158 The Imperial Government
ratorship of Thrace in this period will not fit easily into Pflaum’s scheme;
Carrières,No.244(a.d.200–1)isasexagenarius,butCarrières,No.268(T.Aure-
liusCalpurnianus)comestothepostfromMoesiaInferior,whichoughtto
becenturiate.Pflaumhastosaythatthiswasafterthe‘‘intensiveurbaniza-
tion’’(i.e.,thePizosinscription)carriedoutbySeverusandCaracalla—but
Calpurnianus’procuratorshipcannotbecloselydated(PIR^2 A1471).Under
Carrières,No.312theposthasbecomecenturiateagain.
When we come to look at the patterns of promotion over the whole
period it is clear that while the relative importance of posts remained re-
markablyconstant,theconceptofestablishedgradesissimplynotrelevant
beforethelastpartofthefirstcentury,sincetherequiredlesserpostsarenot
thereinsufficientnumbers.Fromthenontherearecertainlyestablishedpat-
ternsofpromotion,butthereisnothingtoshowthatanyprescriptiverules
governed them.The greatest regularity is shown in the careers of former
equestrianofficersandofex-primipilibis(centurionswhoheldtheseniorcen-
turionateofalegionforasecondtime).Theimportanceofthe‘‘praetorian’’
careersofthelatter(seeespeciallyM.BassaeusRufus,Carrières,No.162)is
clearlydemonstrated(thatis,careerstakingthemthroughtribunatesinthe
praetoriancohorts).Butatalltimesmenmightenteratdifferentpointsin
the scale or might miss a grade, with no trace of expressions comparable
withthoselikeadlectusorpromotus inter praetorios(electedorpromotedinto
the rank of ex-praetors) which indicate the exceptional advancement of a
senator(norwerethereinsigniaofthedifferentgrades).Postsmightgainor
lose in importance—the procuratorship of thequadragesima Galliarum(the
2.5percentcustomsdutyinGaulandGermany),thequattuor publica Africae
(thefourindirecttaxesraisedinAfrica),andtheargentariae Pannonicae et Del-
maticae(the silver-mines of Pannonia and Dalmatia), for instance, seem to
havegained,whilethepraefectura alae(prefectureofacavalryunit)lost;from
Hadrian’sreignonex–praefectialaesometimesmovetorelativelyminorposts
suchasthoseofcensitor(theofficialinchargeofthecensusinaprovince)or
ofepistrategusinEgypt.
Pflaum has demonstrated both that the structure of equestrian promo-
tionsremainedextremelystableandthatintelligiblepatternscanbetraced
withinthestructure.Hehasnotshownthatanyexplicitruleswereeverfor-
mulatedforit.
WhatshouldbethefinaljudgementonPflaum’swork?Hisprincipalthesis
cannot,sofarasIcansee,beformallydisproved;itmaybethecasethateques-
triancareers,fromtheinceptionoftheprincipate,werestructuredonaseries
ofestablishedgradesbasedonthelevelofpay.Butitcannotbeprovedeither,