Vigiles or more properly the Vigiles Urbani "watchmen of the City " or Cohortes Vigilum " cohorts of the watchmen" were the firefighters and police of ancient Rome. The triumviri nocturni meaning three men of the night were the first men, being privately owned slaves , organized into a group that combatted the common problems of fire and conflagrations in Rome.
Another organization dedicated to fighting fires in ancient Rome was a band of slaves led by the aedile Marcus Egnatius Rufus. Augustus modelled the new firefighters after the fire brigade of Alexandria, Egypt. The vigiles were also known by their nickname Spartoli or "little bucket fellows", given to them because of the buckets they carried water in, which were made of rope sealed with pitch. The first units of vigiles were under the command of the aediles and the vicomagistri. There were only 6, vigiles and they were all slaves.
Usually tribunes would begin their career by commanding a unit of the Vigiles. Each cohort patrolled two of the city's fourteen administrative regiones. The vigiles were made up of freedmen by this time. The vigiles also acted as a night watch, keeping an eye out for burglars and hunting down runaway slaves , and were on occasion used to maintain order in the streets. Their most famous prefect, Naevius Sutorius Macro , succeeded Lucius Aelius Sejanus as Prefect of the Praetorian Guard after his men had been used by the Emperor Tiberius to retake control of the city from Sejanus's soldiers.
Vigiles were stationed at the harbour cities of Ostia and Portus. A vexillatio detachment of four centuries was detached from Rome for four months at a time, with two centuries being stationed at each city. During the Great Fire of Rome , the vigiles took to looting the city rather than enforcing law and fighting the fires.
The vigiles appear to have lost their status as an independent unit and come under the authority of the Praetorian prefects sometime in the early 3rd century.
