---
title: Vigiles: Ancient Rome's Fire Service
author: Mark Cartwright
source: https://www.worldhistory.org/Vigiles/
format: machine-readable-alternate
license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)
updated: 2025-04-18
---
# Vigiles: Ancient Rome's Fire Service
_Authored by [Mark Cartwright](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/markzcartwright/)_
The *vigiles* (or *cohortes vigilum*) were formed during the reign of [Augustus](https://www.worldhistory.org/augustus/) to act as ancient [Rome](https://www.worldhistory.org/Rome/)'s permanent firefighting service. Evolving from earlier slave teams, the *vigiles* were organised as an urban military unit and eventually recruits came from the [Roman](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Roman/) citizenry. The body, with a permanent camp of its own and equipment stations dotted around the [city](https://www.worldhistory.org/city/), patrolled the streets of Rome each night and also performed certain nocturnal policing duties to ensure public order.
### Evolution
The *vigiles* were created by Augustus in 6 CE to meet the high risk of fires in the capital presented by its high population density and widespread use of wooden housing and other buildings which had timber parts. It was not the first time such a force had been created for the avaricious [Marcus Licinius Crassus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Marcus_Licinius_Crassus/), one of Rome's all-time richest men, had spotted the chance of making money by offering low prices for burning buildings and then having his team of slaves extinguish the fire so that it could be saved for redevelopment. If the property owner refused [Crassus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Marcus_Licinius_Crassus/)' offer, then the fire was left to rage on unabated.
The next step towards a proper fire service was taken by the *[aedile](https://www.worldhistory.org/Aedile/)* Egnatius Rufus who, like Crassus, created a force of slaves to put out fires but, unlike Crassus, seems to have been more motivated by issues of public safety. He may have sought political cachet from his creation, but it did not do him much good as the Senate later dealt him the [death](https://www.worldhistory.org/disambiguation/Death/) sentence for conspiring against the state. Another idea to protect the city, particularly at night, was the creation of the *tresviri nocturni* - three magistrates set on night watch. Yet again, this trio's workforce was composed of slaves, and it was their duty to prevent any disturbances in the city. Some wealthy private individuals even formed their own personal fire brigades, though, such was the need for a larger ever-present response team to fires.
C. 21 BCE Augustus took matters in hand and reorganised what was left of Rufus' slaves, creating a force of 600 slaves to fight fires if and when they arose. The *aediles* were put in charge of this new force, but they seem to have been ineffectual for, following serious fires in 7 BCE, Augustus reorganised them again. This time the force was split to cover 14 zones, each further divided into *vici*. Thus each of the 265 *vici* had its own designated group of firefighting public slaves commanded by the *viciomagister*. This was an improvement on the previous system, but there remained problems with coordination between different *vici*. This led to Augustus finally creating a single force, the *vigiles*.
### Organisation & Duties
The *vigiles were composed of freedmen, with officers coming from the army. They were organised into seven 1000-man cohorts (although perhaps initially only half this number), each led by an equestrian [tribune](https://www.worldhistory.org/Tribune/). Each cohort was divided into seven units led by a [centurion](https://www.worldhistory.org/Centurion/). The entire force was commanded by an equestrian prefect, the *Praefectus Vigilum*. In the reign of [Tiberius](https://www.worldhistory.org/Tiberius/) (14-37 CE) the term of service for *vigiles was set at six years, after which they could claim [Roman citizenship](https://www.worldhistory.org/article/859/roman-citizenship/). During the reign of [Trajan](https://www.worldhistory.org/trajan/) (98-117 CE) the prefect was given a sub-prefect as his second-in-command. Eventually, the term of service in the *vigiles* was reduced to a mere three years and the force began to attract citizens leading to an expansion under [Septimius Severus](https://www.worldhistory.org/Septimius_Severus/) (r. 193-211 CE).
The 14 zones of the city of Rome were assigned so that each cohort was responsible for fires in two zones. The vigiles* had their own camp built in the city while firefighting equipment was kept in each zone in a designated storage facility known as the *excubitorium*. Here too, a small number of the cohort was stationed on a permanent basis, presumably on rotation. The *vigiles patrolled the city each night, literally earning their name and keeping a vigil for any outbreaks of fire. Another duty was to arrest anyone out on the streets at night and looking suspicious. Anyone arrested was taken to the city prefect, the commander of the city's [urban cohorts](https://www.worldhistory.org/Cohortes_Urbanae/), for judgement.
