Corpus Fontium Historiae Fodinarum: Difference between revisions
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|<small>Eastern Desert of Egypt</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' Diodorus is one of two classical writers to quote Agatharchidus of Cnidos’ (mid-second century BC writer) description of an underground gold mine in the Eastern Desert of Egypt.
12. ''At the extremity of Egypt and in the contiguous territory of both Arabia and Ethiopia, there lies a region which contains many large gold mines, where the gold is secured in great quantities with much suffering and at great expense.. For the earth is naturally black and contains seams and veins of a marble that is unusually white and in brilliancy surpasses everything else which shines brightly by its nature, and here the overseers of the labour in the mines recover the gold with the aid of a multitude of workers.'' '''Photius 59–62, similar description of the geology. ''' ''For the kings of Egypt gather together and condemn to the mining of the gold such as have been found guilty of some crime and captives of war.'' '''Photius 59–61, does not refer to a ‘king’ or any royalty.''' ''As well as those who have been accused unjustly and thrown into prison because of their anger. Not only such persons but occasionally all their relatives as well, by this means not only inflicting punishment upon those found guilty but also securing at the same time great revenues from their labours. Those who have been condemned in this way – and they are a great multitude and are all bound in chains – work at their task unceasingly both by day and night, enjoying no respite and being carefully cut off from any means of escape. Guards of foreign soldiers who speak a language different from theirs stand watch over them, so that not a man, either by conversation or by some contact of a friendly nature, is able to corrupt one of his keepers. '' '''Photius does not mention any type of guards. ''' ''The gold-bearing earth, which is hardest, they first burn with a hot fire. When they have crumbled it in this way they continue the working of it by hand; and the soft rock which can yield to moderate effort is crushed with a sledge by myriads of unfortunate wretches. The entire operations are in the charge of a skilled worker who distinguishes the stone and points it out to the labourers. Those who are assigned to this unfortunate task, the physically strongest, break the quartz rock with iron hammers, applying no skill to the task, but only force, and cutting tunnels through the stone, not in a straight line but wherever the seam of gleaming rock may lead. These men, working in darkness as they do because of the bending and winding of the passages, carry lamps bound on their foreheads. As much of the time they change the position of their bodies to follow the particular character of the stone, they throw the blocks, as they cut them out, on the ground; and at this task they labour without ceasing beneath the sternness and blows of an overseer. '' '''Photius 61, fire setting and division of labour; Photius 61, fire setting and division of labour; specialists, hard labour, sub-surface mining, querns; Photius 61, the brutality of the overseer is copied nearly word for word.'''
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14. ''In the last steps the skilled workmen receive the stone which has been ground to powder and take it off for its complete and final working; for they rub the marble which has been worked down upon a broad board which is slightly inclined, pouring water over it all the while; whereupon the earthy matter in it, melted away by the action of the water, runs down the inclined board, while that which contains the gold remains on the wood because of its weight.'' '''Photius 64–65, the only occurrence of this technical term, not mentioned by the other authors. More details on the process of washing gold. ''' ''And repeating this a number of times, they first of all rub it gently with their hands, and then lightly pressing it with sponges of loose texture they remove in this way whatever is porous and earthly, until there remains only the pure gold dust. Then at last other skilled workmen take what has been recovered and put it by fixed measure and weight into earthen jars, mixing with it a lump of lead proportionate to the mass, lumps of salt and a little tin, and adding thereto barley bran;'' ''thereupon they put on it a close-fitting lid, and smearing it over carefully with mud they bake it in a kiln for five successive days and as many nights; and at the end of this period, when they have let the jars cool off, of the other matter they find no remains in the jars, but the gold they recover in pure form, there being but little waste. This working of the gold, as it is carried on at the farthermost borders of Egypt, is effected through all the extensive labours here described; for Nature herself, in my opinion, makes it clear that whereas the production of gold is laborious, the guarding of it is difficult, the zest for it very great, and that its use is half-way between pleasure and pain. '' '''Photius 65–66, Diodorus follows Agatharchidus closely; Photius 66, is more prosaic and detailed in his description of the hardship of mining in general.'''
