During the Roman Republic, there were watchmen that served as firefighters. They used water buckets to put out fires and axes to tear down buildings near the fire in order to prevent the fire from spreading. The aediles and tresviri nocturni were also employed to fight fires. Roman Emperor Augustus created the Vigiles . The Vigiles were an organization of freedmen that fought fires. They would use buckets and water pumps. Emperor Nero also created "bucket brigades" to help fight fires.
Most ancient Roman cities had no firefighting organizations or equipment dedicated to fighting fires. [1] There were early groups of watchmen who used buckets of water to put out fires. [2] During the Roman Republic, there were several organizations dedicated to firefighting. These were the tresviri nocturni, and the aediles also helped put out fires. The tresviri nocturni, later known as tresviri capitales, had a small group of slaves which would fight fires. Sometimes, in particularly dire situations, a consul would be called to fight fires. Tribunes may also have been involved. [3] Some wealthy individuals would form their own personal fire brigades. An aedile by the name of Egnatius Rufus created a band of slaves that were tasked with putting out fires. His motivation was either to help the Roman people or to gain political status. In 21 BC, Augustus reorganized Rufus' slaves, creating a new group of 600 slaves led by the aediles. [4] Eventually, Augustus created a fire brigade called the Vigiles Urbani in 6 AD. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] The Vigiles numbered 7,000 men, and were divided into cohorts of 1,000 men. Each cohort was responsible for two regions. Overall, the Vigiles were commanded by an equestrian called the praefectus vigilum. [11] Nero would later create bucket brigades to patrol the streets of Rome. [12] [13] [14]
Pliny the Younger wrote about the need for fire fighting organizations. [15]
While I was making a progress in a different part of the province, a most extensive fire broke out at Nicomedia, which not only consumed several private houses, but also two public buildings; the town-house and the temple of Isis, though they stood on contrary sides of the street. The occasion of its spreading thus far was partly owing to the violence of the wind, and partly to the indolence of the people, who, manifestly, stood idle and motionless spectators of this terrible calamity. The truth is the city was not furnished with either engines, [1033]buckets, or any single instrument suitable for extinguishing fires; which I have now however given directions to have prepared. You will consider, Sir, whether it may not be advisable to institute a company of fire-men, consisting only of one hundred and fifty members. I will take care none but those of that business shall be admitted into it, and that the privileges granted them shall not be applied to any other purpose. As this corporate body will be restricted to so small a number of members, it will be easy to keep them under proper regulation.
— Pliny, Letters of Pliny
Trajan, the emperor at the time responded by saying: [15]
You are of opinion it would be proper to establish a company of firemen in Nicomedia, agreeably to what has been practised in several other cities. But it is to be remembered that societies of this sort have greatly disturbed the peace of the province in general, and of those cities in particular. Whatever name we give them, and for whatever purposes they may be founded, they will not fail to form themselves into factious assemblies, however short their meetings may be. It will therefore be safer to provide such machines as are of service in extinguishing fires, enjoining the owners of houses to assist in preventing the mischief from spreading, and, if it should be necessary, to call in the aid of the populace.
— Trajan, Letters of Pliny
Fires would be fought by filling buckets with water and then throwing them against fire. Firefighters could also use axes to destroy buildings in order to prevent them from catching fire. [1] Once a house caught fire, Crassus would send his slaves to fight the fire. Once they arrived at the house, they would only put out the fire if the owner of the house sold the building to Crassus. Crassus would then sell the house back to the original owner at a marked up price. [1]
The imperial-era Vigiles would patrol the streets of Rome looking for fires. They would uses axes, catapults, or ballistae to destroy buildings near a fire to prevent the fire from spreading. It is possible this is the origin of the phrase "hook and ladder". [1] The Vigiles could also use buckets and water pumps. [16]
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his death in AD 68.
Gaius Plinius Secundus, called Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, natural philosopher, naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia, which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. He spent most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field.
Marcus Licinius Crassus was a Roman general and statesman who played a key role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. He is often called "the richest man in Rome".
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to ancient Rome:
Nicomedia was an ancient Greek city located in what is now Turkey. In 286, Nicomedia became the eastern and most senior capital city of the Roman Empire, a status which the city maintained during the Tetrarchy system (293–324).
A fire department or fire brigade, also known as a fire company, fire authority, fire district, fire and rescue, or fire service in some areas, is an organization that provides fire prevention and fire suppression services as well as other rescue services.
The Domus Aurea was a vast landscaped complex built by the Emperor Nero largely on the Oppian Hill in the heart of ancient Rome after the great fire in 64 AD had destroyed a large part of the city.
The Great Fire of Rome began on the 18th of July 64 AD. The fire began in the merchant shops around Rome's chariot stadium, Circus Maximus. After six days, the fire was brought under control, but before the damage could be assessed, the fire reignited and burned for another three days. In the aftermath of the fire, 71% of Rome had been destroyed.
The vigintisexviri were a college (collegium) of minor magistrates in the Roman Republic. The college consisted of six boards:
In modern historiography, ancient Rome encompasses the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC, the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic, Roman Empire, and the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD.
Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural firefighting and wildland firefighting. Specialized training includes aircraft firefighting, shipboard firefighting, aerial firefighting, maritime firefighting, and proximity firefighting.
Vigiles or more properly the Vigiles Urbani or Cohortes Vigilum were the firefighters and police of ancient Rome.
The ovation was a lesser form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior ; or when the general conflict was resolved with little or no danger to the army itself. The Ovation could also be given rather than a triumph when there were extenuating circumstances, such as when Marcus Marcellus was given an ovation in lieu of a triumph as his army remained in Sicily and therefore was unable to cross the pomerium.
The history of organized firefighting began in ancient Rome while under the rule of the first Roman Emperor Augustus. Prior to that, Ctesibius, a Greek citizen of Alexandria, developed the first fire pump in the third century BC, which was later improved upon in a design by Hero of Alexandria in the first century BC.
Ancient Romans with disabilities were recorded in the personal, medical, and legal writing of the period. While some disabled people were sought as slaves, others with disabilities that are now recognized by modern medicine were not considered disabled. Some disabilities were deemed more acceptable than others, either as honorable characteristics or as traits that increased morality. Small, scattered medical references contain the only direct acknowledgments of disability.
The praefectus vigilum was, starting with the reign of the Emperor Augustus, the commander of the city guards in Rome, whom were responsible for maintaining peace and order at night--a kind of fire and security police. Although less important than the other prefects, the office was considered a first step in order to reach an important position in the imperial administration.
The tresviri capitales or tresviri nocturni were one of the Vigintisexviri colleges in Ancient Rome. They were a group of three men that managed police and firefighting. Despite this they were feared by the Roman people due to their police roles, and they were condemned due to their neglect of firefighting during an unknown incident, which was likely the Great Fire of Rome. The Roman people gave the Tresviri Capitales the nickname nocturni due to the night patrols they managed. They were elected by the Urban praetors and later Tribal Assembly.
Marcus Egnatius Rufus was a Roman senator and politician at the time of Augustus.
Art collection in ancient Rome was a common practice amongst the ancient Romans. Goods and artworks had symbolic meanings and were used to convey messages about the collector and the Roman state. Due to the popularity of collectable goods an art market sprouted up. These goods were managed at first by the aediles and censors, and later by the curatores aedium sacrarum et operum locorumque. Lists may also have been used to track goods.
In the Roman Republic, triumviri or tresviri were special commissions of three men appointed for specific administrative tasks apart from the regular duties of Roman magistrates.
