"Roman Jail Transport " Topic

"…Today a vehicle like this would be used to transport suspects to a police station, to court or to prison, but did the Romans have something similar? The short answer is we have not been able to find out. Perhaps unsurprisingly there is much material on the forms of Roman Law and nothing on how it worked in terms of transportation vehicles. This leaves us to speculate on whether such a vehicle is likely, and we are really unable to decide. Custody is a relatively modern concept as a punishment – Roman punishments were mostly fines, corporal punishment, exile or even death, but not prison. Prisons, such as they were, were generally used to hold people awaiting trial, and for many this meant merely house arrest, so the need to physically restrain proven or suspected transgressors was far less than it is today. Also moving a prisoner would usually be a simple matter of putting them in chains and escorting them to where you wanted them – vehicles were fairly uncommon, especially for the movement of people, and the size of most towns made such luxuries unnecessary anyway. For a very long journey a vehicle might seem more practical, but such a journey would be rare, so we find it very difficult to accept that there were many of this sort of vehicle around, despite it being very simple and apparently useful. One further possible use would be the movement of prisoners of war. Again however, such prisoners, who if taken back would be intended to be sold as slaves, would have had to walk like everyone else, and be chained to prevent escape. Was such an exotic vehicle used for the high status captives such as Vercingetorix after the fall of Alesia? We don't know, but there remains a nagging doubt.

If such a vehicle did exist, would it have looked like this model? Well it would certainly have had walls that met at pillars at each corner, which this one does not have, and probably a door too, which again seems to be absent here. The solid wheels are perhaps reasonable, although the Romans were well aware of spoked wheels, and the two oxen that provide the engine here were the most common, if slow, form of power in use at the time. With zero evidence it is hard to say more, but we are on firmer ground when discussing the merits of the vehicle as a kit. Like so many Strelets assemblies the whole thing is pretty crude, with all the edges being very rough and a very basic method of attaching parts. Holes are huge, as are pegs, and while everything fits together the walls are quite irregular and the result is very untidy. The roof has a number of pegs front and back plus one at one side whose only purpose is to stop it fitting on the wonky wall sections, so goodness knows what the designer was thinking there. There are no instructions, though assembly is easy enough, but the result is pretty inferior, and certainly nothing as neat as the item pictured on the box. The main body of the vehicle measures about 33mm (2.4 metres) long and 21mm (1.5 metres) wide, which is roomy enough for quite a few prisoners, depending on how you position them…"

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Amicalement
Armand

I don't like being negative but the mobile cage is awful. Is it for animals going to the Colosseum?

I guess someone will find a use for the figures.

It's a rough looking set, but pretty much par for the course from this manufacturer.

The solid wheels surprised me – but when you follow the link back to PSR you see the box art has spoked wheels (which would have been much better) …

Actually this set is of some interest as it adds to the limited pool of possible civilians …

Phil

Not much difference on that Era to transport animals or prisioners… (smile)

Amicalement
Armand