'''Comments:''' This description has been used by many modern scholars when discussing mining in Egypt during the classical period. It must be kept in mind that this reference dates back to the Ptolemaic era and can only be used to explain mining up to a certain extent. The labourers who appeared to be forced into working at the mine were ''condemnati'', criminals and prisoners of war. They were guarded by soldiers who were not indigenous to the country and who were purposefully chosen for their lack of understanding of the language of the workers. This, it can be argued, must have been based on the assumption that all miners will try to escape by starting friendships with the soldiers, or that the latter could be bribed, so hoped to halt that activity by placing people in a supervisory role with whom they could not communicate. ‘Guards of foreign soldiers who speak a language different from theirs stand watch over them, so that not a man, either by conversation or by some contact of a friendly nature, is able to corrupt one of his keepers’. Photius’ description, which is considered to be closer to Agatharchidus’ writings, does not mention any type of guard. Could this mean that Diodorus has noticed this setup for miners in his own time, almost one century later?
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38. ''In this section, Diodorus describes the use of slaves as mine labour and their wretched working conditions. ‘For no respite or pause is granted them in their labours but are compelled by the blows of overseers. Indeed death in their eyes is more to be desired than life’. He finishes this paragraph by saying that the Iberian mines were not newly discovered ores but had already been mined by the Carthaginians, who used their revenues to finance wars with the Romans, Silicians and Libyans.''
'''Comments:''' Gold, silver and copper are natural alloys but do not automatically occur in gold mines. Diodorus describes skilled and unskilled workers (36). The first reference to non-indigenous people who came to the region to mine the deposits is to Romans who conquered the region for its precious mineral. There are also references to other unskilled workers but who they were is unclear. Maybe they were the local population who did not have experience but came to work there when the Romans arrived and because local job opportunity was non-existent. Diodorus could also have been referring to slaves (38). Diodorus makes it clear that the Romans were well organised but were driven by greed – an unpleasant observation that he makes not for first time (46.1–4). Other classical writers such as Strabo (4.6.7) and Pliny the Elder (''Naturalis Historia'' XXXIII.21 and ''Naturalis Historia'' XXXVII.74) also suggest in their descriptions of mining districts in the Empire that the Romans had a high demand for gold. Whether this implies a hidden reproach or just an observation on the writers’ part is open to interpretation but it does explain the Romans’ intense way of working. For more on the Archimedean or Egyptian screw, as referred to in the text, see Bienkowski, who describes a screw kept at the Museum of Liverpool (37).
{| class="wikitable"
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
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'''Description-Interpretation:''' ''Hephaestus'' was the discoverer of every manner of working iron, copper, gold, silver, and everything that required fire for working. He is also acclaimed for having discovered other uses for fire which he gave to humans. Skilled workers therefore called their fire ''Hephaestus'' and offered him prayers and sacrifices.
'''Comments:''' Only classical writers clearly reference a deity associated with gold, and more precisely with the refining of this precious metal. Here he is mentioned by name, though Pliny (''Naturalis Historia'' XXXIII. 4.12) only refers to him as the ‘god of handicraft’. There is not much known on gods associated with mining as it seems that the miners worshipped their own house gods. Min and Pan are two names for the same god and are linked with miners and travelers in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. A shrine or temple dedicated to him has not yet been found. The name of Min is known from a stele on which he is depicted as an ithyphallic deity, as well as from a few inscriptions in the Eastern Desert.
{| class="wikitable"
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'''Comments:''' Jones translates it as chaff-free, while Hamilton and Falconer use the word ‘straw’. Diodorus (3.14) describes the use of lead, salt and tin, and barley bran to purify the gold dust. Panning river sediments is one of the oldest techniques used to collect secondary gold; it is in these deposits that nuggets are usually found. When gold requires melting it comes from primary deposits found imbedded in the vein.
