The Later Roman Empire, 284-602. Volume 1

269 Pages·23.998 MB·English

by  Jones A.H.M.

THE LATER
ROMAN EMPIRE
284-602
A SOCIAL ECONOMIC AND ADMINISTRATIVE
SURVEY
By A. H. M. ]ONES
PROFESSOR OF ANCIENT HISTORY
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE
VOLUME I
BASIL BLACKWELL
OXFORD
1964
VICE CANCELLARIIS ET MAGISTRIS ET SCHOLARIBUS UNIVERSITATUM
OXONIENSIS, BABYLONIENSIS, LONDINIENSIS, CANTABRIGIENSIS;
CUSTODI SOCIIS SCHOLARIBUS CLERICIS ET CHORISTIS COLLEGII
B. V. MARIAE WINTON. IN OXONIA, COMMUNITER NUNCUPATI
NEW COLLEGE, CUSTODI ET SOCIIS COLLEGII OMNIUM PREFACE
ANIMARUM FIDELIUM DEFUNCTORUM, PRAEPOSITO ET SOCIIS
THIS book is not a history of the later Roman empire. It is a
COLLEGII UNIVERSITATIS APUD LONDINIUM, MAGISTRO ET
social, economic and administrative survey of the empire,
SOCIIS COLLEGII B. V. MARIAE, SC. JOHANNIS EVANGELISTAE
historically treated. I have therefore little to say about wars,
ET GLORIOSAE VIRGINIS SC. RADEGUNDAE COMMUNITER
but much about the organisation, recruitment and conditions of
NUNCUPATI JESUS COLLEGE. service of the army. I do not concern myself much with politics,
but discuss the character of the governing class, the administrative
machine and the structure of the civil service. Again I have little to
say about doctrinal controversies, but much about the growth of the
ecclesiastical hierarchy. I ignore the two major intellectual achieve
ments of the age, theology and law, but discuss the organisation and
finances of the church, the administration of justice, and the social
status of the clergy and of lawyers. Similarly there is little about
literature and education, art and architecture, but something about
universities and schools, architects and artists and the building
industry.
My opening date, the accession of Diocletian, is a conventional
one but marks a real change. It is more difficult to find a satis
factory terminal date. There is none in the West; in the East the
Arab conquest of Syria and Egypt would ideally be the best. I have
stopped at the death of Maurice for two reasons. The collapse of
the East began at that date and Heraclius' restoration of the empire
was very transient. Secondly the evidence, full and contemporary
up to that date in both East and West, abruptly fades out. I have
not hesitated, however, to use such evidence (the Life of John the
Almoner, the Doctrina Iacobi, Moschus' Pratum Spirituale, some con
ciliar acts and the papyri) as falls in the next generation.
My theme is the Roman empire, and the barbarian successor
kingdoms of the West therefore fall outside my scope. It would,
however, have been pedantic to ignore the interludes of Vandal
© Basil B/ackwe/1 and Moll Ltd. I964 rule in Mrica and Ostrogothic rule in Italy. I have also said some
thing about the survival of Roman institutions in other barbarian
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY kingdoms. I have also used evidence from the German kingdoms
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V
vi PREFACE PREFACE vii
I have had great difficulty in marshalling and presenting my seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, whose editions of patristic
material. Ideally an historical work should be written chronolo literature are a mine of curious information. I next, after reading a
gically, so as to show not only the development in time of each fair sample, abandoned sermons, having discovered that most
element in the whole structure but their mutual interaction. In my consisted of exegesis of the Scriptures or of vague and generalised
field this procedure proved practically impossible. In many depart moralisation. On the other hand I have read secular speeches,
ments of life conditions were virtually static-or seem to have been even panegyrics, and found some, notably those of Libanius, very
so for lack of detailed evidence. In most the movement was so useful. I have tried to cover completely all historians, secular and
slm-: that. t~e thread of contiJ;uity in each would become imper ecclesiastical, in Greek, Latin and (where translated) Syriac. I have
ceptible, if m each decade, re1gn or even century I discussed the read and re-read the Codes and Novels, the Notitia Dignitatum
