Aj+Crime&Punishement+Prison

Prisons in ancient Rome were not like they are today. They were not super high security affairs that had guards looking at you from all sides. Usually if you were awaiting trial you were put on house arrest and if you couldn't do that you were asked to go into exile until your trial. If you didn't do one of those you would be in a room with lots of other prisoners and just shackled. But if you did go to an actual prison you usually weren't awaiting trial; you would usually be condemned to die and just waiting there until your execution was set up. The most famous Roman prison can still be seen today just under Capitoline Hill that had the famous cliff Tarpeian Rock on the largest summit. The fourth king of Rome, Ancus Marcius, created this prison during his reign. Jail was not a punishment so no one stayed in prison for very long. They were ether released or they were killed.

Today prisons hold prisoners as punishments; not just to hold them before they die. Prisons are decent places too, they aren't always large stone walls and you are shackled to them, you can actually go outside and are fed. When you went to prison in ancient Rome you were bound to be starved.