Strabo describes both the primary (veins) and secondary deposits (sediments, alluvial gold, and eroding, outcropping veins). This description shows that mining was already well established in the region when the Romans took possession of the gold mines during the imperial period. The technique described for the collection, cleaning and refining of gold particles is still very much the same as used in the modern mining industry. Today, however, there are less secondary deposits, apart from newly discovered sites that were not accessible to the Romans, such as in Ireland and the New World many centuries later.
===Strabo===
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'''Comments:''' Jones translates it as chaff-free, while Hamilton and Falconer use the word ‘straw’. Diodorus (3.14) describes the use of lead, salt and tin, and barley bran to purify the gold dust. Panning river sediments is one of the oldest techniques used to collect secondary gold; it is in these deposits that nuggets are usually found. When gold requires melting it comes from primary deposits found imbedded in the vein.
Strabo describes both the primary (veins) and secondary deposits (sediments, alluvial gold, and eroding, outcropping veins). This description shows that mining was already well established in the region when the Romans took possession of the gold mines during the imperial period. The technique described for the collection, cleaning and refining of gold particles is still very much the same as used in the modern mining industry. Today, however, there are less secondary deposits, apart from newly discovered sites that were not accessible to the Romans, such as in Ireland and the New World many centuries later.
{| class="wikitable"
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
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'''Description-Interpretation:''' Strabo warns his readers not to believe Poseidonius, who writes that gold can only be obtained from setting the forest and the soil on fire to make gold and silver ‘grow’. The fires melted the earth, which in turn ‘throw the metals up to the surface. These rich subterraneous regions should be regarded as the realms of Plutus.’ Strabo is not flattering Poseidonius when he writes: ‘The flourished style, in which he speaks on this subject, that you would fancy is turgid language, has been dug from a mine itself.’ Poseidonius, in turn, speaks belligerently of the mines of Attica, in ‘that they dug with as much energy as if they thought they could grub up Plutus himself.’ Of the miners of Turdetania, he writes that they ‘are in the habit of cutting virtuous and deep tunnels’ using the Archimedean screw (or the Egyptian screw as it was known as). ‘The Turdetani make a good profit while Attica at times does not.’
'''Comments''': Diodorus (5.37) also uses Attica for comparison purposes. The use of the Archimedean screw appears to have been well established in the mines prior to the Romans putting their mark on the mining industry. The silver mine of Laurium lies in the mining district of Attica, where extraction started around 1500BC, until about 102BC when a second revolt of the slave population brought it to an end. It appears that the deposits were still mined until the end of the first century AD though not in the same professional manner. This must have been around the period of Strabo’s comments.
{| class="wikitable"
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
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'''Description-Interpretation''': ‘The country of the ''Salassi'' has gold mines also, which in former times, when the ''Salassi'' were powerful, they kept possession of, just as they were also masters of the passes [the country of the ''Salassi'' lies in a glen surrounded by mountains]. The ''Durias'' River was of the greatest aid to them in their mining – I mean, in washing the gold; and therefore, in making the water branch off to numerous places, they used to empty the common bed completely. But although this was helpful to the ''Salassi'' in their hunt for gold, it distressed the people who farmed the plains below them, because their country was deprived of irrigation; for, since its bed was on favourable ground higher up, the river could give the country water. And for these reasons both tribes [those in the plains and those in the mountain ranges] were continually at war with each other. But after the Romans got control, the ''Salassi'' were thrown out of their gold works and country; however, since they still held possession of the mountain, they sold water to the publicans who had contracted to work the gold mines, but on account of the greediness of the publicans the ''Salassi'' were always in disagreement with them too. And in this way it resulted that those Romans who from time to time wished to lead the armies and were sent to the regions in question were well provided with pretexts for war.’ (They were in the end overthrown by Augustus.)