who~e field. I ~ave therefo~e arranged my material by topics, and similar official documents. I have read all collections of letters,
treatmg each top1c chronolog1cally as far as is practicable. I came whether of laymen or churchmen (skipping theological controversy
to realise, however, that to the reader not familiar with the period and scriptural exegesis in epistolary form). I have tried to read all
this treatment would obscure the general course of development, contemporary biographies, notably lives of saints, and the hagio
an~ I have .compron_llsed by prefacing my an~ytical chapters by a graphicalliterature of an anecdotal kind, like the Lausiac History
senes of bnef narrative chapters. In these I gJVe an outline of the and Gregory's Dialogues. I have read the Acts and Canons of
political? military and ecclesiastical history, stressing the social and church councils, omitting purely theological matter. I can claim to
econotrnc factors. This arrangement has necessarily involved some have at least looked at every published papyrus of relevant date
dup~cation, b?t not, I hope, on a scale to weary the reader. (and by courtesy of its editor, Mr. T. C. Skeat of the British Museum,
It 1s only fa1r to tell the reader on what information this book is the unpublished P. Beatty Panop.). I have tried to do the same by
?a~ed and how far I hav~ covered the ground. I early realised that inscriptions, but my coverage is here much less complete, since
if m a field so vast I tned to read the modern literature exhaus many are so cunningly concealed in the corpora and periodicals.
tively and keep abreast of current scholarship, I should not have My most lamentable gap is the archaeological material. I have
time to read the sources. I therefore abandoned the former attempt. not read the excavation reports on late Roman sites. I depend for
This is not to say that I have not read and profited from many for my knowledge of the coins on the published catalogues and even
modern books and articles (particularly those whose authors were more on the help of kind numismatic friends, notably Mr. Philip
J.
so kind as to send me offprints), but I have undoubtedly missed Grierson of Gonville and Caius College, and Mr. P.C. Kent of
much of value, and must have unwittingly reproduced some ex the British Museum. On the other hand I have visited 94 of the I I 9
ploded errors. I must also seem discourteous in failing to aclrnow provinces of the Roman empire; my omissions are the Maure
ledge U:debtedness when I have arrived independently at the same tanias and Numidia (owing to the recent troubles), Valeria, Dacia
c?nclus10n tha~ another scholar had previously reached. In these Ripensis, Moesia II, Scythia, Thracia and Epirns Nova (beyond
circumstances 1t would be dishonest to compile a bibliography, the Iron Curtain), Osrhoene, Mesopotamia, the Armenias, Pontus
and I have not done so. I have only cited at the beginning of each Polemoniacus, Helenopontus and Paphlagonia (mostly in a Turkish
chapter of notes such general modern works as I have read and military zone), Syria II, Euphratensis and Phoenice Libanensis
found useful, and in the appropriate place in the notes books and (frontier temporarily closed), and Corsica, Sardinia,· Baleares
articles which treat exhaustively a topic marginal to my theme. Insulae and Cyprus (merely because they are islands). Wherever I
As I explored the ancient sources I regretfully came to the con have gone I have inspected the Roman sites, ruins and still surviv
clusion that a lifetime would not suffice to read them all; anyone ing buildings, and have studied the character of the countryside
who surveys only the relevant shelves of Migne's Patrologiae will and the contents of local museums. In some areas, notably southern
understand. I soon decided to abandon theological treatises and Asia Minor, Syria and North Africa, many Roman cities, villages,
commentaries on the Scriptures and secular belles lettres (with fortresses and monasteries still stand, apart from deterioration by
obvious. exceptions s':ch as Ausonius and Claudian). There are a earthquakes and the weather, much as they were left in the sixth or
fe'Y grams _of w~eat m these, .but the quantity of chaff (from my seventh centuries A.D.
