Books
Phase
Roman Urban Crime and the Vigiles
6 BCE–300 CE
Augustus organised the vigiles into cohorts responsible for fires and night security. Their officers investigated some thefts, assaults and suspicious deaths, but Roman criminal enforcement remained fragmented.
Victims often depended on patrons, magistrates or private initiative. Dense neighbourhoods, taverns, markets and apartment blocks allowed violence and organised crime to flourish alongside ordinary commerce.
Both Falco and Flavia Albia work with or around the vigiles, exposing the limits of official investigation and the social barriers faced by victims.