'''Comments:''' This is an excellent example of using local resources, such as the river ''Durias'', for mining purposes, as well as of its effect on the local landscape. This is visible at Las Médulas, NW Spain, where mining filled in the river valley. In this case, the diversion of the river had negative results for local agriculture. Strabo also explains how the Romans tried to confiscate the mines but were driven away (at first) by the cunning of the ''Salassi''.
{| class="wikitable"
|<small>'''Name-reference'''</small>
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'''Description-Interpretation''': The river running along the boundary is used for transport, and ‘this region has places that are naturally well suited to gold washing and has also iron works.’
'''Comments:''' See comment on Strabo, 3.3.4. The question has to be put whether the iron works mentioned here were small workshops that provided tools for the miners. At El Castro de Orellán, Las Médulas (NW Spain), a small workshop/settlement near the outcrop of iron ore was identified, set up to provide the miners with tools to mine the gold.
{| class="wikitable"
|<small>'''Name-reference'''</small>
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'''Comments:''' Skins were used to separate the gold from impurities during the washing process. The auriferous quartz was crushed in mills (Diodorus, 3.13) till a powder-like substance was obtained. This was then washed in several stages over skins stretched over a sloping surface. The sand washed away and the heavier, larger gold fragments were left stuck in the skin. The wet and now ‘auriferous skin’ was replaced by a new one and the process started again. Afterwards the saturated skins were either left to dry or burned in furnaces; when the skins were dry, the gold was collected from them directly, or from ashes after they were burned.
Another technique for washing gold was the use of a plant named ''gors'' (Pliny ''Naturalis Historia'' XXXIII.21). The plant would be positioned in channels or troughs, through which the auriferous gravel/dust was flushed with water. The heavier gold particles got stuck in the plant while the dust and sand washed away. Once the gors was saturated it was then removed from the channel and dried or burned, as was done with the skins. This is visible in the gold mines of Las Médulas, NW Spain, and Dolaucothi, S Wales, UK. The use of water in combination with skins or gors was mainly used in western Roman provinces as there was plenty of water and the plant was local. Diodorus (3.14) describes the use of sloping tables over which water was poured. The water collected in a basin at the bottom and was re-used until it ran clear. Unfortunately, he does not describe the material of the table top. Archaeological evidence of stone washing tables has been unearthed but if they had organic table tops these have long since disappeared.
{| class="wikitable"
|<small>'''Name-reference'''</small>
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'''Description-Interpretation''': Memnon was sent to the goldmines of ''Suspiritis'' near ''Catella'' by Alexander the Great.
'''Comments:''' It is unclear from this quote, and from further in the text, whether he was banished to the mines for a crime or for political reasons, or whether he was sent in an administrative or military capacity. Evidence has been uncovered that, during the Roman period, centurions were seconded to imperial quarries by their emperor to assist in their organization and administration.
{| class="wikitable"
|<small>'''Name-reference'''</small>
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'''Description-Interpretation:''' On the isthmus, extending to the Red Sea near Berenice, mines were found holding emerald and other precious stones. This was discovered by the Arabians who dug deep subterranean passages.
'''Comments:''' This refers to the region around Berenice (Berenike), the Ptolemaic-Roman harbour along the Red Sea, SE Egypt (Lat 23˚54.62’N/Long 35˚28.42’E). Sidebotham, who is currently excavating Berenike and surveying its hinterland, refers to various gold and emerald mines along the desert roads that were either in use or newly opened at the time of the Roman occupation.
{| class="wikitable"
|<small>'''Name-reference'''</small>
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'''Description-Interpretation:''' Here Pliny talks about the Troglodytes of Egypt and the gold region of Wadi Allaqi (S Egypt/N Sudan). There are two Berenices, Berenice-All-Golden in the locality of Wadi Allaqi (N Sudan), and Berenice (S Egypt), a Ptolemaic-Roman harbour along the Red Sea coast.
