Emperors, Frontiers, and Foreign Relations 165kings,^14 though it was a sign of the future that,when in 23b.c.Augustus
broughtTiridatesinpersontoappearagainstanembassyfromPhraatesin
theSenate,thelatterreferredthematterbacktohim.^15 UnderTiberiusthe
Senate was supposed to receive reports from imperial governors and was
consulted on the recruitment and discharge of soldiers, the disposition of
thelegionsandthenon-citizensauxiliaries,andonrepliestokings.^16 Ifwe
may believe Strabo’s contemporaryaccount, the decision to make Cappa-
dociaaprovinceina.d.17wastakenjointlybyEmperorandSenate.^17 In19
Tiberius addressed the Senate after granting refuge to Maroboduus, argu-
ingthatthekinghadbeenagreaterthreatthanPyrrhusorAntiochusIII.^18
GaiushadtheSenatevoteonthegrantofvariousclientkingdomsin38,^19
andunderClaudiusitvotedthattreatiesmadebytheEmperororhislegati
shouldbevalidasifpassedbySenateandPeople.^20 In49Parthianambassa-
dorsappearedintheSenateandwereansweredbyaspeechfromClaudius;^21
Trajan in 102 sent ambassadors from Decebalus to speak in the Senate and
have the peace treatyconfirmed, and when the king was reported to have
brokenittheSenatedeclaredhimanenemy.^22 UnderHadrianembassiesfrom
VologaesesofParthiaandtheIazygesappearedintheSenate,^23 whileMarcus
Aurelius formallyasked the Senate tovote funds for thewarof 178—but,
asDiomakesclear,solelyasadeliberategesturetoconstitutionaltheory.^24
WhenDiosuggestsinthe‘‘speechofMaecenas’’thatembassiesfromhostile
andalliedkingsornationsshouldbebroughtbeforetheSenate,thisclearly
nolongercorrespondedtotherealityoftheearlythirdcentury:‘‘[F]or,other
questionsapart,itisappropriateandimpressiveiftheSenateseemstohave
fullpowers.’’^25 However,eveninthisperiod,astheyhaddonefromthebe-
ginning,theemperorswouldwritereportstotheSenateontheirmilitary
- E.g.,AntiochusofCommagene,Dio52,43;ArchelausofCappadocia,Dio57,17,
3–6;RhescuporisofThrace,Tacitus,Ann.2,67. - Dio53,33,1–2.
- Suetonius,Tib.30;32.
17.Geog.12,1,4(534). - Tacitus,Ann.2,63.
- Dio59,12,2.
- Dio60,23,6.SeeP.A.Brunt,‘‘LexdeImperioVespasiani,’’JRS67(1977):95,on
p. 103. - Tacitus,Ann.12,10–11.
- Dio68,9,7–10,1;10,3–4.
- Dio69,15,2.
- Dio72,33,2.
- Dio52,31,1.