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BANDITS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
unclear. Some speculation is possible from the information that he once
belonged to the Praetorian Guard. Given his known criminal career, this
may well be taken as an indication that he had received a dishonourable
discharge. A soldier who had crossed the military authorities and who,
having been cashiered, was living a hand to mouth existence, was certainly
sufficiently motivated to undertake acts of revenge. At any rate, his public
summoning of slaves to rise up for freedom betokens an open protest against
the state and society on the grounds of perceived injustice. Maternus’ desertion
may have been similarly motivated, though there is nowhere any sign
that he made a point of calling slaves to freedom. There can be no doubt
that, apart from deserters, his movement would also have been joined by
runaway slaves, criminals and others who found themselves on the margin of
society. However, whether he went out of his way to recruit such people
remains a mystery. Again, Herodian’s tale of the storming of the prisons was
probably an attempt to reinforce the impression that Maternus was driven
by base motives.
Though Herodian may very well have exaggerated what he wrote about
it, there can be no doubt that the movement which Maternus stirred up
grew to a considerable size. The information that officials soon no longer
treated it as brigandage, but reclassified Maternus and his men as enemies
of the state may also have a basis in fact. 143 Behind this distinction lay the
known legal differentiation between hostes and latrones, which was determined
not only by the status of the enemy concerned under international
law but also on occasion by his military strength. 144 Herodian’s reference to
the magnitude of the forces at Maternus’ disposal is confirmed by an inscription
set up by the Italian district of Urvinum Mataurense in honour of its
patron, C. Vesnius Vindex, military tribune of Legio VIII Augusta, during
whose service, after it had been relieved from ‘the recent siege’, the legion
was given the titles ‘faithful, constant, the emperor Commodus’ own’. 145
A. Alföldy has convincingly put together the evidence to suggest that it was
Maternus and his deserters who blockaded VIII Augusta in its main base at
Strasbourg. 146 This not only confirms that Maternus had a significant number
of men at his disposal, but also provides a geographical reference, localising
one centre of unrest in Upper Germany.
6 Maternus’ revolt: a forerunner of the Bagaudae?
Herodian continues that Maternus’ movement finally overran large parts of
Gaul and Spain. 147 This has provoked an influential proposal, since 1954
closely associated with the name of E.A. Thompson though its basic thinking
originates from Soviet historians. 148 This says that from the late second
century economic and social need produced a constantly expanding potential
for protest among the rural population of the Roman West. Maternus’ revolt,
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