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

Government and Diplomacy 217

suingamoreleisurelyjourneythroughBithyniaonitswaytoRome(Pliny,
Letters10,63;64;67).
TheembassywasprobablyintendingtopresentitselfbeforeTrajan,butit
couldstillhavebeenbroughtbyhimbeforetheSenate.Forthelatestdefi-
niteevidencewhichwehaveforsuchanappearancerelatestothefollowing
reign,thatofHadrian(a.d.117–38).ThekingsoftheBosporuswerethemost
stable and long-lasting of all the ‘‘client’’ dynasties of Rome, and the only
onewhichminted(orwasallowedbyRometomint?)goldcoins.Thecoins
invariablyportrayedbothKingandEmperor.Butthetitulatureofthekings
implicitlyexpressedadualloyalty,whichreflectedthedualsovereigntyin-
herentintheEmpireitself:philokaisarandphilorōmaios.Whatthatmeantis
spelledoutinaLatininscriptioninhonourofSauromatesI,putupinPan-
ticapaeum in the Crimea by thecoloniaof Sinope on the opposite coast of
theBlackSea:‘‘KingTi[berius]Iul[ius]Sauromates,anoutstandingfriendof
theEmperorandofthepopulus R[omanus].’’^29
If this dual sovereignty was more important, and was reflected in our
sourcesforalongerperiodthanhasbeenrealized,itisstillthecasethatactual
communicationswithforeignpowers,andeven‘‘client’’kings,werealways
conductedbytheemperor.Ifhechosealsotobringforeignrulers,andem-
bassiesfromthem,beforetheSenate,thatwasatalltimesagesturewhich
didnotaffecttherealitiesofdecisionmaking.Itisworthnotingtheelabo-
rateformwhichthisgesturetookonthelatestoccasionof itsuse,sofaras
ournarrativesourcesindicate,thatis,inthereignof Hadrian.Thisishow
CassiusDio,writingacenturylater,recordstherelevantepisode(69,15,2):

When ambassadors were sent byVologaeses [king of Parthia] bring-

ingchargesagainstPharasmanes[kingof IberiaintheCaucasus]and

by the Iazyges,whowished to have peace confirmed, he introduced

themintothemintotheSenate;andbeingcommissionedtoprepare

theanswers,hecomposedthemhimselfandreadthemtothem.

By‘‘them’’DioseemstomeannottheSenatecollectively(whichherefers
tointhesingular)buttheambassadors.WhetherornotDioisrightinhis
clearimplicationthatHadrianwrotethelettershimself,whathesaysraises
acuteproblemsaboutthenatureofRomandiplomacyinthisperiod,some
ofwhichhavealreadybeenadumbrated.
Firstly,thepracticeofbringingforeignembassiesbeforetheSenatemay
havecontinuedlongerthanhasbeenpreviouslysupposed,andindeedinto
thelifetimeofCassiusDio.ForaveryfragmentaryLatinpapyrus,recently

29. I.Struve,Corpus Inscriptionum Regni Bosporani(Moscow,1965),no.46.