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.[ citation needed ] 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
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 to extinguish fires. [16]
Aedile was an elected office of the Roman Republic. Based in Rome, the aediles were responsible for maintenance of public buildings and regulation of public festivals. They also had powers to enforce public order and duties to ensure the city of Rome was well supplied and its civil infrastructure well maintained, akin to modern local government.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman general, statesman and architect who was a close friend, son-in-law and lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. Agrippa is well known for his important military victories, notably the Battle of Actium in 31 BC against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. He was also responsible for the construction of some of the most notable buildings of his era, including the original Pantheon.
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.
The Circus Maximus is an ancient Roman chariot-racing stadium and mass entertainment venue in Rome, Italy. In the valley between the Aventine and Palatine hills, it was the first and largest stadium in ancient Rome and its later Empire. It measured 621 m (2,037 ft) in length and 118 m (387 ft) in width and could accommodate over 150,000 spectators. In its fully developed form, it became the model for circuses throughout the Roman Empire. The site is now a public park.
Gaius Plinius Secundus, known in English as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia, a comprehensive thirty-seven-volume work covering a vast array of topics on human knowledge and the natural world, 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.
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 started 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 is the Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom, the Roman Republic, and the Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire.
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 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; while some were viewed as honorable characteristics or traits that increased morality, others, especially congenital conditions, resulted in infanticide. Rendering someone disabled was also used as a punishment. Some mobility aids, such as early prosthetics, have been documented. 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.
In the Roman Republic, triumviri or tresviri were commissions of three men appointed for specific tasks. There were many tasks that commissions could be established to conduct, such as administer justice, mint coins, support religious tasks, or found colonies.