pomt of v1ew) 1s overwhelmmg, and many of the best grains I must also confess that I know little about technology, except
have been winnowed by earlier scholars, particularly those of the from watching how Near Eastern craftsmen still turn pots on the
vili PREFACE PREFACE ix
wheel and hammer out copper dishes, how weavers operate hand dates and all references to the Codes and Novels. Mr. W. Liebe
looms and women spin .with distaff and spindle, how peasants still schiitz compiled the Index.
plough with ox teams and thresh the corn on threshing floors with Finally I owe a profound debt of gratitude to my publisher,
sledges and winnow it with shovels, work shadtJjs by hand or Sir Basil Blackwell. These are no mere idle words. Sir Basil agreed
sakkiyas by oxen to raise water, and take their produce to market to accept the work piecemeal, thus enabling me to complete the
on donkeys, camels or ox-carts. notes while the text was being printed. This was of great conve
From the point of view of the social and economic historian the nience to me, and expedited the publication of the book.
great defect of the evidence is the total absence of statistics. There
are quite a number of isolated figures-far more than for the
Principate-which are individually reliable, but no groups or
A.H.M.J.
sequences which are statistically significant. I have used the Jesus College,
available figures, perhaps overworked some of them. The reader Cambridge,
will have to judge how far my judgment is sound in drawing con August, 1963
clusions from them.
The abundant legal material presents many difficulties of inter
pretation. There are some technical problems. The dates of many
laws are wrong in the Codes; one often cannot tell from the address
whether a given enactment was a general circular applicable to all
the empire (or rather to that part of it which the emperor who
issued it ruled), or special to a particular diocese or province,
whether it represented general policy or was evoked by a particular
scandal. But a more substantial difficulty is to estimate whether a
law was enforced or remained a pious aspiration. Many modern
historians, it seems to me, have too readily assumed that Roman
citizens obeyed the law, and that everything was done as the
imperial government directed. My own impression is that many, if
not most, laws were intermittently and sporadically enforced, and
that their chief evidential value is to prove that the abuses which
they were intended to remove were known to the central govern
ment. The laws, in my view, are clues to the difficulties of the em
pire, and records of the aspirations of the government and not its
achievement.
I am indebted to many scholars for their comments, corrections
and criticism. Mr. Russell Meiggs ofBalliol College read the whole
work at an early stage of its composition. Mr. Keith Hopkins of
London University read Part II, Professors Anastos and Downeyof
Dumbarton Oaks Part I at its later stage. The Regius Professor of
Civil Law at Cambridge read Chapter XIV, Professor White of the
University of Ghana read Chapter XX, Mr. Moses Finley of Jesus
College, Cambridge, Chapter XXI, the Regius Professor of
Divinity at Oxford Chapters XXII and XXIII.
A devoted band of ex-pupils performed more exacting tasks. Mr.
G. E. C. de Ste Croix of New College read the first proofs of the
text and second proofs of the notes. Mr. J. Martindale checked all
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VOLUME I
Note on weights, measuring and currency, xiv.
PART I : NARRATIVE
I. THE PRINCIPATE-the Antonines, I-I5; the Severi, I5-2o;
the anarchy, 2I-36.
Il. DIOCLETIAN-politics, 37-42; the administration, 42-52; the
army, 52-6o; finance, 6I-8; the classes, 68-7o; the Christians,
7I-6.
Ill. CONSTANTINE-usurpation, 77-9; conversion, 8o-3; Con
stantinople, 83-4; the Caesars, 84-5; the Arian controversy, 85-9;
Christians, pagans and Jews, 89-93; the emperor and the church,
93-7; the army, 97-Ioo; the administration, Ioo-4; comites and
senators, 104-7; finance, Io7-1o; baptism, rro-·II.
