Bulla+Felix+the+Robber+Chief

Cassius Dio 77.10:

10 At this period one Bulla, an Italian, got together a robber band of about six hundred men, and for two years continued to plunder Italy under the very noses of the emperors and of a multitude of soldiers. 2 For though he was pursued by many men, and though Severus eagerly followed his trail, he was never really seen when seen, never found when found, never caught when caught, thanks to his great bribes and cleverness. For he learned of everybody that was setting out from Rome and everybody that was putting into port at Brundisium, and knew both who and how many there were, and what and how much they had with them. 3 In the case of most persons he would take a part of what they had and let them go at once, but he detained artisans for a time and made use of their skill, then dismissed them with a present. Once, when two of his men had been captured and were about to be given to wild beasts, he paid a visit to the keeper of the prison, pretending that he was the governor of his native district and needed some men of such and such a description, and in this way he secured and saved the men. 4 And he approached the centurion who was trying to exterminate the band and accused himself, pretending to be someone else, and promised, if the centurion would accompany him, to deliver the robber to him. So on the pretext that he was leading him to Felix (this was another name by which he was called), he led him into a defile beset with thickets, and easily seized him. 5 Later, he assumed the dress of a magistrate, ascended the tribunal, and having summoned the centurion, caused part of his head to be shaved, and then said: "Carry this message to your masters: 'Feed your slaves, so that they may not turn to brigandage.' " Bulla had with him, in fact, a very large number of imperial freedmen, some of whom had been poorly paid, while others had received absolutely no pay at all.

6 Severus, informed of these various occurrences, was angry at the thought that though he was winning the wars in Britain through others, yet he himself had proved no match for a robber in Italy; and finally he sent a tribune from his body-guard with many horsemen, after threatening him with dire punishment if he should fail to bring back the robber alive. So this tribune, having learned that the brigand was intimate with another man's wife, persuaded her through her husband to assist them on promise of immunity. 7 As a result, the robber was arrested while asleep in a cave. Papinian, the prefect, asked him, "Why did you become a robber?" And he replied: "Why are you a prefect?" Later, after due proclamation, he was given to wild beasts, and his band was broken up — to such an extent did the strength of the whole six hundred lie in him.  

 Questions:  1) Who were Bulla Felix and Severus?   2) How common was it for a robber to escape capture for so long?  3) Was it unusual for a robber baron to have such a large, loyal following/power?  4) Was execution by wild beasts a common occurance?  -JLM

Bulla Felix might possibly be construed as a bit of a Roman empire's version of Robin Hood, in that he stole from many and drew the loyalty of those who were mistreated by the ones in power. Chiefly the excerpt says that Bulla had a large number of imperial freedmen, or former slaves of the emperor and his family, whom were under paid or not at all. From this we can learn that while the practice of manumission was supposed to ensure that the freeperson was set up in their profession, it did not always happen. Bulla Felix's existence provides a glimpse of the collapse of the empire, for if the ruling government was functioning properly the people would not have supported him so strongly.

The idea that Bulla was able to escape capture for so long and do so by simply changing the manner of his dress allows us to gather the information that different stations of office and even different social classes must have had distinct clothing to mark the wearer as such. It could be compared to impersonating an officer or military personnel in today’s society. The link concerning the garb of ancient Rome supports this even in the first line, quoting that "Dress for a Roman often, if not primarily, signified rank, status, office, or authority..." (McManus, 2003).

Despite the fact that Bulla Felix is a robber chief, Cassius Dio seems to admire the cleverness of Bulla and how he has managed to gain the loyalty of a following of men six hundred strong. This might suggest that regardless of the path of career of a man in Rome, a strong leader is still an admirable man to at least some.

Being thrown to the beasts, a phrase that appears twice in this excerpt, seems to have been at least a fairly common method of executing condemned prisoners. It appears in art work and literary sources as a spectacular means of killing captives within the amphitheatres. While it is often associated with the gladiatorial games, these individuals’ deaths were practically assured and they were not trained gladiators. This is an idea supported in Carter's book review (and surely in the book itself) and Bradley's article of //Captives Under the Principate//.

I was unable to answer my questions on how common it was for robbers to escape conviction, although that is not surprising since records of such a thing would create a negation of the situation and many officials would most likely not want to admit to having been outsmarted by a criminal. I was also unable to answer the question of size of Bulla’s following in comparison to other notable robber barons. I am now also a bit curious as to why it was important to Cassius Dio to include the exchange at the end.

Works Cited

- Overall this is well organized with easy navigation, something to consider is linking in the idea of how Bulla felix was able to escape being caught for so long and how it contributed to his capture? Also possibly adding links to pictures to make it more detailed?Nicely done.-Sarah M.

This is very good. I really liked your comparison of Bulla Felix to Robin Hood and your comments on Cassius Dio seeming to admire Bulla. One thing I am curious about is how did Rome perceive these robber barons as a whole? Do we have any evidence of other Romans commenting on Bulla or other robber barons? -Patricia Ollila

- Hey, your summary is very well written and easy to follow. the comparisons to Robin hood and the line about how a strong leader in Rome can be admired no matter what he does are two great additions. Two questions though, Do you know what kind of beast he was thrown to? and did his men make any attempt to save him? This is very well done. - Jenny Long

-Loved the comparison between Bulla Felix and Robin Hood and I was understandable all the way through. We know Felix is a is a Robber but what did typical romans think of people like him/ or his group of men? Do we have records of what exactly Bulla stole and who he gave to through letters or tabs?- Noah King