'''Comments:''' The region of Wadi Allaqi is well known for its gold-mining settlements. The deposits have been mined since prehistoric times until well into the Arab occupation of Egypt. The region has been studied by many modern scientists.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
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'''Description-Interpretation:''' The Red Sea Coast of Egypt runs from Meroë to Napata; Pliny mentions ''Aethiopia'', the Nile Valley and Meroë. These regions could be travelled very easily as there were many pockets of rainwater stored for travellers and, in passing; he also briefly mentions that the region contained a large amount of gold.
'''Comments:''' It seems from this paragraph that travelling the desert might have been easier then than it is now as there was plenty of water available. Or it could be referring to the many ''praesidia'' and ''hydreumata'' that provided water for travellers, mine and quarry workers and settlers in the region.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
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|<small>An unknown underground mine in the Eastern Desert of Egypt</small>
|}
<br>
'''Description-Interpretation:'''
{| class="wikitable collapsible"
| rowspan="2" | 59–61.
|-
| Diodorus 3.12, gives a slightly different description but to the same effect, with more details of the fate of the ''condemnati'' and their families
|-
| rowspan="4" | They [the miners] pursue their tasks in the mountains where the gold is found. They light wood fires on the stone outcrops, which are jagged and extremely hard, and crumble them with the heat. They break the fractured rock into little pieces with iron sledges. A technician, who sorts the ore, is in charge of the other workers. Whenever he points out veins to the miners, the whole task is then carried out by the miners, who are constrained by their misfortunes, in accordance with the following division of labour. Those who are the strongest and young smash the quartz-bearing rock with iron hammers, striking their blows not with skill but brute force. They also cut many galleries through the rock, not in a straight line, but in some places right above the gold-bearing ore and sometimes falling below, and again, turning to the left and sometimes twisting back and intersecting like the roots of trees. They excavate wearing lamps fastened to their foreheads, following a sort of white vein. They often force their bodies to conform (to the shape of the gallery) as they throw on the ground the pieces of rock, not according to their own decision and ability but under the supervision of an overseer, who never upbraids without also striking a blow.|| Diodorus 3.12, fire setting and division of labour
|-
| Diodorus 3.12, specialists
|-
| Diodorus 3.12, hard manual labour and tools used in a similar description
|-
| Diodorus 3.12, same description of the brutality of the overseer
|-
| rowspan="3" | 62–63. Young boys, who go down in to the galleries excavated by these men, gather up laboriously the piles of rock thrown down the floor and carry it outside the entrance. From them the older men and many of the sick take the rock. These men bring it to men called ‘pounders’. They are men less than 30 years old and more vigorous in appearance. After receiving the fragments of rock, they pound them vigorously with iron pestles; and having worked the stone until no piece is larger than a vetch seed, they distribute them immediately to other workers. The next task, however, is that of women who have been led off in captivity with their husbands or parents. For several mills stand one after the other in a line and into these they cast the crushed rock. Three women, standing opposite one another at each handle and so scantily dressed that only their private parts are concealed, do the grinding; and they grind until the portion of rick given them has been reduced to the consistency of flour. All those subject to the harsh lot just described consider death more desirable than life. || Diodorus 3.13, same description of division of work but with more details on their miserable existence
|-
| Diodorus 3.13, less detailed on the grinding of the gold
|-
| This technique was probably for using saddle- shaped querns (found at [[Wadi Bakariya]] and Wadi Daghbag)
|-
| 64–65. From these women, men called selangei receive the crushed ore. These men are technicians, capable of completing the king’s business. Their work is as follows: || Diodorus 3.14, describes them as ‘skilled workers’ but explains it differently
|-
| rowspan="2" | They throw the crushed quartz onto a flat board which has been polished smooth but is not level, having instead a slight incline. Then, while pouring on water, they rub the ore with their hands, at first gently, then more vigorously, whence, I think, the earthy part is dissolved and flows away in accordance with the slope of the table, but the heavy and solid part remains unmoved on the wood. After having repeatedly washed the rock with water, the selangeus picks it up with light and very porous sponges. When these are applied lightly to the quartz and worked briefly, the light and loose pieces become entangled in the interstices of the sponge. He takes these up and throws them away, but leaves behind on the board the heavy, glittering pieces he has separated out, since, because of the heaviness of their nature, they are difficult to move. || The washing table is similar to those found at Wadi Allaqi, though here the dust seems to be washed directly on its stone surface.
