Calones: Slaves of the Roman Army

Authors

  • Juan Pérez Carrandi Universidad Villanueva

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v9i19.688

Keywords:

digest, calones, impediment, battle, protection

Abstract

The slaves’ role within the Roman army, while being relevant, has not awoken as much academic interest as other fields of study related to the Roman military force, in which the bibliography reaches now overwhelming levels. In this paper, the role played by calones - or legion slaves – will be tackled through the study of various ancient Greco-Roman sources. The few available publications at present tend to assign certain military prominence to these slaves, sometimes as far to even point to their possible placing at the service of individual soldiers. However, the ancient texts evidence that the calones constituted a formidable, purely logistical workforce, always at the service of the entire troop, thus acquiring a “public” coverage in no way compatible with the soldiers’ inalienable daily tasks. The calones guard the baggage of the troops, with their maximum distance during the fights causing great general concern, both because of the value of the impedimenta, and because of the vulnerability represented by these individuals. This did not prevent them from assuming a high risk, sometimes during marches, sometimes even in battle. In the first scenario, the security protocol would place calones and baggage in a central point of the column under permanent custody to prevent a surprise attack. However, if there was an opportunity to anticipate a confrontation, one of the first tactical measures was to move the slaves and the impedimenta to the most distant and guarded point possible. Usually, if there was a previous camp, they all would wait inside it. In case it becomes inevitable for the calones and the enemy troops to confront, sometimes they would try to defend themselves, although in a quasi-immolative way- Let us remember: these slaves travelled unarmed. It is precisely this type of desperate situations that has led researchers to defend –though with extraordinary ambiguity- some potential military drifts in the calones’ performance within the Roman army .

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Author Biography

  • Juan Pérez Carrandi, Universidad Villanueva

    Doctor en Estudios del Mundo Antiguo cum laude (UCM-UAM), Máster en Historia y Ciencias de la Antigüedad (UCM-UAM), Máster en Archivística y Gestión Documental (UNED), Máster en Antropología Forense (UCM-EML). Profesor de Derecho romano en Real Centro Universitario María Cristina (UCM) y Universidad Villanueva. Profesor Colaborador Honorífico del Departamento de Derecho romano e Historia del Derecho (UCM). Entre su producción investigadora destacan los siguientes trabajos:

    La alta traición en la Roma arcaica y republicana. Madrid: Servicio Publicaciones Facultad de Derecho. UCM, 2019

    “Algunas cuestiones de Derecho militar romano: los milites effeminatos”, Revista de la Facultad de Derecho de México, vol. 69, núm. 274-2, 2019

    “El supplicium more maiorum: la lex horrendi carminis”,  Anuario Jurídico de La Coruña, vol. 23, 2019

    “El proceso a Espurio Postumio Albino”, FORO, vol. 22, núm. 2, 2019

    “Protección penal del Emperador. El caso de Tiberio”, Ars boni et aequi, vol. 15, núm. 2, 2019

    “En torno al Derecho provincial romano”, Revista de la Facultad de Derecho de México, vol. 70, núm. 277, 1, 2020

    “Delitos individuales y colectivos en el ejército romano”, Revista de la Facultad de Derecho de Córdoba. Argentina, vol. 11, núm. 1, 2020

    Proyecto de investigación: “Derecho, ciudadanía y ciencia jurídica europea: de Roma al Derecho actual”, SEJ502 (US).

    Proyecto de innovación docente: “Leges municipales on-line”, UCM-354/2019-2020

    En la actualidad tengo artículos pendientes de publicación en Revista Chilena de Historia del Derecho (UAC), Signos Históricos (UAM), Revista de Historia Militar (MEDE), Revista Mexicana de Historia del Derecho (UNAM), sobre Derecho Penal romano, Derecho militar romano y Derecho provincial romano e Historia militar.

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Published

— Updated on 2020-12-14

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 19 (2020): Fear, Trauma, and Violence in the Wars of Antiquity

Section

Dossier

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How to Cite

Calones: Slaves of the Roman Army. (2020). Revista Universitaria De Historia Militar, 9(19), 98-120. https://doi.org/10.53351/ruhm.v9i19.688

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