, until he was transferred to Armenia (as the successor to Pollio), where he died. Cf. Cassius Dio 61, 6.
  12. ↑ The American researcher Miriam T. Griffin suspects that Serenus took up the office of praefectus vigilum after 54, after the transfer of Laelianus, and probably died before 62, when Tigellinus held this office; see. Griffin: Seneca . Clarendon Paperbacks, 1992, p. 447.