|-
| ''Selangei'' is a technical term for a gold washer.<ref>Burstein 1989: 64 (footnote).</ref>
|-
| "65–66. After thus completely separating out the gold nuggets, the selangeus turns them over to the smelters. These take up the ore by set amount and weight and place it in a pottery vessel. Then, after adding in accordance with a fixed proportion a lump of lead, grains of salt and a little tin and barley bran, they put on a close-fitting lid, seal it all around and smelt it continuously in a kiln for five days and an equal number of nights. On the next day, after cooling the smelted ore slightly, they pour it into a vessel and find that of what was put in with the gold nothing remains, but of the gold there is a solid mass, albeit slightly reduced in size because of the dust.
|Diodorus 3.14, has quoted the firing process almost word for word
|-
| rowspan="2" | The death of numerous men in the mines brings our exposition to the conclusion already stated, namely that, as its nature clearly demonstrates, the origin of gold is laborious, its preservation is uncertain, it is most zealously sought after, and its use lies between pleasure and plain. Further, the manner in which it is mined is extremely ancient. For the nature of the mines was discovered by the first rulers of the region, but their working was suspended when the Aithiopians, by whom people also say that the Memnoneia were built, invaded Egypt in force and garrisoned its cities for many years, and (again) during the supremacy of the Medes and Persians. Even in our time bronze chisels are found in the gold mines excavated by those rulers because the use of iron was not yet known at that time. Human bones in unbelievable numbers are also found since, as was likely to have happened, many cave-ins occurred in the unstable galleries with their brittle walls, given the great extent of the excavations and their reaching in their deepest sections the sea itself. || Diodorus 3.14, only briefly describes the hardships of mining
|-
| Metal tools are rare at mining sites
|}
<br>
'''Comments:''' Agatharchides’ account of the Eastern Desert of Egypt has been copied by Strabo (16.4.5–20, but Strabo had actually copied the information from Artemidorus of Ephesus), Diodorus (3.12–14) and Photius (59–66).<ref>Burstein 1989: 22.</ref> Burstein states that although Photius is the least well-known writer he gives the most accurate copy of Agatharchidus’ work. Diodorus’ copies are often more prosaic than factual. Strabo’s version does not mention gold mines; he only refers briefly to the topaz mines and appeared to be more interested in the various population groups living in and close to the desert (Strabo, 16.4.5–20).
===Legal sources===
These are legal documents referring to sections of the law dealing with banishing people to the mines as part of their punishment. The use of prisoners in government projects is a known practice; it appears anyone could be sent to the mines as penance for various reasons. However, being sent to the mines seems to have been mainly reserved for the working class. There are also references to amnesties from penal sentences or banishment. In Egypt an inscription is preserved that mentions a man being released after fulfilling his prison sentence at an alabaster quarry (December AD 209).<ref>Jackson 2002: 17, footnote 23 (the text is identified as SB 4639); Hirt 2010: 222–24 (footnote 3).</ref>
====Julius Paulus====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Paulus, ''Sententiae'', 5.23.14 (2nd-3rd centuries) commenting on the ''Lex Cornelia Sullæ de sicariis et veneficis'' of 81 BC</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>[https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/Anglica/Paul5_Scott.htm#23 Scott 1932]; also Shrek 2001: 206.</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' ‘Persons who administer potions for the purpose of causing abortion, or love philtres, even if they do not do so maliciously, still, because the act affords a bad example, shall if of inferior rank, be sentenced to the mines; if of superior rank, they shall be relegated to an island, after having been deprived of their property. Where, however, the man or the woman loses his or her life in consequence of their act they shall undergo the extreme penalty.’
