The Augustan Revolution
place until fiveyears had elapsed after the relevant magistracy in the city.
WhateverDiomeanstoimplyhereabouttheroleoftheSenateasawhole,
thecontextofthereferenceisclearlytotheprocessofappointmentofpro-
consuls,andnottoanywideradministrativefunction.
InhisbooksontheAugustanperiodDioisotherwisequiteconsistentin
speakingofthenon-imperialprovincesasbeing‘‘ofthepeople.’’^5 Onlyonce
laterdoeshe(orrather,strictlyspeaking,Xiphilinus)useadifferenttermi-
nology:whenC.IuliusSeveruswassentaslegatetothepreviouslypublic
provinceofPontusandBithyniaincirca,Lycia-Pamphylia‘‘wasgivento
theSenateandthelot’’(,,).
Of course, it cannot be claimed that there is complete consistency and
lackofambiguityinthelanguagewhichournarrativesourcesuse;forifthat
wereso,theconfusionwhichthischapterattemptstoclearupwouldnever
havearisen.So,forinstance,whenSuetoniuswantstosaythatClaudiusre-
turnedAchaeaandMacedoniatorulebyproconsuls,hedoessoinlanguage
which fits the traditional presuppositions very well: ‘‘He gave back to the
SenatetheprovincesofAchaeaandMacedonia,whichTiberiushadtakento
himself’’(Div. Claud.,).Dio,however,interpretsthissametransfer(on
myhypothesiscorrectly)asmeaningthatherestoredthesegovernorshipsto
thesystemofappointmentbylot(,,).
But in spite of these ambiguities, the fact remains that no text known
tomespeaksoftheproconsularprovincesasbeing‘‘senatorial,’’orasbeing
the provinces ‘‘of the Senate.’’ More important, however, is the fact that a
perfectlyclearalternativedesignationforthem,withwhollydifferentcon-
notations,isperfectlywellattested.ToTacitustheseprovinceswerepublicae
provinciae(public provinces,Ann. , , ). More specifically still, to Gaius,
writing in the middle of the second century, the provinces were still di-
videdintoprovincesoftheRomanpeopleandprovincesofCaesar(provinciae
populi Romaniandprovinciae Caesaris).This division was relevant first of all
tothevehiclesforthedisseminationofRomanlaw,andthespecificationof
thoseoffice-holderswhopossessedtherightof issuingedicts(ius edicendi):
‘‘the same is true of the edicts of the curule aediles,whose jurisdiction in
theprovincesoftheRomanpeopleisheldbythequaestors;forquaestorsare
notsentatallintotheprovincesofCaesar’’(Inst.,,).Itistruethatwith
Gaius, as with all other jurists,we have to remind ourselves that what we
arereadingisnottheexpressionofaperfectlycodifiedentitycalled‘‘Roman
. Dio,,:‘‘thosewhicharehis,andthosewhicharethepeople’s’’;,,:‘‘In
theprovincesofthepeople’’;,,:‘‘althoughalsotheseprovinces(ethne)belongtothe
people.’’