Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

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The Emperor, the Senate,

and the Provinces

*

Oursourcesfortheconstitutionalsettlementanddivisionoftheprovinces
in..,andthemodificationofthesettlementin..,arenotoriously
briefandinadequate.NeitherAugustusintheRes GestaenorVelleiusPater-
culusmentionstheprovincialaspectsofeithersettlement.Theearliestsource
isStrabo():‘‘he[Caesar]dividedthewholeoftheempireintotwoparts,
andassignedoneportiontohimselfandtheothertotheRomanpeople[mili-
taryprovincesforhimself,peacefulonesforthepeople]...andhedivided
each of the two portions into several provinces,of which some are called
‘provinces of Caesar’ and the others ‘provinces of the people.’ And to the
‘provincesofCaesar’Caesarsendslegatesandprocurators,dividingtheter-
ritories in different ways...whereastothe‘provincesofthepeople’the
peoplesendpraetorsorproconsuls[listofpublicprovinces]....Buttherest
oftheprovincesareheldbyCaesar;andtosomeofthesehesendsascura-
torsmenofconsularrank,andtoothersmenofthepraetorianrank,andto
othersmenofequestrianrank’’(Loeb.trans.).ThenthereisSuetonius(Div.
Aug.):‘‘Thestrongerprovinces,whichcouldneithereasilynorsafelybe
governedbyannualmagistrates,hetooktohimself;theothersheassigned
toproconsulargovernorsselectedbylot.’’FinallythereistheaccountinCas-
siusDio(,,–):‘‘whileheacceptedallthecareandtheoversightofthe
publicbusiness,onthegroundthatitrequiredsomeattentiononhispart,
yethedeclaredhewouldnotpersonallygovernalltheprovinces,andthatin
thecaseofsuchprovincesasheshould,hewouldnotdosoindefinitely;and
hedidinfact,restore^1 totheSenatetheweakerprovinces,ontheground

*FirstpublishedinJRS():–.Anearlierversionofthischapterwasgiven
totheOpenMeetingoftheSocietyforthePromotionofRomanStudiesonMarch.

. Reimar, followed hesitantly by Boissevain, supplied ‘‘to the Senate’’ (τῇβουλῇ)at
thispoint,fromthetextsofXiphilinusandZonaras.Iamnotconvincedthatthisisjusti-

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