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

Government and Diplomacy 209

siontothepeople,andorationesorallocutionestothesoldiersinRomeorthe
armyinthefield.Bothcoinsandtherepresentationsoftheimperialmilitary
roleontheColumnofTrajanandtheColumnofMarcusAureliusgivepar-
ticularprominencetothislatterrole.Theemperoralso,asmentionedabove,
gave jurisdiction; as with anyother person giving jurisdiction, theverdict
(decretumorsententia)hadtobereadoutbyhim,oftenfromawrittentextso
astoensurecompleteaccuracy.Finally,asnotedearlier,theemperorheard
embassiesfromprovincialcommunitiesinpersonandhadtomakeatleast
aprovisionalresponseverballyatthetime,eventhoughthedefinitivereply
wasinvariablyembodiedsubsequentlyinaletter.
Itwaspreciselysuchletters,aswehaveseen,whichformedthetypeofim-
perialpronouncementmostfrequentlyenshrinedbytheseprovincialcom-
munitiesinpermanentinscriptions;hencetheyareamongthedocuments
whoseformalcharacterisbestknowntous.Thatstillleavesopen,however,
thequestionof bywhomtheywereinrealitycomposed.Somewhatsimi-
larproblemsarisewithimperialanswerstolibelli,orwrittenpetitionsfrom
individuals.Thesewere,originallyat least, handed to the emperor in per-
son;andthereplies,referredtointhesecondcenturyassubscriptiones,werein
principleliterally‘‘writtenunder’’thepetitionsthemselves,andgivenback.
Thereisnoneedheretogointothecomplexquestionoftheevolutionof
thelibellussystem, except to say that it does bear in an important wayon
majorquestionsinRomanlaw,forimperialrepliestolibellifromprivateper-
sonsmakeupalmostthewholeoftheCodex Justinianusandareextensively
quotedintheDigest,inotherlegalsourcesfromGaiusonwards,andonin-
scriptionsandpapyri.TheyappearinlargenumbersintheCodexandDigest
preciselybecausetheyarebeingquotedassourcesoflaw.Currentarguments
havenotyetestablishedwhetherweshouldseethisbranchof law-making
asafunctionoftheemperorsthemselves,orallowittobereclaimedforthe
jurists,includingmajoronessuchasPapinian,whosuccessivelyoccupiedthe
secretarial post at the emperor’s side calleda libellis(to do withlibelli), or
latermagister libellorum.Itmightwellbenecessaryhere,too,todistinguish
clearlybetweenresponsibilityfortheessentialcontentofsuchareply(which
mightoftenbeofayes-noform)andthecompositionofatextexpressing
theanswerinappropriatelegallanguage,withexplanationandjustification
whererequired.^21

21. Forthecomplexissuesrelatingtolibellipresentedtotheemperor,andtothecom-
    position of the replies, seeT. Honoré,Emperors and Lawyers(London, 1981); F. Millar, ‘‘A
    NewApproachtotheRomanJurists,’’JRS76(1986):272–80(chapter19inthisvolume),
    and‘‘L’Empereurromaincommedécideur,’’inC.Nicolet,ed.,Du pouvoir dans l’antiquité:
    mots et réalités(Paris,1990),207–20.