Aspetti di diritto e vita quotidiana nelle terme: fures balnearii, capsarii e servizi di sorveglianza

Abstract

Starting from some legal questions relating to what today would be defined as crimes against property committed in the baths and taking account of some traces of them also present in Roman military law, the contribution finally addresses one of the functions definable in terms of public security probably entrusted to the cohortes vigilum created by Augustus: the surveillance of the baths to prevent theft of users’ goods. The analysis also provides an opportunity to return to the theme of the functions performed by the vigiles and in particular to the specific question whether they were actually attributable exclusively to fire surveillance and night police or whether they also concerned other security tasks to be performed even during the day.