Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Firefighting
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
===Ancient Rome=== [[Ancient Rome]] did not have municipal firefighters. Instead, private individuals relied on their slaves or supporters to take action. They would not only form bucket brigades or attempt to smother smaller fires, but would also demolish or raze nearby buildings to slow the spread of the fire. However, there is no mention of fires being extinguished, rather they were contained and burned themselves out. Ancient Rome did not have an organized firefighting force until the ''[[Vigiles]]'' were formed during the reign of [[Augustus]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wHEGcPZZmHwC&q=ancient+roman+fire+sale&pg=PA54 |title=Ancient Rome: From the Early Republic to the Assassination of Julius Caesar |isbn=9780415224581 |last1=Dillon |first1=Matthew |last2=Garland |first2=Lynda |author-link=Lynda Garland |year=2005 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |access-date=2020-10-17 |archive-date=2022-04-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408203040/https://books.google.com/books?id=wHEGcPZZmHwC&q=ancient+roman+fire+sale&pg=PA54 |url-status=live }}</ref> The first ever Roman fire brigade was created by [[Marcus Licinius Crassus]]. Fires were almost a daily occurrence in Rome, and Crassus took advantage of the fact that Rome had no fire department, by creating his own brigade—500 men strong—which rushed to burning buildings at the first cry of alarm. Upon arriving at the scene, however, the firefighters did nothing while Crassus offered to buy the burning building from the distressed property owner, at a miserable price. If the owner agreed to sell the property, his men would put out the fire; if the owner refused, then they would simply let the structure burn to the ground. After buying many properties this way, he rebuilt them, and often leased the properties to their original owners or new tenants.<ref name="The Great Fire of Rome:Life and Death in the Ancient City ">{{cite book|last = Walsh|first = Joseph|title = The Great Fire of Rome: Life and Death in the Ancient City}}</ref><ref name="Plutarch-2">Plutarch, Parallel Lives, The Life of Crassus 2.3–4</ref><ref>Marshall, B A: ''Crassus: A Political Biography'' (Adolf M Hakkert, Amsterdam, 1976)</ref><ref name="TrivLibCrassus">[[Wallechinsky, David]] & [[Irving Wallace]]. "[http://www.trivia-library.com/b/richest-people-in-history-marcus-licinus-crassus.htm Richest People in History Ancient Roman Crassus] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226055241/https://www.trivia-library.com/b/richest-people-in-history-marcus-licinus-crassus.htm |date=2020-02-26 }}". Trivia-Library. ''[[The People's Almanac]]''. 1975 – 1981. Web. 23 December 2009.</ref>
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)