Utilizing informers and spies had been a long-standing policy of the Roman legions and armies of occupation, but never in an organized fashion. This was especially true in the city of Rome, which was rife with whispers and endless conspiracies. The
frumentarii were possibly established by
Domitian, although they only appear in records shortly after his reign in the early second century. When established, their base was located at the
Castra Peregrina on the
Caelian hill, though
Trajan would later centralize their location in
Rome. During their early history, they were tasked with supplying grain to the military, delivering messages between the provinces and the empire, and collecting
tax money. They were sometimes called
nomas ("
nomads" in Latin) to protect their identity in enemy territory. After the end of the
Flavian Dynasty, the
frumentarii developed into a police force. They worked as
non-commissioned officers with
praetorian cohorts to police the populace. This organization was part of the military, and its members were
legionaries. Members of this group were recruited from the military. By the 2nd century, the need for an empire-wide intelligence service was clear. But even an emperor could not easily create a new bureau with the express purpose of spying on the citizens of Rome's far-flung domains. A suitable compromise was found by
Hadrian. He used the
frumentarii as a spying agency because their duties brought them into contact with enough locals and natives, allowing them to acquire considerable intelligence about any given territory. Alongside these duties they also may have overseen and guarded
mining operations. They served as
secret police and as an
intelligence agency in
ancient Rome. Emperors would use them to gather information on friends, family, officials, or soldiers. This organization was sometimes tasked with assassinating whomever the emperor wished.
Peasants disliked the
frumentarii due to false and arbitrary arrests. They were seen as a tyrannical "plague" on the empire. These complaints lead to the disbandment of the organization in 312 AD during the reign of
Diocletian. The
frumentarii were replaced by the
agentes in rebus. They were run by the
princeps peregrinorum who was considered to be a
senior centurion and answered to the
praetorian prefect. The
subprinceps was the second-in-command to the
princeps peregrinorum and the
optio peregrinorum,
canaliclarius, and
aedilis castrorum were all other offices in the
frumenatarii. The
curatio frumentarii would command
the frumentarii in the
imperial provinces. The
frumentarii served in the
officium consularis of the local
governor. The following story has been used as evidence of the role of the frumentarii: ==See also==