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

State and Subject 

ministrativeactivity,thatoftheemperorandthatoftheSenate,inrelation
totheprovincesisjustamodernfiction.^26 Indeeditisevenmoreofafiction
thanIoncethought.ForIdidforatimesupposethatwhiletheemperorfrom
thebeginninggaveasetofinstructions(mandata)tothelegateswhomhesent
out,hedidnotdosoforproconsulsuntilabouttheendofthefirstcentury
..They therefore,on this view, preserved a certain functional indepen-
dence.^27 ButDiostatesquiteclearlythatAugustusbegantoissueinstructions
toproconsuls,aswellastohisownappointees,alreadyin..(,,).
RecentevidencestronglysuggeststhatDiowasright.Arecentlyre-edited
letterof DomitiusCorbulo,asproconsulofAsiaunderClaudius(AF,
),referstotheentolai,‘‘instructions,’’whichmustsurelybethoseofthe
Emperor; and that is confirmation enough.^28 Beyond that, two other new
items of evidence,of the greatest importance, illustrate theway in which
codesof instructionfromAugustus,issuedtoprovincialgovernorsoroffi-
cials,filtereddowntoaffectthelivesofcommunitiesandindividualsinthe
provinces.
The first is the bilingual edict of Sextus Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus,
issuedwhenhewaslegateofGalatiaearlyinTiberius’reign.^29 Itisindeed
clearthathehadbeenappointedaslegatebyAugustus,andhadcontinuedin
officeaftertheEmperor’sdeathanddeificationin...Thesubjectmat-
teroftheedictisthelocalapplication,tothecityofSagalassusanditssur-
roundingregion,ofanimmenselycomplexsetofrulesrelatingtotheright
ofofficialtravellerstorequisitiontransportatfixedprices,andtodemand
freeaccommodationuptospecificlimits.Thegovernor’sdependenceonthe
rulesdrawnupbytheEmperorisheavilystressedinhisopeningparagraph:

Itisthemostunjustthingofallformetotightenupbymyownedict

thatwhichtheAugusti,onethegreatestofgods[Augustus],theother

thegreatestofemperors[Tiberius],havetakentheutmostcaretopre-

vent,namelythatnooneshouldmakeuseofcartswithoutpayment.

However,sincetheindisciplineofcertainpeoplerequiresanimmedi-

ate punishment, I have set up in the individual towns and villages a

. SeeF.Millar,‘‘TheEmperor,theSenateandtheProvinces,’’JRS():(chap-
terinthisvolume);seealsoW.K.Lacey,‘‘OctavianintheSenate,JanuaryBC,’’JRS
():.
. Millar(n.),–;(n.),–.
. G.P.Burton,‘‘TheIssuingof MandatatoProconsulsandaNewInscriptionfrom
Cos,’’ZPE():.
. PublishedbyS.Mitchell,‘‘RequisitionedTransportintheRomanEmpire:ANew
InscriptionfromPisidia,’’JRS():;AE,;SEGXXVI,.