In the Roman Empire, a mansio (from the Latin word mansus, the perfect passive participle of manere "to remain" or "to stay") was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling.[James W. Ermatinger "The Roman Empire, A Historical Encyclopedia" ABC-CLIO 2018 pp 272-273]
Background
The roads which traversed the
Ancient history were later surveyed, developed and carefully maintained by the Romans, featuring purpose-built rest stops at regular intervals, known as
castra. Probably originally established as simple places of military encampment, in process of time they included
barracks and magazines of provisions (
Horreum) for the troops. Over time the need arose for a more sophisticated form of shelter for travelling dignitaries and officials. The Latin term
mansio is derived from
manere, signifying to pass the night at a place while travelling (the word is likely to be the source of the English word
mansion, though their uses are entirely different).
These substantial structures, normally in the form of a villa, were dedicated to the travellers' rest and refreshment. Guests were expected to provide a passport to identify themselves. In many cases infrastructure to sustain them sprang up around the
mansio, but also the villas of provincial officials; forts and ultimately even cities. Ox-drawn carts could travel about 30 km per day; pedestrians a little farther, so each
mansio was about 25 to 30 km from the next.
At each
mansio cisiarii kept gigs for hire and for conveying government dispatches (
Cisium;
Chariot).
The
Itinerarium Burdigalense, which is a road book drawn up in 333, mentions in order the
mansiones from
Bordeaux to
Jerusalem with the intervening
mutationes, and other, more considerable places, which are called either
Civitas,
vicus, or
castle. The number of leagues or of miles between one place and another is also set down.
New mansio locations continue to be discovered and yield archaeological elements, e.g. in July 2024 a ring with the inscription "Roma" was
discovered at a mansio near Coriglia close to Orvieto.["Trovato un antico anello con la scritta Roma" la Repubblica July 26 2024.]
Mansionarius or paramonarius
The
mansio was under the superintendence of an officer called "
mansionarius".
As the bishops assumed control in the Christian West during the fifth and sixth centuries, the office of
mansionarius developed new connotations.
Mansionarius is inserted as a synonym of
prosmonarius/paramonarius in canon 2 of the Fourth Ecumenical Council (451).
[: "what was the function of a mansionarius? In Gregory the Great’s time he was a sacristan who had the duty of lighting the church ( Dial., i. 5); and "ostiarium" in the Prisca implies the same idea. Tillemont, without deciding between the two Greek readings, thinks that the person intended had "some charge of what pertained to the church itself, perhaps like our present Beadle" (xv. 694). So Claude Fleury renders, “concièrge” (xxviij. 29); and Newman, reading “paramonarion,” takes a like view (note in Transl. of Fleury, vol. iii., p. 392). But Henri Justel (i. 91) derives paramonarius from μονή mansio, a halting-place, so that the sense would be a manager of one of the church’s farms, a villicus, or, as Joseph Bingham expresses it, "a bailiff" (iii. 3, 1). Beveridge agrees with Justellus, except in giving to μονή the sense of "monastery" (compare the use of μονή in Athanasius, Apol. c. Arian, 67, where Valesius understands it as “a station” on a road, but others as “a monastery,” see Historical Writings of St. Athanasius, Introd., p. xliv.). Bingham also prefers this interpretation. Suicer takes it as required by “paramonarios” which he treats as the true reading: “prosmonarios” he thinks would have the sense of “sacristan.”"]
Examples
Britannia
-
Alfoldean, Slinfold, West Sussex (subject of a dig by archaeological television programme Time Team, 2006 series),
-
Chelmsford
-
Cunetio, Mildenhall, Wiltshire ( Time Team, 2010)
-
Dubris
-
Godmanchester, Roman Mansio in Godmanchester
-
Letocetum, Wall, Staffordshire
-
Rutupiae
-
Tripontium
-
Iping
Other
Other types of way stations
Non-official travellers needed refreshment too, and different grades of facilities were available, often at the same locations as the
mansiones.
Cauponae
A private system of
cauponae were placed near the
mansiones. They performed the same functions but were somewhat disreputable, as they were frequented by thieves and prostitutes. Graffiti decorate the walls of the few whose ruins have been found.
Tabernae
Genteel travellers needed something better than
cauponae. In the early days of the
viae, when little unofficial travel existed, houses placed near the road were required by law to offer hospitality on demand. Frequented houses no doubt became the first tabernae (Latin word "
taberna" ("shed" or "hut"; from
tabula, meaning "board"), which were
, rather than the "
" we know today. A
tabernaculum or small taberna was a portable place of worship for the
Hebrews, thus producing the word
tabernacle.
As Rome grew, so did its tabernae, becoming more luxurious and acquiring good or bad reputations as the case may be. One of the best hostels was the Tabernae Caediciae at Mondragone on the Appian Way. It had a large storage room containing barrels of wine, cheese and ham. Many cities of today grew up around a taberna complex, such as Rheinzabern in the Rhineland, and Saverne in Alsace.
Mutationes
A third system of serviced vehicles and animals: the
mutationes ("changing stations") (ἀλλαγαὶ). In these complexes, the driver could purchase the services of wheelwrights, cartwrights, and
equarii medici, or veterinarians. Using these stations in chariot relays, the emperor
Tiberius hastened 200 miles in 24 hours to join his brother, Drusus Germanicus,
[ Naturalis Historia by Gaius Plinius Secundus, Liber VII, 84.][ The General History of the Highways by Nicolas Bergier, page 156.] who was dying of
gangrene as a result of a fall from a horse.
Stationes
Stationes are mostly known though the Antonine Itinerary and may be similar to
mansiones.
See also
External links
-
Mansio from A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.
