Why Ancient Roman Slaves Demolished Buildings Every Night

Ancient Roman firefighters didn't actually put out fires. Armed with axes and grappling hooks, they'd go around demolishing perfectly fine neighboring buildings. Since they had no way to get water to upper floors, they simply removed any potential stepping stones for the fire to spread. Before that, Roman firefighting was a private business. Instead of rushing to extinguish a blaze, they'd first try to negotiate a cheap sale of the burning property. Firefighting only became a state affair in 6 AD with the establishment of a standing brigade of 7,000 men.