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Condemnation to the Mines in the Later Roman Empire*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2011

Mark Gustafson
Mark Gustafson
Affiliation:
Indiana University
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Extract

Lactantius, in his shrill polemical pamphlet De mortibus persecutorum, made the following observation while attacking his principal adversary, the emperor Galerius: “There was no mild punishment with him, not islands, not mines, not prisons; but fire, the cross, and wild beasts were daily and ready at hand.” More than a sign of the times, it is also a measure of his fury that Galerius could make exile, hard labor, and imprisonment seem to be lenient sentences. While one must resist succumbing immediately to credulity, one also must admit that even such hyperbole may have a kernel of truth in it. Lactantius probably assumed—as did many others—that the myriad adjustments to the complex relations between the church and the empire, which were in the process of being engineered by Constantine and his associates, would eliminate the need to inflict such punishments on Christians for religious reasons.

Type
Research Article
Information
Harvard Theological Review , Volume 87 , Issue 4 , October 1994 , pp. 421 - 433
Copyright
Copyright © President and Fellows of Harvard College 1994

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References

1 Lactantius De mortibus persecutorum 22.2; Nulla poena penes eum levis, non insulae, non carceres, non metalla, sed ignis, crux, ferae in illo erant cotidiana et facilia.

2 Harding, Christopher and Ireland, Richard W., Punishment: Rhetoric, Rule, and Practice (London/New York: Routledge, 1989) 195–98Google Scholar.

3 Mommsen, Theodor, Römisches Strafrecht (Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot, 1899) 949–51Google Scholar.

4 Millar, Fergus, “Condemnation to Hard Labour in the Roman Empire, from the Julio-Claudians to Constantine,” Papers of the British School at Rome 52 (1984) 125CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 The Christian evidence is collected in Davies, J. G., “Condemnation to the Mines: A Neglected Chapter in the History of the Persecutions,” University of Birmingham Historical Journal 6 (1958) 99–107Google Scholar.

6 The articles cited above in notes 4 and 5 create this mistaken impression, however unintentionally, by drawing a line at Constantine's reign.

7 Hippolytus Ref. 9.12.

8 Cyprian Epistulae 76; 77; 78; 79.

9 Eusebius De martyribus Palaestinae 8.13; 10.1.

10 Eusebius Hist. eccl. 8.12.10.

11 Eusebius De martyribus Palaestinae 7.1–2; 8.1; 13.1, 4–10.

12 Ibid. 8.1; 9.1.

13 See, for example, ibid. 7.3; 8.1.

14 Lucretius De rerum natura 6.808–15; Diodorus Siculus Bibliotheca historica 3.12–14. On the truthfulness of the latter document, see Davies, J. G., “Diodorus Siculus, iii. 12–14; v. 36–8,” JHS 75 (1955) 153CrossRefGoogle Scholar. For a Christian source, see Cyprian Epistulae 76; 77.

15 Eusebius Hist. eccl. 9.1.7. See Barnes, Timothy D., Constantine and Eusebius (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981) 159Google Scholar.

16 See, for example. Codex Theodosianus 1.5.3 (331 CE); 4.8.8 (332 CE); 9.18.1 (315 CE); 9.40.2 (315/16 CE); 12.1.6(318/19 CE); 15.12.1 (325 CE). Crimes included such deeds as fraud in a court case, complicity with a deserter, use of enormous vehicles, demolishing tombs, kidnapping, and forcing one's daughter or female slave into prostitution.

17 Codex Theodosianus 9.40.2 (315/16 CE); Si quis in ludum fuerit vel in metallum pro criminum deprehensorum qualitate damnatus, minime in eius facie scribatur, cum et in manibus et in suris possit poena damnationis una scriptione comprehendi: quo facies, quae ad similitudinem pulchritudinis caelestis est figurata, minime maculetur. Regarding tattooing, see Jones, C. P., “Stigma: Tattooing and Branding in Graeco-Roman Antiquity,” JRomS 77 (1987) 139–55Google Scholar. See also n. 41 below.

18 See Edmondson, J. C. (“Mining in the Later Roman Empire and Beyond: Continuity or Disruption?” JRomS 77 [1989] 84–102Google Scholar), who maintains that restructuring and reorganization of production took place. Unfortunately, Edmondson limits his study to Iberia, Gaul, Britain, and the Balkans, and to precious metals.

19 Frend, W. H. C., The Donatist Church (2d ed.; Oxford: Clarendon, 1971) 141–68Google Scholar.

20 Eusebius Hist. eccl. 10.5.16, 6.4, 7.2. See also Codex Theodosianus 16.5.1 (326 CE).

21 Eusebius Vit. Const. 3.64. This, of course, was only an act of law, but “the relevance of this ruling to ecclesiastical politics escaped no one” (Barnes, Constantine, 225).

