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

Emperors, Kings, and Subjects 233

duly rewarded with the return of his diadem and confirmation as king of
Judaea.^17 VerysoonafterwardsHerodplayedaprominentroleinescorting
OctavianthroughPalestinetoEgypt,andprovidingsuppliesforhisforces,
theninvisitingOctavianinEgypt,andfinallyinescortinghimagainonthe
way back, through the Syrian region as faras Antioch.^18 The escorting of
the emperoron journeys by kings evidently became an established diplo-
matic norm; so much so that Suetonius’ description of their doing so ‘‘in
themannerofclients’’hasbeenlargelyresponsiblefortheinventionofthe
misleadingmodernterm‘‘clientkings.’’^19
ItisworthnotingthatbothinreceivingOctavianatPtolemaisand(obvi-
ously)ingoingwithhimasfarasAntioch,Herodwasplayingaveryvisible
political role outside the bounds of his own territory. I do not, however,
wanttodwellonthecaseofHerod,partlybecauseitistoowellknown.But
itisworthstressinghowstrangeitisthatthethreebooksofJosephus’An-
tiquities(15–18)whichdescribeHerod’sreignhaveplayedsolittlepartinin-
formingourmoregeneralconceptionsoftheAugustanempire.Itisbeyond
disputethattheydependdirectlyonthelaterbooksoftheuniversalhistory
ofNicolausofDamascus;^20 sowethushaveineffectsomethingverycloseto
a200-pagecontemporaryhistoryofamajordependentkingdomwhoseaf-
fairsrepeatedlyengagedtheemperor’spersonalattentioninthemosturgent
way.Thisextensivenarrativeisthusalso,toasignificantdegree,ahistoryof
theearlyimperialregime.
Thepoliticalcontactsofadependentkingwere,however,notonlywith
theemperorinRome,butwiththenearerRomangovernors.Again,acom-
plexbalanceofpowerwasinvolved.Ontheonehanddependentkings,in
the first centurya.d., on occasion provided quite large forces for Roman
military operations: for example, whenVespasian advanced into Judaea in
a.d.67,aboutathirdofhisforces,some18,000men(thustheequivalentofat
leastthreeRomanlegions),camefromthealliedkingdomsofCommagene,
Emesa,Nabataea,andthedomainsofAgrippaII.^21
Ontheotherhand,governorsmighthavetointervenetorestoreappro-

17. Josephus,BJ1,20,1–3(394–95);Ant.15,6,5–7(183–97).


18. ReferencesinSchürer(n.8),289.


19. Suetonius,Div. Aug.60:‘‘Kingsconsideredfriendsandallies...oftenwouldleave
    theirkingdomsbehindandperform(forhim)dailychoreswearingatogaandwithouttheir
    royalinsignia,inthemannerofclients,notonlyinRome,butalsowhenhewastravelling
    intheprovinces’’(Regesamicietsocii...saeperegnisrelictis non Romae modo sed et provincias
    peragranti cotidiana officia togati ac sine regio insigni more clientium praestiterunt).


20. SeeB.Z.Wacholder,Nicholaus of Damascus(1962),esp.62–64.


21. SeeMillar(n.12),72.