Carcer
The state prison of Rome (called the Mamertine Prison); was not used for long-term imprisonment, as most of the prisoners would be swiftly executed. Located on the northeastern slope of the Capitoline Hill
Carcer (plural carcere) is a Latin term that refers to a prison in ancient Rome. Only two carcere existed throughout Rome’s history - though only one was operational at a time, and the second likely replaced the first in the exact same location near the south end of the Forum Romanum. The first carcer was said to have been built - according to Roman mythology - by Rome’s fourth king, Ancus Marcius, sometime in the seventh century BCE. The addition of an underground portion of the carcer called the Tullianum was said to have been later added by the sixth king, Servius Tullius, and the carcer and Tullianum were likely rebuilt in the same location sometime in the third century BCE (Cadoux, 2008). The carcer differed from a modern prison in that its primary purpose was as a holding center for those awaiting execution - prisoners in ancient Rome had little chance of survival once sent to the carcer (Frischer, 2008). Whether one was sent there for robbery or murder, execution was the collective fate of most Roman prisoners. Aside from the carcer, Rome had another holding space for prisoners called the lautumiae, which was a stone quarry used to detain large groups of prisoners located west of the curia Hostilia between the Capitoline and Quirinal hills. The lautumiae would have allowed a small number of guards to keep a large number of prisoners from escaping the caves and slopes of the quarry, whereas the carcer kept smaller amounts of individual prisoners detained until execution. While no records exist of the lautumiae being used until the second century BCE, we do have records of the carcer being used throughout the fifth and fourth centuries BCE (Cadoux, 2008). Several notable executions took place at the carcer in Rome, including the starvation of Jugurtha in 104 BCE, the execution of the Catilinarian conspirators in 63 BCE, and the beheading of Vercingetorix in 49 BCE (Frischer, 2008). The carcer was also used to detain the Gracchi brothers prior to their execution during their uprising in 121 BCE, though it is likely the majority of their 3000 supporters who were also put to death would have been held and executed in the lautumiae rather than the carcer (Cadoux, 2008).
Bibliography
Latin Dictionary Entry
Carcer - Perseus Digital Library
Jay Brodzeller, 2022