excubitorium

• a post where guards were stationed, P. Victor. de Reg. Urb. Rom. sub fin.

A watch-house, station-house, or barracks for Roman soldiers or police (P. Vict. Sub Reg. Urb. Rom. ad fin.), as to which see the articles castra; excubitores; vigiles. A very interesting excubitorium — that of the seventh battalion of city police—was discovered at Rome in 1868, near the church of S. Crisogono. It was originally a private house, rented for the use of a body of police, and so occupied for many years. The archaeological and historical interest of this building lies in the fact that the policemen, when off duty, had amused themselves by writing on the walls, thus leaving us a very vivid picture of the daily routine of an ancient policeman's life, and also of his sentiments, expressed in language that is always direct and plain, and frequently profane. See the essay by Henzen in the Annali dell' Instituto for 1869; Prof. Lanciani's Ancient Rome in the Light of Recent Discoveries, ch. viii. (Boston, 1888); Nocella, Le Inscrizione nell' Escubitorio della VIIma Coorte de' Vigili (Rome, 1887); Middleton, Remains of Ancient Rome, ii. pp. 257-260 (London, 1892); and the article graffiti.