The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-12-17

Roman had TO be carried home. The
senator declared that he had not re-
cognized an emperor in the loafer who
had insuIted his daughter, and the
bruised emperor had to swallow the
licking. the sarcasm and his natural
desire for revenge.
Il was whispered then in Rome that
the virtuous police got literally creased
10 hush things up. Nero's successor.
Otho. had the same weakness as Nero,
and ne invented a new amusement
which was nothing less than the pleas
ant practice that is still so justly pop
ular, OF tossing persons in blankets;
only Ohio used a soldiers mantle. Sew
eraI times il happened that the vic
tim fell TO the street instead of the
mantle and stayed there with broken
bones. The police We're there each time
and sa " 10 it there was not too much
fuss.
Besides the regular uniformed and
armed police force. which was military
in its organization, there was q big de-
tective force that was greatly feared
because it had become unspeakably
corrupt, in loving sympathy with the
growing corruption Of the emperors
While it had been formed originally
10 uncover crime of all kinds. it be-
came almost entirely political after a
while.
The nisrule of the emperors produc-
ed more or less dissatisfaction constant
~. not only among the common people,
but among the mobiles. and the detec-
tive force was invaluable in discover
ing plots and agitations.
The officials of this detective force
We're known as Spectators and "fru-
mentarii,' and officially belonged to the
army as officers, but in reality were
nothing but spies.
When they had developed their sys-
tenn of espionage to the full blackmail
and graft f1ourished in a way to make
the heart of a political boss laugh with
in him. Rome, according to one writer
of the time became a city full of eyes
and ears for both that which is and
that which is not" If a man wouldn't
say anything reasonable, he was
tempted to do it. If he still refused, he
was denounced anyhow. on the general
principle that man who could give
up" and wouldn't give up must be made
to give up.
A policeman of an ordinary Amer
lean commonwealth really is a bird
with clipped wings compared to the
police Of Rome. They not only had su-
pervision over the dispensation of food
supplies to the poor, but they controll- |
ed the whole food supply of Rome. A
small army of men under a "praefectuS !
annonae" looked after this. The police |
also looked after the water supply, |
which was magnificent. They regulat- |
ed the profession of medicine and made |
the doctors conform to certain regula- |
tions. They collected the market taxes, !
prosecuted food authorizations, We're ex- |
aminers of weights and measures. had I
power to fix taxes on bread and -four !
and even the power to inprison any
who tried to form a corner in foodstuffs |
Of any kind.
There were plenty of markets to offer
a good field. There We're separate
markets for oxen. for pigs, for corn,
wine, fish, etc. All these
were under complete police control.
Then there were the guilds. such as
the bakers, the coppersmiths, and so
On, who also were under the thumb of
the police
Street peddlers and sidewalk mer-
chants were permitted to drive their
trade everywhere and anywhere. Par
ticularly prominent among them was
our old friend the franfurter man, for
and pea meal was a favorlte
fish of the Roman populace. Jugglers
and acrobats performed in public with
out hindrance. In the streets magi-
clans, snake eaters, sword swallowers
and men with iron jaws produced their
thrilling acts Just as they do in the
fairs of America.
The cops were not gentle ones
Move on, there" and eco along and
shut up, or I'll run youse in" prob
ably were as common words in the
Street of MAMMALIAN or on the Field OF
Mars as they are in our streets. And
At the times OF the games. when as
many as $4,000 people tried to crowd
nto the circus of Titus, while $4,000
1iled into each amphitheater, the police
lad their hands full,
Thew managed the crowds in good old
and new police fashion by riding into
hem and stabbing and cutting with
ances and swords in a genial and
hearty manner, so that a citizen of New
York or most other American towns
would have felt quite at home in those
lays in the crowds around the Circus
Iaximus or Nero's Golden House
Rural nt-''Gracious! why dosen't
~ir1