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

Government and Diplomacy 213

whichalsoincorporatelettersbetweenofficials,whichwereoriginallywrit-
teninLatin,leavethetextsinLatinanddonottranslatethem.^23
ItthusseemshighlyprobablethattheGreekcitiesoftheeasternpartof
theEmpirewerepaidthecompliment,inyetanotherandveryprecisere-
spect,ofhavinglettersaddressedtothemwhichhadbeenwritteninGreek,
ortranslatedintoGreek,attheimperialcourtitself.Inthissensetoo,there-
fore, they were treated as foreign powers, towhom a diplomatic form of
addresswasappropriate.Theprobabilitythatthiswassobecomesacertainty
whenweconsidertherelativelywell-knownhistoryoftheofficeofabepistu-
lis(to dowith letters).^24 This office existed in some form from the begin-
ningoftheEmpireandcomesmoreclearlyintoviewinthemiddleofthe
firstcenturya.d.,whenitwasprimarilyoccupiedbyfreedslavesfromthe
imperial household. Precisely this aspect served to give it and comparable
officessomeprominenceinhistoricalandbiographicalsourcessuchasTaci-
tusandSuetonius;foritwasgenerallyfelt,lookingbacksomedecadeslater,
thatinthemiddleoftheJulio-Claudianperiod,andinparticularinthereign
of Claudius (a.d.41–54), imperial freedmen serving in close proximity to
theemperorhadexercisedanexcessive,damaging,andcorruptinginfluence.
Inthecourseofthefollowingperiod,positionssuchasab epistulis,a libellis,
anda rationibus(to dowith accounts) began to pass instead into the hands
ofmenoffreebirthbelongingtotherankimmediatelybelowtheSenate,
theequestrianorder—aprocesscompletebythereignofHadrian(a.d.117–
38),whenoneoftheab epistuliswasthebiographerSuetonius.Atthesame
time,however,wefindtheemergenceofaseparatepostdefinedasabepistulis
Graecis(todowithlettersinGreek).Suchapost,oronedefinedinclosely
comparableterms,hadbeenattestedonsomeoccasionsinthemiddleofthe
firstcentury.Indeeditisstrikingthatthesepostsaretheearliest‘‘secretarial’’
postsalongsidetheemperortoappearonpublicinscriptionsasbeingheldby
menwhoarenotfreedslavesbutRomancitizensofequestrianrank.Both
theknownexamplesfromthisperiodareinfactRomancitizensofGreek
origin.TiberiusClaudiusBalbillusappearsinaLatininscriptionfromEphe-
sosasad legationes(todowithembassies)et res[ponsa Graeca?(andrepliesin
Greek?)]—it is typical that the text should be broken at the crucial point.
This problem at least does not appear in the Greek inscription from Cos,

23. Foraprimecase,seetheexchangesrelatingtothetempleofZeusatAezaniinthe
    provinceofAsia:U.Laffi,‘‘IterrenideltempiodiZeusadAizanoi,’’Athenaeum49(1971):
    3–53.


24. Forthisoffice,orevolvingseparateoffices,seeERW,esp.chap.III,pts.5–6,andV,
    pt.2.