IV. THE HOUSE OF CONSTANTINE-wars, politics and reli
gion 337-53, II2-I5; wars, politics and religion 353-6I, II5-I9;
Julian Caesar, II9-zo; Julian Augustus, I2o-4; the army, I24-6;
the administration, I26-3o; finance, I3o-2; the senate of Con
stantinople, I 32 -3; the aristocracy, I ;;-6; Julian's achievement,
I36-7.
V. FROM JOVIAN TO THEODOSIUS 1-Valentinian and
Valens, I;8-54; the sources, I 54-6; Gratian and Theodosius I,
I56-69.
VI. THE HOUSE OF THEODOSIUS-the sources, I7o-;; the
emperors and their ministers, I73-82; the batbarians in the West,
I82-92; the Huns and the Persians, I92-4; barbatian and Roman
numbers, I94-9; thefoederati, 199-202; the Eastern Roman army,
202-4; finance, 204-8; religious affairs, 208-r6.
VII. THE EASTERN EMPIRE FROM MARCIAN TO ANASTA
SIUS-Marcian, 2I7-2I; Leo, 22I-4; Zeno, 224-30; Anastasius,
230-7,
VIII. THE FALL OF THE WESTERN EMPIRE AND THE
BARBARIAN KINGDOMS-the sources, 238-4o; the last
emperors, 240-4; Odoacer and Theoderic, 245-8; the land settle
ment, 248-53; the Ostrogothic kingdom, 2 53-7; the Visigothic
kingdom, 257-9; the Vandals, Burgundians and Franks, 259-62;
Arianism, 262-4; the German kingdoms, 264-5.
xi
xii CONTENTS CONTENTS xiii
IX. JUSTIN I and JUSTINIAN-Justin I, 266-9; the wars 527-40, categories of troops, 657-68; recrnitment and conditions of
269-78; legal and administrative reforms, 278-83; finance, 283-5; service, 668-79; numbers, 679-86.
religion 527-42, 285-7; the wars 540-65, 287-94; administration
XVIII. ROME AND CONSTANTINOPLE-the two capitals, 687-9;
and finance 541-65, 294-6; religion 542-65, 296-8; the balance
administration, 689-92; police and fire, 692-5; food supply,
sheet of the reign, 298-302,
695-705; amenities, 705-8; public worksand finance, 708-II.
X. THE SUCCESSORS OF JUSTINIAN-Justin II, 303-6;
XIX. THE CITIES-n_1:l!nberand.size,.7:t?d.~; new foundations and old
Tiberius, 307-9; Maurice, 309-r 5; the collapse, 3 r 5-17.
cities, 7I 8-22; the. P<:()pl~, n~::c4;. . th~ council.and .ml!gistrates,
724-;r; civic finance, 732-4; civic services, 734-7; tb~.Ciiiiuik~
PART II: DESCRIPTIVE
737-57; the_ decline of t]lec:;()uncils, 757-63; provincial assem-
( "'Blies;'763-6. · ··· ·· ············· · .... ·-
XI) THE GOVERNMENT-the emperors, 321-9; the senate,
· · 329-33; the consistory, 333-41; powers behind the throne, 341-7; i XX. '['HE LAND-land use, 767-9; the importance of agricniture,
formation of policy, 347-57; pressure groups, 3 57-65.
\._ _ )769-73; the peasant freeholder, 773-8I; estates, 78I-8; estate
XII. THE ADMINISTRATION-the comitatus, 366-73; dioceses and management, 788-92; hired labour and slaves, 792-5; coloni,
provinces, 373-7; tenure of offices, 37 7-8 3; choice of officers, 79 5-8o;; rents and services, 8o3-8; the condition of the peasantry,
383-90; suffragium, 39r-6; salaries and extortion, 396-4or; cen 8o8-u; agri deserti, 8I2-23.
tralisation, 401-6; efficiency, 406-ro.
