Secret Police In Ancient Rome – Frumentarii: Who Were They And What Was Their Role?

A. Sutherland  - AncientPages.com - Frumentarii was a special military elite in the Roman Empire that served as the emperor's secret police.

At the turn of the second and third centuries AD, they watched the actions of senators, high-ranking military men, and Christians. In particular, these soldiers became an increasingly important force in the late first century and throughout the second century, until Diocletian, nicknamed Jovius, abolished them. Diocletian was a Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305.

Some frumentarii take care of the supplies, harvesting the wheat ( Colonna di Traiano, relief n.81). Image credit: Conrad Cichorius: "Die Reliefs der Traianssäule" - Public Domain.

They were seen as the emperor's eyes and ears; these agents could travel through the empire at will, functioning as spies and an 'internal security agency'. They spied on the governors and officials who worked within the Roman state.

The frumentarii were headquartered in the Castra Peregrina, the so-called “camp of the strangers” (“castra peregrinorum”). It was a fortified military barracks complex (castrum) in Rome, located on the Caelian Hill, one of the city’s famous Seven Hills. In the Roman imperial system, such castra served not only as living quarters for soldiers but also as administrative and logistical centers, often equipped with storerooms, training grounds, and command buildings.

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See also: 

Praetorian Guard: Roman Elite Unit Tasked With Protecting, But Also Involved In Confinement, Spying, Threats And Murder

Tyrannical Tarquin The Proud: The Seventh And Last King Of Rome Was Banished

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