22 Garnsey, Peter, “Religious Toleration in Classical Antiquity,” in Sheils, W. J., ed., Persecution and Toleration (Studies in Church History 21; Oxford: Blackwell, 1984) 19Google Scholar.

23 Sozomen Hist. eccl. 4.21.1.

24 On the ecclesiastical politics of the 350s, see Barnes, Timothy D., Athanasius and Constantius (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993) 101–51Google Scholar.

25 See Athanasius Apol.fug.; idem, Apol. Const.; and esp. idem, Historia Arianorum.

26 Athanasius Historia Arianorum 60; ἥρπασαν Εὐ τύχιον ὑποδιάκονον, ἄνδρα καλῶς ὑπηρετοῦντα τῆ Ἐκκλησίᾳ καὶ ποίησαντες εἰς τὰ νῶτα ταυρέαις ἴσα θανάτῳ κατακοπῆναι, ἠξίωσαν εἰς μέταλλον ἀποσταλῆναι, καὶ μέταλλον οὐχ ἀπλῶως, ἀλλʼ εἰς τὸ τῆς Φαινώ, ἔνθα καὶ φονεὺς καταδικαζόμενος ὀλίγας ἡμέρας μόγις δύναται ζῆσαι.

27 See n. 11 above. There are other reports of those condemed to the mines at Phaeno at roughly the same time; see Collatio legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum 15.3.7; Epiphanius Haer. 68.3.6.

28 Athanasius Historia Arianorum 72; καὶ τοὺς εἰς λιθουργίαν παραδεδώκασι.

29 See n. 12 above.

30 That Athanasius does not mention more instances of condemnation to the mines is impressive, but is not enough proof to support an argument.

31 Even Lucifer of Cagliari, much to his chagrin, admitted that Constantius wished to avoid killing his ecclesiastical opponents (Moriundum esse pro Dei filio 6.27–29).

32 See Athanasius Historia Arianorum (PG 25 columns 779–80 nn. 66, 68).

33 On Athanasius's Historia Arianorum, see Barnes, Athanasius, 126–32.

34 Lucifer De regibus apostaticis 7.74–77; idem, De Athanasio 2.7.39–49; 18.57–66; 21.22–25.

35 Lucifer Moriundum esse pro Dei filio 3.16–21; spolias, proscribis, mactas gladio, varie punis nec corpora, quae laniari sanxisti, sepeliri permittis, eleemosynam fieri prohibes, omnia metalla omniaque loca, exilia vocari quae putabantur digna, nostro tuae calliditati resistentium replesti numero; relegando insontes, fame, siti, nuditate vexando non desistis.

36 For the chronology of Lucifer's works, see Diercks, G. F., Luciferi Calaritani Opera Quae Supersunt (CChr Series Latina 8; Turnhout: Brepols, 1978) xviii–xxvGoogle Scholar. Barnes states (Athanasius, 126) that the Historia Arianorum was written in 357.

37 See the comments of Brown, Peter, “Religious Dissent in the Later Roman Empire: The Case of North Africa,” History 46 (1961) 101CrossRefGoogle Scholar; reprinted in idem, Religion and Society in the Age of Saint Augustine (New York: Harper & Row, 1972) 259.

38 On the role and importance of this peculiar, abrasive character, see Gustafson, Mark, “Lucifer of Cagliari and Constantius II: A Study in Religious and Political Power in the Fourth Century” (Ph.D. diss., University of Minnesota 1994) esp. 85–229Google Scholar.

39 Hilary of Poitiers In Constantium 11.4–7; querella famosa est, iussos a te episcopos non esse, quos condemnare nullus audebat, etiam nunc in ecclesiasticis frontibus scriptos metallicae damnationis titulo recenseri.

40 For the date of composition, see Rocher, André, ed., Hilaire de Poitiers: Contre Constance (SC 334; Paris: Cerf, 1987) 29–38Google Scholar; and the common sense of Timothy Barnes's review of Rocher's text (JTS n.s. 29 [1988] 610). For Hilary's possible dependence on Athanasius, see Rocher, Hilaire, 238 n. 12; for Hilary's possible dependence on Lucifer, see Rocher, Hilaire, 232 n. 18, 233 n. 23.

41 As I shall discuss in a forthcoming article, “Inscripta in fronte: Penal Tattooing in Late Antiquity,” this passage is evidence for the continued practice of tattooing criminals on the forehead, despite Constantine's ruling against it (Codex Theodosianus 9.40.2 [315/15 CE]).

42 Abel, F. M., Géographie de la Palestine (2 vols.; Paris: Librairie Lecoffre, 1938)Google Scholar 2. 41–42; and esp. Kind, Helmut D., “Antike Kupfergewinnung zwischen Rotem und Totem Meer,” ZDPV 81 (1965) 57Google Scholar.

43 Kind (“Antike Kupfergewinnung,” 72) provides the figure of one hundred and sixtyseven coins from the years 270 through 400.

