Once upon a time, in the glory days of the Roman Empire, Pliny the Younger had a problem. It seems certain slaves of the lesser sort — those who had been condemned to slavery for criminal activities — had managed to insinuate themselves into the ranks of municipal slaves.
Pliny the Younger
These latter were slaves of the better sort and, unlike criminals enslaved as punishment, enjoyed many benefits. Often, they were paid, had something of a social recognition as members of the civil service, some quasi rights (slaves didn’t have rights, but certain customs might favor them with “almost rights”), and could look forward to retirement, an old age pension of sorts, and sometimes manumission for faithful and meritorious service.
The problem for Pliny was quite a few convicted criminals were serving in posts of responsibility where they never should have been as these were reserved for the better sort of slaves, and in some cases had been getting away with it for many years. So, being a conscientious Roman governor, Pliny wrote to the Emperor Trajan asking for advice —
Pliny to Trajan
As you have given me authority to refer to you wherever I am in doubt, you may, Sir, condescend to hear my difficulty without compromising your great position. In many of the States, but especially in Nicomedia and Nicea, there are certain persons lying under sentence to the mines, to take part in the gladiatorial shows, and to similar penalties, who are now acting as and performing the duties of public slaves, and are even drawing an annual salary as such. When I was told of this, I hesitated for a long time as to what course I ought to adopt. For I thought it would be showing too harsh a severity to hand them over to their penalties after so many years, especially as many of them are old men, and are, to all accounts, now living a decent and respectable life, yet I thought it was scarcely the proper thing to retain criminals as public servants. Moreover, to keep men doing nothing at the State expense is inexpedient, and if they were not kept, they might be a source of danger. I have therefore left the whole matter in suspense until I could take your advice. You will ask perhaps how it comes about that they were released from the penalties to which they were condemned. I too have asked the same question but have found no answer which is at all satisfactory. The decrees by which they were condemned were produced, but no documents sanctioning their liberation, though there are some who say that they were released on petition by the authority of certain proconsuls and legates, and this theory is the more plausible, as it is hardly credible that anyone would have ventured on such a step without authority.
Trajan
Trajan’s response was a rather elegant solution, especially given the labor shortage which chronically plagued the Res Publica and the difficulty (i.e., impossibility) of finding free citizens to fill civil service positions, blue or white collar, regardless of the pay or benefits. After all, a municipal slave might be the envy of other slaves and even non-Roman citizens (“Thank God for slavery” — an actual quote from a former slave, by the way — was not an ironic commentary for this class of slaves), but he or she was still a slave, and no Roman citizen would willingly take a job that was considered fit only for slaves or foreigners.
Trajan instructed Pliny that if a slave had been serving as a municipal slave for less than ten years, he or she should be returned to the ranks of the lower class of slaves but given no other punishment. As for those who had been on the rolls of the municipal slaves for ten or more years, keep them there and treat them as any other municipal slave would be treated, albeit in a lesser capacity —
Trajan to Pliny
Let us not forget that you were sent to your province for the express reason that there seemed to be many abuses rampant there which required correction. And most certainly we must redress such a scandal as that persons condemned to penalties should not only, as you say, be released therefrom without authorization, but even be placed in stations which ought to be filled by honest servants. So, all those who were sentenced within the last ten years and released on insufficient authority must be sent back to work out their sentences, and if there are any whose condemnation dates back beyond the last ten years and are now old men, let us apportion them to fulfil duties which are not far removed from being penal. For it is the custom to send such cases to work in the public baths, to clean out the sewers, and to repair the roads and streets.
Problem solved, and without disrupting the social order or leaving the work undone.
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