<br>
<br>'''Comments:''' This shows the clear distinction between the social classes; banishment to the mines was considered too harsh for the upper class.
====Edict of Constantine I on behalf of Christians====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Edict of Constantine I on behalf of Christians (324 AD)<ref>I follow the title proposed by Coleman-Norton 1966: 106.</ref> as cited by Eusebius, ''Life of Constantine'', 2.32.1-2</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' ‘(1) Those also who were condemned either to labour under harsh conditions in mines, or to perform menial tasks at public works, let them exchange incessant toils for sweet leisure, and now live an easier life of freedom, undoing the infinite hardships of their labours in gentle relaxation. (2) But if any have been deprived of their civil liberty and suffered public dishonour, then let them, with the gladness appropriate considering they have been parted by a long exile, take up again their former rank and make haste back to their native lands.’
<br>
<br>'''Comments:''' This is a section of the law under which Constantine redresses the wrongs committed by Licinius against the Christians, after the defeat of the latter. Although the authenticity of this edict has been challenged, Α.Η.Μ. Jones has demonstrated that a fragmentary papyrus ([https://papyri.info/ddbdp/sb;6;9218 P. Lond. 878]) “proves beyond all reasonable doubt the authenticity of one of the Constantinian documents cited by Eusebius in the Life, and implies that of the rest” (Jones and Skeat 1954: 200).
====Sirmondian constitutions====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' ‘With the exception of the five capital crimes, all accused persons whom the celebration of Easter finds in prison shall be released, in accordance with the joy and veneration of so great a festivity [...] [T]hroughout all the intervening time which flows between such venerable and celebrated days, We relieve such persons from their chains, We free them from exile, We remove them from the mines, and We liberate them from the exile of deportation [...] We snatch all persons from the death penalty except those who cannot properly be assisted because of the magnitude of their crimes. [...] We shall not commit an outrage upon the shades of the dead by absolving any person who is guilty of the crime of homicide; We shall not leave unavenged the marriage bed of any person by remitting the punishment of persons guitty of adultery and other such crimes; We keep intact cases of high treason, which extends widely. We do not join to the felicity of absolution those persons who sin against the stars, poisoners or magicians, or counterfeiters [...].’
====Theodosian Code====
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Theodosian Code 15.12.1 (01/10/325)</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Pharr 1952: 436</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>Roman territory</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' ‘Bloody spectacles displease Us amid public peace and domestic tranquillity. Wherefore, since We wholly forbid the existence of gladiators, You shall cause those persons who, perchance, on account of some crime, customarily sustained that condition and sentence, to serve rather in the mines, so that they will assume the penalty for their crimes without shedding their blood.’
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|'''<small>Name-reference</small>'''
|<small>Theodosian Code 15.8.2 (21/04/428)</small>
|-
|'''<small>Modern reference</small>'''
|<small>Pharr 1952: 435</small>
|-
|'''<small>Location of the mine</small>'''
|<small>Roman territory</small>
|}
'''Description-Interpretation:''' ‘If fathers or masters should be procurers and should impose upon their daughters or female slaves the necessity of sinning, [...] they shall not be able to enjoy the right of control over their daughters or slaves, or to acquire any gain from them in this manner. But if the slaves and daughters so wish, as well as the persons hired on account of poverty and condemned to such a condition by their humble lot, they shall be permitted to implore the aid of bishops, judges, and defenders, to be released from all the bonds of their miseries. If the procurers should suppose that they may insist or if they should compel the women to undergo the necessity of sinning against their will, they shall not only forfeit all the power which they had over them, but they shall also be proscribed and delivered to the punishment of being as signed to exile in the public mines. [...].’
===Tablets found at Metallum Vipascense===
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