44 Sidebotham, Steven E., Zitterkopf, Ronald E., and Riley, John A., “Survey of the ʾAbu Shaʿcar–Nile Road,” AJA 95 (1991) 575–76CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 620. Ward–Perkins, J. B. gives (“Quarrying in Antiquity: Technology, Tradition and Social Change,” Proceedings of the British Academy 57 [1971] 149Google Scholar n. 38) the midfifth century as a possible date for the end of production. Vasiliev, A. A. (“Imperial Porphyry Sarcophagi in Constantinople,” DOP 4 [1948] 3–26Google Scholar) indicated that in the East, eight emperors and one empress were buried in porphyry sarcophagi between 337 and 457. Egypt was rich in minerals, as noted by Bowman, Alan K., Egypt after the Pharaohs (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986) 15–16Google Scholar.

45 Sidebotham, “Survey,” 577 n. 24.

46 Tregenza, L. A., The Red Sea Mountains of Egypt (London: Oxford University Press, 1955) 123Google Scholar. This delightful book records a walking tour of the area. For more on the coin, see Meredith, David, “The Roman Remains in the Eastern Desert of Egypt,” JEA 38 (1952) 108Google Scholar.

47 Sidebotham, “Survey,” 576; Meredith, “Roman Remains,” 108.

48 Eusebius De martyribus Palaestinae 8.1; Aristides Orationes 36; Josephus Bell. 6.418.

49 Theodoret Hist. eccl. 4.22.26; τοῖς Φεννησίοις καὶ Προκονγησίοις παρεδίδοντο μετάλλοις.

50 Ibid., 4.22.28; τοῖς κατὰ Φέννησον παραδοθῆναι μετάλλοις ἔστι δὲ ταῦτα τοῦ χαλκοῦ.

51 Collatio legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum 15.3.7. For date, see Barnes, Constantine, 20.

52 Ward-Perkins, J. B., “Tripolitania and the Marble Trade,” JRS 41 (1951) 103Google Scholar; idem, “Quarrying,” 148–49.

53 Ward-Perkins, J. B., “Nicomedia and the Marble Trade,” Papers of the British School at Rome 48 (1980) 45CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

54 Victor of Vita Historia persecutionis Africanae provinciae 5.19.

55 Moorhead, John, ed., Victor of Vita: History of the Vandal Persecution (Translated Texts for Historians 10; Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 1992) xivCrossRefGoogle Scholar.

56 Cyprian Epistulae 76.2.2; auri et argenti domicilium, “the dwelling place of gold and silver.”

57 Ibid., 79.

58 Millar, “Condemnation,” 140.

59 Moorhead, Victor of Vita, ix.

60 Fant, J. Clayton, “The Roman Emperors in the Marble Business: Capitalists, Middlemen or Philanthropists?” in Herz, Norman and Waelkens, Marc, eds., Classical Marble: Geochemistry, Technology, Trade (Dordrecht: Kluwer, 1988) 152Google Scholar.

61 Leclercq, Henri, “Ad Metalla,” DACL 1 (1907) 470Google Scholar. See also Gertrud Roder, “Numidian Marble and Some of Its Specialties,” in Herz and Waelkens, Classical Marble, 95. Marc Waelkens, Paul De Paepe, and Luc Moens comment on the circumstances giving rise to an inscription such as this: “Quarrying and trading marble has always been a risky business, economically as well as physically…. Therefore it does not surprise at all that names, images and symbols of the divine protectors were carved on the quarry walls, and that small shrines have been found inside the quarries. There is variety only in the divinity who was invoked” (“Patterns of Extraction and Production in the White Marble Quarries of the Mediterranean: History, Present Problems and Prospects,” in Fant, J. Clayton, ed., Ancient Marble Quarrying and Trade [BAR International Series 453; Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 1988] 115Google Scholar).

62 Ward-Perkins, “Quarrying,” 149.

63 Collatio legum Mosaicarum et Romanarum 15.3.7.

64 Epiphanius Haer. 68.3.6.

65 Constitutiones Sirmondianae 8. Those accused of the five capital crimes were not granted amnesty.

66 Codex Theodosianus 16.5.40 (407 CE).

67 Codex Theodosianus 16.5.65 (428 CE).

68 See MacMullen, Ramsay, “Judicial Savagery in the Roman Empire,” Chiron 16 (1986) 43–62Google Scholar, reprinted in idem, Changes in the Roman Empire: Essays in the Ordinary (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1990) 204–17.

69 Codex Theodosianus 16.1.4 (386 CE); 16.5.9 (382 CE); 16.5.56 (410 CE). Execution also was the penalty for hiding heretical writings (16.5.34.1 [398 CE]) or for allowing heretics to congregate (16.5.36.1 [399 CE]; 16.5.51 [410 CE]).