204 The Imperial Government
preceded us, being willing also to give fulfilment to your hopes for
thefuture.AureliusTheodorusandAureliusOnesimuscarriedoutthe
dutiesofambassadors.Farewell.Itwould,however,beamistaketoconcludethattheelaboratediplomatic
protocolwhichcharacterizesthisletterisafunctionspecificallyofAphrodi-
sias’statusasafreecity,or,asotherdocumentsinthearchiveputit,‘‘removed
from theformula[typos] of the province.’’ For what is distinctive about the
archiveisnotthat,butliesintheclearindicationitgivesoftheparticular
privilegessucha‘‘freeandimmune’’cityenjoyed:forinstance,non-payment
of Romantaxes,exemptionfromvisitsbytheproconsulofAsia,andeven
exemptionfromclaimsontheservicesofitscitizensmadebyothercitiesin
theprovinceorbytheprovincialcouncil.Preciselybecausetheseprivileges
wereexceptional,repeated‘‘diplomatic’’activitywasrequiredtoensuretheir
protectionandpreservation.
Suchactivity,directedtotheemperor,didnotinitselfmarkAphrodisias
asa‘‘free’’city,noroughtittoleadustocharacterizeAphrodisiasasaplace
whichbelongednotionally,thoughofcoursenotgeographically,beyondthe
borders of the Empire.The truth is exactly the opposite, that most of the
evidenceforexchangeswhichhavetheformofdiplomaticdealingsbetween
theemperorandaforeignsovereignpowerinfactcomesfromhisdealings
withcitiesandcommunitiesunambiguouslysubjecttotheRomanEmpire,
whichpaidtributetoit,andwhichwereineverysensewithinitsborders.^15
Ourextensive knowledge of the form and nature of these exchanges is
largely, but not wholly, a function of a feature of Graeco-Roman culture
which Ramsey MacMullen aptly nicknamed ‘‘the epigraphic habit’’:^16 that
is to say, the custom illustrated above of inscribing in public,on stone or
bronze,documentswhichwerefeltforvariousreasons(glory,status,preser-
vationofprivileges)tobeworthpublicizinginpermanentform.Themass
ofourevidencefor‘‘diplomatic’’exchangeswiththeemperorcomesfrom
citieslikeAphrodisias,intheGreek-speakingpartoftheEmpire.Itisimpos-
sibletotellforcertainwhetherthemuchsmallernumberofsuchdocuments
fromtheLatin-speakingWestisaproductofthelesserinvolvementofcom-
munitiesfromthisregioninsuchdiplomatictraffic,ortheirless-developed
attachmenttotheepigraphichabit,or(asisquitelikely)both.
Wemaybecertain,atanyrate,firstly,thatlongbeforetheestablishment
ofmonarchicrulebyAugustus,embassiesfromprovincialandalliedcom-
- Forthistopic,seeERW,esp.chap.VII.
- R. MacMullen, ‘‘The Epigraphic Habit in the Roman Empire,’’American Journal of
Philology103(1982):233–46.