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

Government and Diplomacy 199

throughout the period of the Empirewith which we are concerned. Our
clearestindicationoftheimportanceattachedtoitisinthefictitiousspeech
whichCassiusDio,inhisRoman History,putsintothemouthofMaecenas,
supposedlyaddressingAugustus(53,31,1):

Moreover,asregardsothermatters,youwouldseemtometobear-

rangingthingsforthebest,ifasregardsembassiesbothfromenemies

andfromallies,whetherkingsorpeoples,youweretobringthemfirst

beforetheSenate.For,otherconsiderationsapart,itisbothappropriate

andimpressivefortheSenatetogivetheappearanceofbeingsovereign

inallthings,andthatthereshouldbeapluralityofpeopletoappear

as adversaries in the case of those of them [foreign envoys] who are

contumacious.

ThoughthenarrativesettingofthespeechisthereignofAugustus,itscon-
tentswereundoubtedlyintendedtorefertoDio’sowntime.Thewordswere
perhapswrittenabouta.d.230;inwhichcase,theycarryaparticularlyap-
propriatemessage.For,onourevidence(seefurtherbelow),preciselyduring
thecourseofthesecondcenturyhadembassiesfrombothoutsideandin-
sidetheEmpireceasedtoappearbeforetheSenate,andcomeinsteadtobe
directedsolelytotheemperorinperson.^8
TherelationshipbetweentheemperorandtheSenatethuspointstowards
twofurtherelementsofambiguityinthecharacteroftheEmpireasasover-
eignstate.InspiteoftheformalemphasisonthesovereigntyoftheRoman
people,awiderangeofevidenceillustratesthefactthatfromthebeginning
ofthereignofAugustus,diplomatictrafficfromoutsidetheEmpiretended
markedlytodirectitselftotheemperorinperson,whereverhehappenedto
be,astotheeffectiveheadofgovernment.Yetforatleastacenturyandahalf
afterthebattleofActiumin31b.c.,whichensuredthesoleruleofthefuture
Augustus,embassiesandalliedkingsfromoutsidetheEmpiremightalsoap-
pear to speak before the Senate in Rome.The legacyof the origins of the
monarchyfromwithinarepublicwasthustoberemarkablydurable.Noth-
ingshowsmoreclearlythanthewordswhichDioputsintothemouthof
MaecenasthatthisroleoftheSenatewasnoornamentbutavaluedfunction
whichwastoberecalleddecadesafterithadapparentlylapsedintodisuse.
However, valued as it clearly was, the diplomatic and foreign-relations
role of the Senate had been overshadowed from the reign of Augustus by
thatoftheemperor.Thisaspectof hisfunctionplaysanimportantpartin
theRes Gestae, the record of his achievements,which Augustus composed

8. SeeR.J.A.Talbert,The Senate of Imperial Rome(Princeton,1984),esp.425–30.