Life in the Roman World of Nero and St. Paul | Page 7

carrying on guerilla warfare. We may, if we choose, regard this
comparatively small army as policing a lawless district. In but few
other places do we find a regular military force. Rome itself had both a
garrison and also a large body of Imperial Guards. The garrison,
consisting of some 6000 men, was in barracks inside the city, and its
purpose was to protect the wealth of the metropolis and the seat of
government from any sudden riot or factious tumult. It must be
remembered that among the Romans it was soldiers who served as
police, whether at Rome or in the provinces. The Imperial Guards,
consisting of 12,000 troops, were stationed just outside the gates, in
order to secure the safety and position of the emperor himself, if any
attempt should be made against his person or authority. The rich and
important town of Lugdunum (or Lyons) had a small garrison of 1200
men, and a certain number of troops were always to be found in
garrison in those great towns where factious disturbances were either
probable or possible. Thus at Alexandria, where the Jews were fanatical
and at loggerheads with the Greeks, and where the native Egyptians
were no less fanatical and might be at loggerheads with both, it was
necessary to keep a disciplinary force in readiness. Somewhat similar
was the case at Antioch, where the discords of the Greeks, Syrians, and
Jews stood in need of the firm Roman hand. Nor could a similar
regiment be spared from Jerusalem. The western towns were generally
smaller in size, more homogeneous, and more tranquil. It was around
the Levant that the popular _émeute_ was most to be feared. Doubtless
one may meet, whether in the New Testament or in Roman and Greek
writers, with frequent mention of soldiers, and we make acquaintance

with an occasional centurion--something socially above a
colour-sergeant and below a captain--or other officer in various parts of
the empire. But it should be understood that, except in such places as
those which have been named, soldiers were distributed in small
handfuls, to act as _gendarmerie_, to deal with brigands, to serve as
bodyguard and orderlies to a governor, to bear despatches, to be
custodians of state prisoners. To these classes belong the centurions of
the _Acts of the Apostles_, while Lysias was the colonel of the
regiment keeping order in Jerusalem.
What the Roman army was like, whence it was recruited, how it was
armed, and what were its operations, are matters to be shown in a later
chapter. Regarded then as a controlling agent, maintaining widespread
peace, the Roman Empire answers closely to the British raj in India.
The analogy could indeed be pressed very much further and with more
closeness of detail, but this is scarcely the place for such a discussion.

CHAPTER II
TRAVEL WITHIN THE EMPIRE
Of the administration in Rome and throughout the provinces enough
will be said in the proper place. Meanwhile we may look briefly at one
or two questions of interest which will presumably suggest themselves
at this stage. Since all this vast region now formed one empire, since
Roman magistrates and officers were sent to all parts of it, since trade
and intercourse were vigorous between all its provinces, it will be
natural to ask, for example, by what means the traveller got from place
to place, at what rate of progress, and with what degree of safety and
comfort.
In setting forth by land you would elect, if possible, to proceed by one
of the great military roads for which the Roman world was so
deservedly famous. Not only were they the best kept and the safest;
they were also generally the shortest. As far as possible the Roman road
went straight from point to point. It did not circumvent a practicable

hill, nor, where necessary, did it shrink from cutting through a rock, say
to the depth of sixty feet or so. It did not avoid a river, but bridged it
with a solid structure such as often remains in use till this day. If it met
with a marsh, wooden piles were driven in and the road-bed laid upon
them. When it came to a deep narrow valley it built a viaduct on arches.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--THE PONT DU GARD (AQUEDUCT AND
BRIDGE).]
The road so laid was meant for permanence. A width of ground was
carefully prepared, trenches were dug at the sides, three different layers
of road material were deposited, with sufficient upward curve to throw
off the water, and then the whole was paved with closely-fitting
many-cornered blocks of stone. In the chief instances there were
sidewalks covered with some kind of gravel. The width was not great,
but might be anything between ten and fifteen feet. Along such roads
the