Emperors, Frontiers, and Foreign Relations 189couldcomplainoftheinertiaofearlieremperorsintermswhichstrikingly
recallthecontentofthepoemontheDacianwarwhichPliny’sfriendCani-
niusRebiluscomposedinComum.^132 Yetthethreenewprovincesbeyond
theEuphratescouldbegivenupbyHadrianwithonlyrelativelymildhos-
tilecommentfromoursources:accordingtotheHistoria Augustahejustified
thisstepbyquotingtheElderCatoonthedifficultyofholdingMacedonia
asaprovince.^133 Itcouldevenbereportedthathehadalsothoughtofgiving
up Dacia beyond the Danube and been restrained by hisamici,who urged
himnottobetraytheRomancitizenswhohadimmigratedtoit.^134
WhenAppianbeganwritinghisRoman HistoryunderAntoninusPius,he
still thought of the boundaries as Euphrates, Danube and Rhine,with the
Upper German territories beyond the Rhine and Dacia as mere additions:
‘‘[B]utgoingbeyondtheseriversinplacestheyrulesomeoftheCeltsover
theRhine,andtheGetaeovertheDanube,whomtheycallDacians.’’^135 The
conceptoftheEmpireasastabledefensivesystembasedonanouterringof
fixed camps is clearly present in Aristides’Roman Oration(80–84) and per-
sistsinHerodian,writingacenturylater,whenitwasrapidlyceasingtobe
appropriate:‘‘Augustus...fortifiedtheEmpirebyhedgingitaroundwith
majorobstacles,riversandtrenchesandmountainsanddesertedareaswhich
weredifficulttotraverse.’’^136
Thisconceptbecameoutofdateintwoways.Daciahadbeentakenby
Trajan,andinvolvementbeyondtheEuphrateswasresumed,withuncertain
results,underMarcusandVerus,andreachedadecisivestageunderSeverus.
Thesubsequentfatesofthesetwoareasformaninstructivecontrast.Dacia
was finallyabandoned in the early 270s, but our sources barely notice the
fact.^137 Moreover,writersofthelaterthirdandfourthcenturiesagaintend
totreattheDanubeastheestablishedfrontieroftheEmpire,withnohint
thattherehadoncebeenasubstantialprovincialareabeyondit.^138 Notonly
- Florus,Epit. praef.;Tacitus,Ann.4,32;cf.Pliny,Ep.8,4.
- Fronto,Princ. Hist.10;Eutropius7,6,2;Festus,Brev.14,20;v. Had.5,3.
- Eutropius7,6,2.Fronto(Princ.Hist.10)claimsthatHadrianactuallygaveupDacia.
- Appian,Praef.4/14–15.Cf.Pausanias1,9,5,forverysimilarconceptions.
- Herodian2,11,5.
- The few lines of Eutropius 9, 55, 1 represent the fullest account of the abandon-
ment,andthecreationofDaciaRipensissouthoftheriver.RepeatedinHA,v. Aurel.39,
7.Cf.Festus,Brev.8.SeeH.Vetters,Dacia Ripensis(1950). - Cf.textton.75(crossingbyGoths);Pan. Lat.X(GalletierII),2,6;XI(GalletierIII),
6,6.NotePan. Lat.VIII(GalletierIV),3,3:Daciarestituta,referringtoDaciaRipensis.When
Anon.Vales. 1, 135/13 gives the origin of Licinius as ‘‘ex nova Dacia,’’ this is an implicit
allusiontotheoldprovince.