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

chapterone

Emperors at Work

*

Oneofthemostrevealingsingleitemsofevidenceonthepoliticalcharac-
teroftheEmpireisananecdotetoldbyDioaboutHadrian;awomanap-
proached the Emperoron a journeyand demanded his attention; Hadrian
saidhehadnotimeandmovedon—‘‘thenstopbeingEmperor’’shoutedthe
woman after him.^1 The point is clear; the ideology—and the practice—of
theEmpirewasthattheemperorwaspersonallyaccessibletohissubjectsin
awaywhichnowseemsincredible,andwhichmostbooksontheEmpire
tendtoignore,orregardastrivial.Onemayrecall,forinstance,Maecenas
strugglingtogetthroughthecrowdsurroundingAugustusashegavejudge-
ment,^2 theadvocatitryingtoholdClaudiusbyphysicalforceonthetribunal
toheartheirpleas,^3 orthestoryofhowamuleteerofVespasianwasbribed
tostopandshoeamule,givingtimeforalitiganttoapproach.^4
Suchexamplesareintendedmerelyasthesettingforadiscussionoftwo
specificproblems,raisedinparticularbyA.N.Sherwin-Whiteinanalysing

*FirstpublishedinJRS57(1967):9–19.ThischapterwasreadtotheOxfordPhilological
Society on 1 November 1963. I intended to leave it unpublished, as being merely a first
essayatasubjectwhichwouldbeanelementinalargerwork,eventuallypublishedasThe
Emperor in the RomanWorld, 31b.c.–a.d. 337 (1977),2ndeditionwithAfterword(1992).On
reflection it seemed better to make these ideas public and provoke criticism where nec-
essary.Ikepttheoriginallargelyunaltered,thoughmakinganumberofadditions.Iwas
verygratefulfordiscussionwithMr.A.J.HolladayandMr.T.D.Barnes,whoalsoprovided
someextramaterial.

1. Dio69,6,3.


2. Dio55,7,2.


3. Suet.,Div. Claud.15;cf.Div. Aug.97.


4. Suet.,Div.Vesp.23.

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