XXI. INDUSTRY, TRADE AND TRANSPORT-conditions of
XIII. FINANCE-the res privata, 4II-27; the sacrae largitiones, 427-37; trade, 824-7; the navicularii, 827-;o; the cursus publicus, 83o-4;
the currency, 438-48; the praetorian prefecture, 448-62; the factories, quarries and mines, 834-9; the role of the state, 8;9-4I;
incidence of taxation, 462-9. private transport, 841-4; objects of trade, 844-50; the slave trade,
, XIV. JUSTICE-the law, 470-9; the courts, 479-84; praescriptio fori, 8p-5; the pattern of trade, 8 5 5-8; labourers and craftsmen,
·,,_ _ / 484-94; delays and expenses, 494-9; the judges, 499-507; lawyers, 858-64; merchants, 864-72.
507-r6; civil and criminal justice, p6-22. XXII. THE CHURCH-ancient custom, 873-4; bishoprics, 874-9;
provinces, 88o-;; patriarchates, 883-94; church finances, 894-
904; the wealth of the church, 904-ro; the lower clergy, 910-14;
VOLUME II episcopal elections, 915-20; the social origins of the clergy,
(xv:,
92o-9; monks and hermits, 929-3 3; church.and.s.tate,.912:::2:,
SENATORS AND HONORATI-the aristocratic ideal, 523-4;
"' •.• ..J
ordo equester, comitiva and senate, 525-30; admission and prece XXIII. RELIGION AND MORALS-pagans, 938-43; Jews and
dence, 53 0-j; privileges and burdens, 53 5-42; the value of rank, Samaritans, 944-50; heretics, 950-6; the growth of superstition,
543-5; the social composition of the senate, 545-52; the geo 957-64; doctrinal controversies, 964-70; pagan and Christian
graphical distribution of senators, 55 2-4; the wealth of senators, morals, 970-9; the church:s..failure,.9-79-8 5.
55 4-7; otium senatoris, 55 7-62. XXIV. EDUCATION AND CULTURE-Latin and Greek, 986-91;
XVI. THE CIVIL SERVICE-the origins of the service, 563-6; the native languages, 991-7; schools and teachers, 997-1002; the
sacred bedchamber, 566-72; the palatine ministries, 572-86; the syllabus, roo2-4; Christianity and education, 1005-n literary
praetorian prefecture, 586-9z; vicariani and cohortales, 592-6; cniture, I007-12; doctors, architects and artists, 1012-16; public
military and minor offices, 597-6or; the character of the service, entertainments, roi6-2I; the unity of the empire, 102I-4.
6oi-6.
~XV. THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE-East and West, 1025-7;
XVII. THE ARMY- the army of the fourth century, 607-II ;foederati, ·· ·· the barbarians, 1027-31; political weaknesses, ro; I-5; military
6I I-I 3; thescholae, 6I 3-14; recrnitmentofcitizens, 6I4-I9; recruit defects, 1035-8; economic decline, Io38-4o; depopulation,
ment of barbarians, 6 I 9-2 3; pay and equipment, 62 3-6; rations, 1040-5; idle mouths, 1045-8; social weaknesses, 1049-53;
626-3o; conditions of service, 630-3; promotion and discharge, administrative abuses, I05 ;-8; decline of morale, I05 8-64; East
6;;-6;protectores, 636-4o; officers, 64o-6; morale and discipline, and West, 1064-68.