Although officers of the *vigiles*, particularly centurions and prefects, often rose to take on roles in the more prestigious urban cohorts and [Praetorian Guard](https://www.worldhistory.org/Praetorian_Guard/), Rome's other military organisations, Roman historians such as [Tacitus](https://www.worldhistory.org/tacitus/) did not consider the *vigiles* as fighting soldiers. Having said that, in the crises of the 69 CE and 193 CE civil wars, they did see military action. In the 4th century CE the *vigiles* were disbanded and replaced by specialised guilds responsible for firefighting.
### FireFighting
As equipment was primitive and the only sure way to contain a fire was to demolish a building (and sometimes its neighbours to prevent the blaze spreading), the best action the *vigiles* could provide was to spot a fire before it took a real hold. Another preventative measure was to limit the height of the large tenant blocks in Rome, increase the space between buildings and the width of streets, and build firewalls.
If a serious fire did break out, then the *vigiles* had the following equipment at their disposal, which was also required by tenants to provide too: fire buckets (*amae*), sponges (*spongiae*), force-pumps (*siphones*), axes (*dolabrae*), picks (*secures*), ladders (*scalae*), grappling hooks (*falces*), quilted blankets (*centones*), wicker mats (*formiones*), poles (*perticae*), brooms (*scopae*) and vinegar. With these, they could douse the fire, smother it, and pull down parts of or all of the burning buildings.
### Legacy
The ruins of the *excubitorium* of *cohors VII can still be seen today in Rome near the bridge which crosses to the Tiber Island. Another *excubitorium*, that of the *cohors V*, is known to lie beneath the church of Santa Maria in Domnica, which was built in the 19th century CE. The idea of a permanent firefighting service spread to other Roman [cities](https://www.worldhistory.org/city/). [Claudius](https://www.worldhistory.org/claudius/) (r. 41-54 CE) created two additional units of *vigiles* to safeguard [Ostia](https://www.worldhistory.org/Ostia/) and Puteoli, and other fire brigades are known at [Carthage](https://www.worldhistory.org/carthage/), Lyon, Ravenna, and [Constantinople](https://www.worldhistory.org/Constantinople/) in Late Antiquity. The *vigiles name also lives on in the city of Rome and across the country as [Italy](https://www.worldhistory.org/italy/)'s fire and rescue service is today called the Vigili del Fuoco.
#### Editorial Review
This human-authored definition has been reviewed by our editorial team before publication to ensure accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards in accordance with our [editorial policy](https://www.worldhistory.org/static/editorial-policy/).
## Bibliography
- Bagnall, R.S. *The Encyclopedia of Ancient History.* Wiley-Blackwell, 2012
- [Hornblower, S. *The Oxford Classical Dictionary.* Oxford University Press, 2012.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/0199545561/)
- [Southern, P. *The Roman Army.* Amberley, 2016.](https://www.worldhistory.org/books/1445655330/)
## About the Author
Mark is WHE’s Publishing Director and has an MA in Political Philosophy (University of York). He is a full-time researcher, writer, historian and editor. Special interests include art, architecture and discovering the ideas that all civilizations share.
## Timeline
- **6 CE**: [Augustus](https://www.worldhistory.org/augustus/) creates [Rome](https://www.worldhistory.org/Rome/)'s permanent firefighting force, the [Vigiles](https://www.worldhistory.org/Vigiles/).
## Cite This Work
### APA
Cartwright, M. (2016, December 06). Vigiles: Ancient Rome's Fire Service. *World History Encyclopedia*.
### Chicago
Cartwright, Mark. "Vigiles: Ancient Rome's Fire Service." *World History Encyclopedia*, December 06, 2016. .
### MLA
Cartwright, Mark. "Vigiles: Ancient Rome's Fire Service." *World History Encyclopedia*, 06 Dec 2016, .
## License & Copyright
Submitted by [Mark Cartwright](https://www.worldhistory.org/user/markzcartwright/ "User Page: Mark Cartwright"), published on 06 December 2016. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/deed.en). This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon this content non-commercially, as long as they credit the author and license their new creations under the identical terms. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.