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

238 The Imperial Government

whosenamesalsoreflectedtheimperialdynasty,andwhosestatusisnoten-
tirelyclear:‘‘Livias,’’‘‘Iulias,’’andsoforth.InCaesareaandSebastethepower
of Romewas explicitly symbolised from the beginning: the main temples
inbothcitieswerededicatedtoAugustus,ortoRomaandAugustus,aswas
thatatCaesareaPanias.^32
Thereisnoneedtorehearsethesewell-knowndetails,whichweoweto
thefactthatJudaea,aloneofalltheprovincesoftheEmpire,wasthesub-
ject of a history (or rather two histories) written bya native of it. It is of
moreinteresttoaskwhetherwecangainanyimpressionofsocial,political,
and symbolic structures in other kingdoms, and to consider how far these
reflectthepresenceoftheEmpire.Often,ourinformationisonlyanecdotal:
for instanceTacitus reports, from the yeara.d.17, that after the deaths of
Antiochus of Commagene and Philopatorof Cilicia these peoples were in
turmoil,‘‘mostpreferringRomanrule[imperium]andothersroyal.’’^33 How
politicalopinionwasexpressedinthesecontexts,wedonotknow.Eachof
these kingdoms, however, contained a numberof Greek cities. But we do
gain an impression of how, as in Judaea, direct Roman rule could seem a
desirable alternative to royal authority. Similarly, Cappadocia, until nowa
kingdom,becameaprovinceinthenextyear;andwhateverthesystemof
taxation had been under the last king, taxes were deliberately reduced by
theRomansatthemomentoftheimpositionofprovincialrule,preciselyto
reconcilepublicopinion.^34 Anotherperfect,ifequallybriefandenigmatic,
example of power relations in the shadow of Rome is provided by a fur-
therreportfromTacitus,undertheyear36.Theepisoderelatestotheperiod
ofruleonCiliciabyArchelausII,thesonoftherecentlydeceasedkingof
Cappadocia:^35

AtaboutthesametimethepeopleoftheCietae,subjectedtotherule

oftheCappadocianArchelaus,becausetheywereforcedtoundergoa

censusofRomantype,andtoenduredirecttaxation,migratedtothe

heightsoftheTaurus,andbyuseoftheterraindefendedthemselves

againsttheweakroyaltroops,untilthelegionarycommander[legatus],

M.Trebellius,despatchedbyVitellius,governorofSyria,with4,000

legionaries and selected auxiliaries, besieged the two mountains...

whichthebarbarihadoccupied,andforcedthemtosurrender.

32. Josephus,BJ,1,21,1–8(403–16).


33. Tacitus,Ann.2,42.


34. Tacitus,Ann.2,56.


35. Tacitus,Ann.6,41.SeeR.D.Sullivan,‘‘TheDynastyofCappadocia,’’ANRWII.7.2
    (1980),1125–68,onpp.1167–68.