Vigiles
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Vigiles or more properly the Vigiles Urbani or Cohortes Vigilum were the firefighters and police of ancient Rome.
Graffiti from wardroom of 7th Cohort
History of firefighting
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The history of organized firefighting began in ancient Rome while under the rule of the first Roman Emperor Augustus. Prior to that, Ctesibius, a Greek citizen of Alexandria, developed the first fire
Vigiles
…Cohortes urbanae History of firefighting List of fire departments…
Firefighter from Warsaw wearing equipment for breathing in smoke ca. 1870
A hypothetical reconstruction of Ctesibius' and Heron's first fire pump at Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, in Athens, Greece.
Firefighters tackling a fire in London using hand-pumped engines ca. 1808
A helmet used by the superintendent of the Auckland Fire Board till 1874