Studies in Roman Government and Law PDF
Preview Studies in Roman Government and Law
STUDIES IN ROMAN GOVERNMENT AND LAW Studies in ROMAN GOVERNMENT AND LAW By A. H. M. JONES Professor of Ancient History in the University of Cambridge BASIL BLACKWELL OXFORD i960 (C) Basil Blackwell & Mott Ltd., i960 fcs CO ry / V ~i BRITAIN BY BILLING AND SONS LTD. GUILDFORD AND LONDON S PREFACE EVEN of the articles contained in this book have been previously published elsewhere; I have made a few alterations and additions where new evidence has confirmed or modified my views, or for the sake of consistency or completeness. Two, the second and seventh, are new, and another, the eighth, is substantially new, being a radical revision of what I wrote in the Journal of Roman Studies, XXVI (1936), pp. 223-35. They have been assembled because they have a certain unity in that they are all concerned with the constitutional law and practice of the Roman Empire, and all endeavour to trace the continuity of the institutions of the late Republic with those of the Principate. The first two deal with the basic constitutional powers of Augustus and their Republican precedents, the third with the modification of the old electoral system under the new regime. The fourth and fifth trace the evolution of jurisdiction from the Republican to the Imperial system. The sixth and seventh deal similarly with the development of the financial system and provincial administration. The eighth and ninth treat the legal status of the provincials and of provincial land during both periods. The last traces the evolution of the civil service from the Republic to the age of Justinian. I have to thank the editors of Studies presented to David Moore Robinson and the editors of Historia for allowing me to republish the fourth and fifth articles in this book. I owe a particular debt of gratitude to the Roman Society for permission to reproduce no less than five articles (the first, third, sixth, ninth and tenth in this book) published in the Journal of Roman Studies. Finally I must thank Sir Basil Blackwell for once again venturing to republish articles of mine. Jesus College A. H. M. JONES Cambridge October, 1959 v 0 u ji * b} W ) >6£.r CONTENTS Pages I. The Imperium of Augustus . . . 1-17 (Journal of Roman Studies, XLI (1951), pp. 112- J9) II. The Censorial Powers of Augustus . 19-26 III. The Elections under Augustus . . 27-50 (Journal of Roman Studies, XLV (1955), pp. 9- 2L) IV. ‘I Appeal unto Caesar’ . . . 51-65 (Studies presented to David Moore Robinson, II, pp. 918-30) V. Imperial and Senatorial Jurisdiction in the Early Principate .... 67-98 (Historia, III (1955), pp. 464-88) VI. The Aerarium and the Fiscus . . 99-114 (Journal of Roman Studies, XL (1950), pp. 22-9) VII. Procurators and Prefects in the Early Principate . . . . .115-125 VIII. The Dediticii and the Constitutio Antoniniana . . . .127-140 IX. ‘In eo solo dominivm popvli Romani est vel Caesaris’ . . . . .141-149 (Journal of Roman Studies, XXXI (1941), pp. 26-31) viii CONTENTS I Pages \\ X. The Roman Civil Service (Clerical and Sub- Clerical Grades) . . . .151-175 Journal of Roman Studies, XXXIX (1949), PP- 38-55) Notes ...... 177-216 Index of Passages Cited .... 217-239 General Index 241-243 I THE IMPERIUM OF AUGUSTUS B The Imperium of Augustus T HERE has been a tendency among some modern scholars to regard the constitutional position of Augustus as of negligible importance. This is a natural reaction from the excessive legahsm of Mommsen and his school, and has had valuable results in elucidating extra-constitutional elements in the position of the first Princeps, such as his outstanding auctoritas and his huge clientela. I do not think however that we can lightly brush aside the constitutional basis of his power. I do not wish to suggest that the restored Republic was intended to be genuine, or even that Augustus meant to share his power with the Senate and People: never for one moment did he part with his control over the great bulk of the legions. But I would suggest he would not have created the elaborate facade of Republican legitimacy, and moreover have subjected his original scheme to at least one radical revision, unless there had been some important element in the State to which the constitution mattered, and mattered so profoundly that its dissatisfaction would endanger the stability of the regime. This element was not, I think, primarily the nobility. They were too hard boiled to be put off by Augustus’ sham Republic, and it was not the Republic that they so much lamented as their lost power. Moreover they had been decimated in the Civil Wars, and Augustus never trusted what was left of them: they did not hold high military commands as his legati. For them the restored Repubhc only meant that they could without loss of self respect hold office under the new regime and thus maintain their ancestral dignity. Nor do I thunk that it was the Roman People, if by this is meant th eplebs urhana: the events of Augustus’ reign prove that they wanted a popular dictatorship hke Caesar’s, 3
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