646-9; the limitanei, 649-54; the army of the sixth century, 654-7;
xiv CONTENTS
VOLUME III
NOTES-1-343
APPENDIX I-The /argitiones and the res privata, 344-6
APPENDIX li-The Notitia Dignitatum, 347-So
APPENDIX HI-Dioceses and Provinces, 38I-9I
LIST OF COLLECTIONS AND PERIODICALS CITED, 392-3 NOTE ON WEIGHTS, MEASURES AND CURRENCY
I use Roman weights and measures throughout. The modetn equivalents
LIST OF SOURCES AND ABBREVIATIONS, 394-406 are approximately as follows:
12 inches (unciae) = I foot (pes) = nf inches = 29·6 centimetres
I mile (mille pas sus) = 485 5 feet = I48o metres
r iugerum = -~ acre = · z 5 hectares
I arura = i acre = '2.7 hectares
I centuria = zoo iugera = I z 5 acres = 5o hectares
LIST OF MAPS IN FOLDER I mi!Jena = u} iugera = 7! acres = 3'25 hectares
i. The Severan Provinces, and the Dioceses and Provinces of the 24 scruples (scripu!i) = I ounce (uncia)
Verona List u ounces (unciae) = I pound (Iibra) = nk ounces = J>I grammes
=
I sextarius I pint = . 57 litres
ii. Dioceses and Provinces according to the Notitia Dignitatnm I 6 sextarH = r modius
ill. Financial Districts, Treasuries, Mints and Factories in the early I modius = I peck = 9 litres
I artaba = ;t pecks = 30 litres
Fifth Century
For the currency see pp. 438-45, and for the purchasing power of the solidus
iv. The Order of Battle of the Roman Army:
see pp. 445-8.
v. The Distribution of Cities in the middle of the Fifth Century In gold the following denominations were used:
vi. The Empire of the last years of Justinian 24 carats (siiiquae) = 3 tremisses = 2. semisses = I solidus
72 solidi = I lb. gold (Iibra auri)
vii. Ecclesiastical Organization under Justinian
7200 solidi = I cwt. gold (centenarium auri)
XV
PART I
NARRATIVE
B
CHAPTER I
THE PRINCIP ATE
T
HE reigns of Trajan, Hadrian, Pius and Marcus were,
according to our historical tradition, the golden age of the
empire. That tradition, it is true, is not a very good one. No
contemporary historian of the period survives, and the relevant
books of Cassius Dio are preserved only in a meagre Byzantine
epitome, and that which covered Pi us' reign is missing. Apart from
jejune chroniclers, none of whom wrote earlier than the middle of
the fourth century, we have to rely on the biographies of the
Historia Augusta, whose authors probably wrote under Diocletian
or Constantine. Trajan's reign is illuminated by the letters and the
panegyric of Pliny, but after him there is little contemporary
literature of any kind which throws light on the history of the age.
The authors of the lives of Hadrian, Pius and Marcus in the
Augustan history had, however, good sources to draw upon, and
reproduced them to the best of their ability, and it is probable that
the favourable verdict which they pronounce was derived from
.contemporary opinion.1
In one respect certainly the age was fortunate, in that the empire
was ruled by a series of emperors who, whatever their merits as
administrators, both were acceptable to the senate and commanded
the unquestioning allegiance of the armies. The senate's attitude is
-abundantly testified by the literary tradition, which reflects the
views of the senatorial class: all the emperors receive very good
.characters, with the partial exception of Hadrian, whose relations
with the senate were sometimes strained. The army's loyalty is
attested by the rapid collapse of the one attempt at a military
rebellion, that of Avidius Cassius in 175. This happy result seems
to have been achieved by a compromise on the question of the
succession, whereby the elective principle, dear to the senatorial
class, was combined with a fictive hereditary descent, which
satisfied the sentiments of the army.
The feelings of the rank and file of the army-and probably of
the great mass of the population, citizens and provincials alike
are clearly demonstrated by their conduct. They cared nothing for
republican principles or constitutional rules. Their allegiance was
;
,-
~
...
!
4 THE PRINCIPATE THE ANTONINES 5
to the person of their emperor and his family, and the annual oath the purple, would be less amenable to their influence and less re
which they swore to be loyal to him and to his sons and descendants, spectful of their dignity than a man who had been brought up in the
to hold his friends as their friends, and his enemies as their traditions of the House.
