220 The Imperial Government
thatArminius,thevictorofthefamousdefeatoftheRomanlegatus,Quinc-
tiliusVarus,inthebattleoftheTeutoburgerForestina.d.9,hadnotonlyled
CheruscanforcesinRomanservice,butwashimselfaRomancitizen,and
evenhadthestatusofeques(VelleiusPaterculus2,118,2).Itismoreimportant
tostressthattheprovisionofmilitarycontingentsforservicewithRomeis
wellattestedasaspecificprovisionofpeacetreatiesconcludinghostilities;
oneexamplewillbegivenbelow.
IftherewasnopermanentRomandiplomaticrepresentationamongallied
peoples,thesameisalsotrueinthereversedirection.Thenotionofestab-
lished representation at the political centres of foreign peoples, whether
monarchiesornot,wasunknowninantiquity.Theonlyrepresentativesof
foreignpowerswhomightbelivinginRomewereofadifferentsort,namely
hostages.Aconsiderablevolumeofliteraryandinscriptionalevidenceillus-
trates the presence in Rome of hostages from a varietyof regions beyond
theEmpire.Theycouldindeedberegarded,asbyPlinytheElder,supple-
mentinghisknowledgeoftheCaucasusregion,assourcesofgeographical
information(Nat. Hist.6,23),orofcourseasRomannomineesindisputes
overtheoccupancyofthronesin‘‘client’’kingdoms.Thereisonlyanarrow
linebetweentheseandthechildrenwhom‘‘client’’kingsoftensenttoRome
tobeeducated,asHerodtheGreatdidwithtwoofhissons.WhenRoman
coinageclaimed,asitonoccasiondid,thatakinghadbeen‘‘given’’(datus)
toapeoplebeyondtheborders,itwasoftenahostageorroyalchild,already
available,andsuitablyRomanized,whowassentoutinthisrole.^32
Itisonly,however,inaveryloosesensethatsuchhostagesormembersof
royalfamilies,moreorlessvoluntarilyresidentinRome,couldbeconsidered
asdiplomaticrepresentatives.Tomakesuchaclaimwouldbeonthecontrary
tomisstheessentialpointthatalldiplomatictransactionswereconductedad
hoceitherbythedispatchofambassadorstotheseatofpower,oronocca-
sionbyface-to-facenegotiationsconductedinpersonbytheemperor,ora
memberofhisfamily,withaforeignking.
The latter is more fullyattested in the following period, the ‘‘crisis’’ of
thethirdcentury,andincreasinglysointhefourthcentury,whereadetailed
narrativeisavailablefromAmmianusMarcellinus.Butdiplomacyatadis-
tance, as conducted by Rome, is not so easy to grasp. As we have seen in
sufficientdetailalready,theoppositeprocess,thearrivalofforeignambassa-
dorsinRomanterritory,isfrequentlydescribed.Forinstance,thedocuments
fromthefamousarchaeologicalsiteofDura-EuroposontheEuphratesshow
a Parthian ambassadoron his way to appear before Septimius Severus and
- SeeBraund,Rome and the Friendly King(n.12),9ff.