Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Emperors, Frontiers, and Foreign Relations 163

onimperialcampaigns,theso-calledRes GestaeofShapurIfromNaqsh-i-
Rustam.^11 None the less, even the most blatant of propaganda will tell us
whatsomeonewishedtobebelievedandwillbyimplicationrevealsome-
thingofthevalues,objectives,andpresuppositionsbothofitsauthorandof
itsintendedaudience.Asthepassageof Dioshows,itdoesnotfollowthat
contemporaryobserversassentedtotheclaimsmadeinpropaganda.Butthe
overallpatternofpropagandamuststilltellussomethingoftheconceptual
frameworkwithinwhichpolicywasformulated.
The same applies towhat must, for lack of anything better, remain our
mainsourceofevidence,thehistoricalnarratives,letters,andbiographiesof
theperiod.Someoftheseatleast—forinstance,theworksofthetwoPlinies,
Tacitus, Suetonius, Dio, and Ammianus—come from precisely the class of
menwhowerecalledtotheemperor’sconsilium,actedashissecretaries,or
servedonhisstaff.Haveweanyreasontosupposethateventhoseemper-
ors(remarkablyfew)whowerebroughtupandtrainedassuchcouldhave
acquiredaconceptionoffrontierorforeignpolicywhichwassignificantly
different from theirs? Even if that could be shown, manyof the emperors
whoplayedthemostimportantpartsinmilitaryhistory—forinstance,Ves-
pasian,Trajan, Septimius Severus, Aurelian, Diocletian, and Valentinian—
cametothethroneinmiddlelife,fromtheSenateorfromequestrianposts.
ChanceorcircumstancecouldhavebroughtTacitus,Dio,orAmmianusto
thethronejustaswellasTrajan,Severus,orValentinian.Wewouldbequite
wrongtoassumethatimperialpolicywasinformedbyreasoningwhichwas
superiorordifferentinkindfromthatofthosewhorecordeditinhistorical
narratives.
Asuperiorityofimmediateconcreteinformation—intheformofmes-
sagesfromthefrontiers—ontheemperor’spartmightwellbesupposed.But
evenherehisdependenceonhissocialandculturalenvironmentismanifest,
fornewinformationcouldcometohimfromthreemainsources:missions
sentbyhimacrossthefrontierstoexploreandreportback;reportsfromgov-
ernors(men,onceagain,likeTacitus,Agricola,PlinytheYounger,orDio);
orthearrivalofforeignenvoys.Inallthesecaseshisperceptionsofthesitua-
tionmusthavebeenprofoundlyaffectedbytheconceptionsandinterestsof
thosepresentingtheinformation.

11. See A. Maricq, ‘‘Res Gestae Divi Saporis,’’Syria35 (1958): 295.This episode is de-
    scribedinll.6–9;ShapurclaimsthathekilledGordianinbattleandthatPhilipthenmade
    peaceonpaymentofalargesum.Zosimus1,18–19,reportsthatGordianwonavictoryand
    wasthenkilledbythetroops,instigatedbyPhilip;cf.Eutropius9,2,2–3;AureliusVictor,
    Caes.27,8.