enemies, probably reflected their real feelings. Such an hereditary The vital importance of the loyalty of the armies is immediately
allegiance was traditional and natural. not only to the mass of apparent. The goodwill of the senate might seem at first sight to be
provincials, used to hereditary monarchies, but to the humbler sort a matter of little moment. An emperor secure in the loyalty of his
of Roman citizens, who had normally been clients of some great troops was de facto supreme, and could ride rough-shod over
family generation after generation. To the armies the character of senatorial opposition. Emperors who did so, however, made life
an emperor was of little concern, provided that he was the legitimate uncomfortable and dangerous not only for senators but also for
heir, and they were ready to give their loyalty to children and to themselves, and few of them died in their beds. The recurring
men who possessed no soldierly qualities, So long as the family of tension between the senate and the emperor for the time being,
Caesar lasted they remained faithful .t o his adoptive or fictive which is a leading theme in the history of the empire, is hardly
descendants. Whe11 Calig!lla was assassinated and the senate explicable unless senatorial opinion was a powerful and enduring
planned to restore the republic, they proclaimed the timid and force. It is worth while to analyse the character of the senate, and
ungainly scholar Claudius, because he was a Germanicus, When try to discover wherein lay the secret of its persistent opposition.
'Furius Scribonianus attempted a rebellion against Ckudius in the The senate was a body of about six hundred men. It was a
name of the Republic, they promptly deserted him. They tolerated eo-optative body, since it was the senate itself which elected the
Nero, who never showed his.face to the armies, and whose artistic twenty annual quaestors who supplied its ranks. Membership was
tastes .can hardiy have commanded their respect, for fourteen years, hereditary, in that every senator's son had the right of standing for
and were in the end indl:(ced against their true sentiments to rebel the quaestorship, but as the senatorial families persistently tended to
from him. Again,· once Vespasian had established himself in their die out, in the male line at any rate, sons of senators had to be
regard, they remained. loyal to his sons, and bitterly resented the supplemented by outsiders on a considerable scale: it has been cal
assassination of Domitian. An hereditary line of emperors was culated that in the second century close on a half of the senators at
then, it would seem, what the stability of the empire demanded in any given time would have been new men. To stand for the quaes
order to hold the loyalty of the rank and file of the army. torship an outsider required the licence of the emperor, who also
The sentiments of the senatorial class were very different. possessed the power of adlecting outsiders directly into the senate
Republicanism was, .it is true, dead, though senators still nostal with appropriate seniority. It might be thought that the emperors
gically cherished the. memory of Cato, Brutl:(s and Cassi)ls, An would have used their powers to pack the senate with their own
emperor, they regretfully admitted, was necessary, but he should be supporters. There is, however, very little evidence that they did so.
one of themselves, first among his peers, and should show due The power of adlection was very sparingly used, usually to promote
deference to their advice, and respect their privileges. It was in the men of marked ability, particularly soldiers, into the grade appro
senate's eyes an ignominy that the empire should be handed on priate for an important military command. The latus clavus, the
from father to son like a private inheritance. The chief citizen licence to stand for the quaestorship, seems to have been given
should be selected for his merits, and not succeed by the accident fairly indiscriminately, not only to sons of military officers and
of birth. Such are the sentiments enunciated by Tacitus in the civilian officials of equestrian rank, but also to local notables of
speech in which he makes Galba announce his adoption of Piso, wealth and good family.
and by Pliny in his Panegyric on Trajan, recently adopted by The senate was still predominantly, though not exclusively, an
Nerva. Senators did not go so far as to claim the right of electing Italian body. It has been calculated that on the accession of Trajan
the emperor, though they were insistent that they only could confer nearly three-quarters of the members were of Italian origin, and at
upon him his constitutional prerogatives. Their desire was that the the death of Marcus between a half and two-thirds. The remainder
emperor should select his successor from the whole body of the was drawn mainly from the strongly Latinised Western provinces,
Hous.e, and be guided in that choice by its sentiments. Their Gallia Narbonensis, eastern and southern Spain, and Mrica. Few
objection to the hereditary succession was partly a matter of senators came from the outlying Western provinces, and the Greek
principle, but was more due to their suspicion that a prince, bred in East, though its contribution rose during the period, was at the end
,.
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