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

The Emperor, the Senate, and the Provinces 

nityofveteransfromtolls,^76 andalsohisfamousedictontheuprootingof
vinesintheprovinces.ThiscertainlyappliedinproconsularAsia,foritwas
thisprovincewhichsentanembassytoprotest,headedbythegreatsophist
Scopelianus,whosespeechsomovedtheEmperorthathenotonlyrevoked
theedictbutlaidpenaltiesonthosewhofailedtoplantvines.^77 Finallyone
mightmentionNerva’sedict,attestedbyPliny,whichconfirmedallbene-
factionsgrantedbypreviousemperors;itappliedinallprovincesincluding
Bithynia.^78

TheEmperorandIndividualPublicProvinces

orCommunitieswithinThem

PlinyinBithyniafoundthatamodificationoftheprovincialLexPompeia
had been made byan edict of Augustus (though the edict may have been
general).^79 HealsosenttoTrajanthepetitionofNicaeaaskingforconfirma-
tionoftherightofclaimingpossessionoftheproperty(vindicatio bonorum)
ofcitizenswhodiedintestate,whichhadbeengranted(concessa)byAugus-
tus;itisprobablethattheoriginalconcessionhadalsobeenpetitionedfor
by the city.^80 Plinyalso mentions an alleged edict of Augustus to Andania
inAchaea(thoughthereadingofthenameisnotcertain)onthesubjectof
foundlings (threptoi).^81 Similarly, in his letter to the Saborenses in Baetica,
Vespasian confirmed the ‘‘the right to levy taxes which you claim to have
receivedfromthedeifiedAugustus,’’^82 whileClaudius,writingtothecityof
Thasos,said‘‘Ipreserveforyou,inaccordancewiththedecisionsofthedei-
fiedAugustus,alltheprivilegesas(werereceived)fromhim.’’^83 (Thasoswas
then in the province of Macedonia.) Then an inscription on a statue basis
fromEphesusreads(thetextisrepeatedinGreek),‘‘Bythebenefactionofthe
deifiedCaesarAugustus,fromtheincomeofsacredlandswhichhedonated

.FIRA^2 I,.
. Suet.,Dom.;Philostratus,VS,.
. Pliny,Epp.,.
. Pliny,Epp.,–.TheevidencecollectedbyJ.Morris,Listy Filologické():
,suggeststhattheminimumageformagistraciesmaygenerallyhavebeenloweredto
twenty-fivebyAugustus.
. Pliny,Epp.,–.
. Pliny,Epp.,,.
.ILSAbbottandJohnson,no.FIRA^2 I,.
. C. Dunant and J. Pouilloux,Recherches sur l’histoire et les cultes de Thasos(), ,
no.,ll.–.