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BANDITS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
worked by free tenant farmers (coloni). Thus, in the first couple of generations
after Spartacus the slave problem had lost none of its explosiveness.
We can see all this not just from such general considerations but also
from the context in which Strabo sets his short account of Selourus. A
geographer, he describes living conditions in the centre of Sicily, which
leads him to discuss its pastoral economy. According to him, those in charge
of the island’s herds of horses, cattle and sheep were a source of constant
and significant danger, since they had come together in large numbers and
given themselves over to banditry. For example, Eunous and his men had
seized the city of Enna in the centre of the island. Recently, Strabo immediately
continues, a certain Selourus, at the head of an army, for a long time
made the region around Etna insecure also through continuous bandit raiding.
103 Even though it is not explicitly stated, there can be no doubt that
Selourus progressed from herdsman to bandit. 104 In terms of the threat he
posed he is comparable to Eunous.
The chronology of these events may be deduced from Strabo’s biography.
105 His introductory ‘recently’ (neosti) and the information that he
was an eyewitness to Selourus’ execution place the episode during his stay in
Rome. On his own testimony, he was resident in the capital from 44 bc. 106
By 29 bc he was in Corinth, breaking his journey as he returned from a trip
to Asia Minor. 107 The transportation to Rome of a bandit caught in Sicily
between 44 and, say, 30 bc could hardly have occurred before Octavian’s
victory over Sextus Pompey in 36 bc. Pompey is supposed to have assembled
runaway slaves in his stronghold of Sicily. Augustus claimed to have
captured almost 30,000 of them in 36 bc and to have restored them to
their owners for punishment. 108 This, then, was the time when Selourus
had established himself on Etna as the leader of a robber band. His comrades
may have included runaway slaves who had slipped through the net of
Octavian’s hunters. This may also explain why Selourus was dealt with so
harshly.
Selourus was infamous as ‘the Son of Etna’. The volcano afforded him
protection from pursuit and, wreathed in secrets and inspiring dread, lent
him something of its aura. This gave him charisma and respect. If we think
of the volcano, the parent and protector of Selourus, as divine, his nickname
even has something of a religious tone. 109 Selourus commanded a band of
considerable size. Strabo, no doubt exaggerating, refers to it as a full army
(stratia). With its help, Selourus was able to hold out for a long time.
Whether or not he was involved in it, he must surely also have profited from
the political unrest of the Civil War, which for a number of years removed
Sicily, as the main base of Sextus Pompey, beyond the grasp of the imperial
government.
The true extent of Selourus’ notoriety was demonstrated in the spectacular
manner of his execution, which Strabo reports as an eyewitness. It took place
in Rome, not Sicily, and was presented after the fashion of a gladiatorial
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