[Sidenote: Exile.]

Fines were a common mode of punishment with the Romans, as with the
early Germans. Imprisonment in a public jail was also rare, the custom
of bail being in general use. Although retaliation was authorized by the
Twelve Tables for bodily injuries, it was seldom exacted, since
pecuniary compensation was taken in lieu. Corporal punishments were
inflicted upon slaves, but rarely upon citizens, except for military
crimes. But Roman citizens could be sold into slavery for various
offenses, chiefly military, and criminals were often condemned to labor
in the mines or upon public works. Banishment was common--_aquae et
ignis interdictio_--and this was equivalent to the deprivation of the
necessities of life, and incapacitating a person from exercising the
rights of citizenship. Under the emperors, persons were confined often
on the rocky islands off the coast, or a compulsory residence in a
particular place assigned. Thus Chrysostom was sent to a dreary place on
the banks of the Euxine. Ovid was banished to Tomi. Death, when
inflicted, was by hanging, scourging, and beheading, also by strangling
in prison. Slaves were often crucified, and were compelled to carry
their cross to the place of execution. This was the most ignominious and
lingering of all deaths. It was abolished by Constantine from reverence
to the sacred symbol. Under the emperors, execution took place also by
burning alive and exposure to wild beasts. It was thus the early
Christians were tormented, since their offense was associated with
treason. Persons of distinction were treated with more favor than the
lower classes, and the punishment was less cruel and ignominious. Thus
Seneca, condemned for privity to treason, was allowed to choose his mode
of death. The criminal laws of modern European states followed too often
the barbarous custom of the emperors until a recent date. Since the