166 The Imperial Government
anddiplomaticdealings.^26 Inthe160s,whenforthefirsttimethereweretwo
Augusti,LuciusVerus’letterofreportfromParthiawasreadintheSenate
andaccompaniedbyaspeechfromMarcusAurelius.^27
Theseprocedurescannotberegardedashavingbeenvehiclesofdebateor
decision,butliketherelatedprocessofvotingmilitaryhonoursforemperors
andothers,^28 theywerebynomeansirrelevanttotheissuesdiscussedhere.
Even these formal votes, and the orations which accompanied them, will
haveservedtoformulatetheprevailingnotionsofwhatconstitutedsuccess
inmilitaryanddiplomaticpolicy,andhencetoformthosepresuppositions
whichwouldliebehindfutureobjectives.
Thequestionofsuchaslowlyevolvingconsensusisallthemorevitalbe-
cause,asisbeyondquestion,externalpolicywasinfactcreatedthroughout
the period within the framework provided by the emperor, his senatorial
andequestrianfriends,andhis‘‘secretarial’’staff.Ithardlyneedsstatingonce
again that our evidence provides no hint of any ministries, headquarters,
orgeneralstaffsestablishedinRome,orintheTetrarchicorfourth-century
‘‘capitals,’’andfunctioningindependentlyoftheemperor.Itwasonlyinthe
latefourthcentury,andintheWest,thatmagistrimilitum(mastersofsoldiers)
attainedarealmilitaryindependenceoftheemperors.^29
Ifwelookfirstatthebureaucraticor‘‘secretarial’’entourage,asopposed
tofriends(amici)orofficers,allourevidencecombinestosuggestitsessen-
tiallycivilian character. It is not only that there is, for instance,very little
traceofcommentarii(imperialrecords)orotherrecordsrelatingtomilitary
ordiplomaticmatters,tomatchthoseconcernedwithimperiallegaldeci-
sions,thefoundationofcolonies,orthegrantingofthecitizenshiporother
beneficia(favours).^30 It is rather that the ‘‘secretarial’’ entourage of the em-
perors visiblydeveloped to serve civilian purposes: the hearing of embas-
siesandlegalcases,replyingtolibelli(petitions),writinglettersinLatinand
Greek.Therewaslaterana memoria,orlaterstillmagister memoriae,ofuncer-
tainfunction—butnever,surprisinglyenough,anyofficialconcernedwith
- See, e.g., Dio 54, 9, 1 (Augustus to the Senate on foreign policy issues, 20b.c.);
Suetonius,Calig. 44; Dio 68, 29, 1–3 (Trajan from Parthia); 77, 12, 3 (Caracalla); 73, 27, 3
(Macrinus,218). - Fronto,Ad Verum Imp.2,1,3–4.
- To take only two examples, note thetriumphalia ornamentavotedbytheSenateto
Agricola(Tacitus,Agric.40),andthethreestatuesvotedtoM.BassaeusRufusonthemotion
ofMarcusAureliusandCommodus,ILS1326. - See,e.g.,Jones,LRE,174–78.
- SeeERW,259–72.Augustus’breviarium,orsummaryreport(Suetonius,Aug.101),
didcontaindetailsofhowmanysoldierswereunderarms.