Senatorial Wealth and Roman Politics

513 Pages·1975·18.24 MB·English

by  Shatzman, Israel

COLLECTION LATOMUS
VOL. 142
SENATORIAL WEALTH AND ROMAN POLITICS
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COLLECTION LATOMUS
VOLUME 142
Israel SHATZMAN
The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Senatorial Wealtli
and Roman Politics
LATOMUS
REVUE D’ETUDES LATINES
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B. 1180 BRUXELLES
1975
PARENTIBUS ET UXORI
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PREFACE
Although the social composition of the Senate, the various groups within
it and the political activity of its members have been thoroughly in­
vestigated by modern scholars, there is no special study of the economic
condition and concerns of Roman senators. There is no need to dwell upon
the importance of this subject for the understanding of the behaviour and
activities of the members of a governing institution ; it is the aim of this
book to remedy this lack.
The book has three parts. The last of these, which represents the first
stage of my investigation, is a collection of the extant evidence of economic
significance bearing upon senators as individuals. The paucity of particulars
of this kind no doubt deterred scholars from treating this subject, though it
is more than forty years since Rostovtzeff called for such an investigation.
He believed that there was sufficient information in the sources, and though
the results of my efforts, fatiguing as they were, cannot equal the materials
in the files of to-day’s income-tax officials, it may be said that Rostovtzeff s
optimism was not totally unjustified. Part one describes the economic con­
dition of Roman senators as a class, under several headings : property,
sources of income, finances and expenditure. The political activity of
Roman senators in the second and first centuries B.C. is analysed in part
two, in view of the evidence and conclusions of the other parts.
This study is not a description of static conditions ; it is rather an at­
tempt to investigate and delineate processes and changes that influenced the
senatorial class during the period from the end of the Second Punic War to
the fail of the Republic. The chronological limits need some explanation. To
a certain extent, they are imposed by the nature of the sources, which
provide scanty information at best for the study of the economic history of
the Roman Republic before the second century, let alone data needed for
this particular subject. In fact, it is only for the first century that we have
comparatively satisfactory evidence. The economic condition of Roman
senators is particularly attractive as a subject for study at the time when
their senatorial rank meant and conferred political importance and in­
fluence which was closely connected with the position of the Senate itself.
The Senate lost control of the state with the outbreak of the civil war in 49
B.C. and under the dictatorship of Caesar, and, despite the efforts of
6 PREFACE
Augustus to disguise his personal rule, there can be no doubt that the
establishment of the Principate brought an end to the traditional role of the
Senate in the state. I am well aware of the fact that social and economic
history deals with a continuing process, which does not cease abruptly in a
certain year, but I hope that the above considerations justify the
chronological framework chosen.
The scope of the book is such that it is impossible to take into account all
relevant modern work. Moreover, in the last two years since the book went
into press, there appeared much new and important work bearing on par­
ticulars and main subjects of this book. I may mention here E. Badian’s
Publicans and Sinners (1972), relevant to the relationships between
senators and Equites, and H. B. Mattingly’s article «The Date of the
Senatus Consultum De Agro Pergameno» (AJP, 1972) that, if accepted,
requires careful consideration of the identification of many senators. I could
not deal adequately with the new work. However, as I do not find it
necessary to alter my views, I only added references wherever this could
have been done.
This book is a revised version of a doctoral dissertation submitted to the
Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1967. 1 wish to express my deep gra­
titude to my supervisor, Professor C’h. Wirszubski, whose critical guidance
and advice were invaluable throughout the long years of research. I owe a
special debt to Professor P. A. Brunt, who kindly read a draft of this book
and who, by his benevolent correction, spared me many errors of fact and
judgement. For this, and for other help during my stay in Cambridge in
1968/1969, I offer him my sincere thanks. I am grateful to Dr. P. T.
Wiseman, who was kind enough to let me use his book New Men in the
Roman Senate in typescript, and to Mr. M. H. Crawford, who helped me
with some numismatical problems. I wish also to thank Professor A. Fuks,
who first introduced me to the study of Classics at the Hebrew University,
and who has since then helped me in various ways. I owe special thanks to
my friend Professor M. Amit who read the proofs. Finally I would like to
acknowledge the kind assistance of the Hebrew University and Friends of
the Hebrew University in England which made possible my stay in Cam­
bridge.
Jerusalem, 1973.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface..................................................................................................... 5
Abbreviations ................................................................. 8
Part One. — Economic Conditions .......... 9
Chapter I. — Property .................................................................... 11
Chapter II. — Sources of Income .............................................. 47
Chapter III. — Financial Activities .............................................. 75
Chapter IV. — Expenditure ........................................................... 84
Chapter V. — The Economic Characteristics of the Senatorial
Class ............................................................................... 99
Part Two.— The Political Activities of Roman Senators in
the Light of their Economic Conditions ......................... Ill
Chapter VI. — Senatores, Principes, Partes .................................... 115
Chapter VII. — Economic Conditions and Political Conduct . . 143
Chapter VIII. — Senatores versus Equites ................................. 179
Chapter IX. — Problems ................................................................ 213
Epilogue ............................................................. 233
Part Three. — Economic Prosopography of Roman Senators 237
Tables ................................................................................................... 440
Appendices .......................................................................................... 465
Notes....................................................................................................... 473
Bibliography .......................................................................................... 489
Index ....................................................................................................... 497
ABBREVIATIONS
Periodicals are generally cited as in I’Annee Philologique, in some cases with slight
modifications, which should not cause confusion. Familiar abbreviations of standard
reference works are not listed here, but the following should be noted :
Diz. Ep. De Ruggiero, Dizionario epigrafico di antichita romana.
D G. Drumann-Groebe, Geschichte Roms2.
D S. Daremberg -Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquites grecques et romaines.
ESAR Frank (ed.). An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome.
FIRA2 Fontes luris Romani Anteiustiniani2 (ed. Riccobono)
/LLRP Degrassi, Inscriptiones Latinae Liberae Rei Publicae.
Ins. It. Inscriptiones Italiae.
MRR Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic.
ORF! Malcovati, Oratorum Romanorum Fragmenta2.
P A. Plainer -Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome.
S B. Shacki.eton Bailey, Cicero's Letters to Atticus.
SMRR Broughton, Supplement to the Magistrates of the Roman Republic
SRH Greenidge-Clay-Gray, Sources for Roman History1.
T P. Tyrrell-Purser, The Correspondence of Cicero2.
Other works are cited by author's name and a short title, which can be easily checked in
the Bibliography
N B Asconius is cited by the pages of Clark's edition in OCT Other Scholia to Cicero's writings are
cited by the pages of Stangl's edition
PART ONE
ECONOMIC CONDITIONS