The Roman mining legislation of the Late Empire

Abstract

The tenth book of the Theodosian Code provides a valuable insight into the different aspects of mining exploitation during the Late Roman Empire. The main issue was a shortage of mining labour. According to Constantine’s fiscal policy, miners were permanently tied to their profession. They had the right to sell their property, loca metallica, but under difficult conditions. The forced mining labour was passed over from them to the potential buyers. Over time, miners became tied to the place of their origin and their children had to take on their fathers’ professions. The continuous invasions of the barbarian tribes as well as the suffered losses encouraged miners, in spite of the prohibition, to escape their duties and leave their homes. The miners from Gaul were desperately trying to escape to Sardinia in order to find better working conditions. Those in the eastern part of the Empire tried to acquire the status of colons inhabiting private landowners’ estates. The flow of escaping miners became a regular occurrence and the Roman emperors introduced laws which penalised anyone found harbouring miners. The unsatisfactory application of the imperial edicts resulted in a series of new edicts aimed at addressing the same problem. The warning given to the local judges by Emperor Gratian in his decree declared in 378. AD clearly shows that the imperial edicts were not regularly applied in practice. The following period would be marked with new invasions that would have serious consequences on the mining exploitation and make the control of different social categories and state officials even more difficult.

Keywords

• mines
• miners
• mining legislation
• Theodosian Code
• Late Empire