116 The Imperial Government
etieswithhisownrealfreedom—‘‘patronornotpatron,whatdoIcare?But
youcare.Iamricherthanyouare;IamnotgoingtoworryaboutwhatCaesar
isgoingtothinkofme.’’^79
Even outside the considerable range of trifling local matters which a
Romanemperorfoundhimselfdealingwithpersonally,hisexistenceover-
shadowedandinfluencedtheformsoflocallife.Thusitisnotirrelevantto
mentionsomeillustrationsEpictetusgivesof lifeandpoliticsinNicopolis.
Allmenareslavesinreality,hesays—andquotesthecustomaryacclamation
oftheNicopolites,‘‘Yea,bythefortune[tychē]ofCaesarwearefreemen.’’^80
The paradox needs no comment.Then we get a vivid picture of the pro-
curatorofEpirusappearinginthetheatreatNicopolis,showingundignified
fervourinapplauding—supportedbyaclaqueofslaves—acomicactor,and
beingabusedbythemobforit.HecomplainstoEpictetus,whorepliesthat
ifthepeopleseetheirgovernor,the‘‘friend’’andprocuratorofCaesar,show-
inghisfeelingsbyshoutingandjumpingupanddowninthetheatre,they
willdolikewise.^81 Thescene,andEpictetus’viewofit,offersacomplement
to,andcontrastwith,thatinSaintJohn,whenthecrowdshoutsatPilate,‘‘If
youreleasehim,youarenofriendofCaesar.’’^82
AsfortheprocuratorofEpirus,theonlyknownholderofthepostfrom
thisperiodisCn.CorneliusPulcher,whowastheresometimebetween103
and114.^83 Heisaninterestingfigure,thedescendantofadistinguishedfamily
at Epidaurus, military tribune of thelegio IV Scythicain Syria,^84 duovirat
Corinth,agōnothetēs(president)ofthreeseriesofgamesatCorinth,theTraia-
neia,Isthmia,andCaesaraea, and of theSebasteiaandAsclepeiaat Epidaurus,
archiereus(highpriest)ofGreece,andHelladarchforlifeofthekoinonofthe
Achaeans(allbeforehewasprocuratorofEpirus);laterhewasiuridicus(judi-
cialcommissioner)inEgyptandpriestofHadrianosPanhellenios.Aniden-
tification with the procuratorof about 108 is mere speculation. But if the
procuratorwhomEpictetusrebukedhadinfactbeenaprominentagonothe-
tēsin Greece over the previous few years,one of the things Epictetus says
tohimgainsanaddedpointandrelevance:‘‘Stageasmanycontestsasyou
willinyourownhouse,andproclaimhimvictorintheNemean,Pythian,
Isthmian,andOlympicgames.’’^85
79.3,9,18.
80.4,1,14.- 3,4.
- Jn.19,72.
83.PIR^2 C1424.SeeH.G.Pflaum,Carrières procuratoriennes(1960–61),no.81. - Perhapsasasinecure:seeJRS53(1963):196–97.
85.3,4,11.