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

Emperors at Work 7

hisreferencetothemanwhohadcomefromhispatriatoasktheEmperor
fortheprivilegesgrantedtoparentsofthreechildren—‘‘Butstopwearying
ourlordwithsupplicatinglibelli.’’^25 ThenthereistheincidentinPhilostratus
when the philosopher Euphrates handsVespasian a letter with requests for
gifts,expectinghimtoreaditinprivate—butVespasianputshimtoshame
byreadingitoutaloudthereandthen.^26 Similarly,theplanforthemurderof
DomitianwasthatStephanusshouldhandhimalibellusandwhile hewas read-
ing itstrikehimdown.^27 ThetextcalledSententiae et EpistulaeofHadrianalso
containstwoinstancesofpetitionsper libellumwiththespokenanswersof
theEmperor.^28 Buttheclassicinstanceoftheemperor’sreceptionoflibelliis
ConstantineattheCouncilofNicaea.Tiredofthemutualaccusationsmade
bythebishopsinlibelli,heappointedaspecialtimeforthis:‘‘[W]henhehad
takenhisseat,hereceivedlibellifromeachseparately,allofwhichheheldin
hislap,notrevealingwhatwasinthem.’’^29
Thentherewereletterssenttotheemperorbyofficials.Thebestproce-
dure is to start with a fewclearexamples of emperors reading such letters
themselves,andthencomefinallytothemostdifficultquestion,thehandling
ofimperialpaperworkandthecompositionoflettersandrescripts.
Firstlythen,SuetoniusandDiorecordthatAugustusremovedaconsular
legatefromhispostongroundsof illiteracy—‘‘becausehenoticedthathe
hadwrittenixiinsteadofipsi.’’^30 Wecanhardlyescapetheinferencethatthe
legate had written the letter with his own hand and that Augustus read it
himself.TheninPhilowefindPetroniusthelegateofSyriasendingaletter
toGaius:‘‘When(themessengers)arrivedtheydeliveredtheletter.Gaiusgot
redinthefacebeforehehadfinishedreadingandwasfilledwithangerashe
notedeachpoint.’’^31 LaterwefindhimreadingaletterfromKingAgrippa—
‘‘andgettingangryateachofthepoints.’’^32 Similarly,PhilodescribesTiberius
readingaletterofcomplaintfromtheJewsaboutPilateandbreakinginto

25. 8,82,1;8,31.


26. Philost.,V. Apoll.Tyan.5,38.


27. Suet.,Dom.17.
    28.Corpus Gloss. Lat.III,31,34.Cf.Justin,Apol.2,2(awomangivingalibellus—bibli-
    dion—totheEmperor).


28. Rufinus,EH10,2;Sozomenus,EH1,16,3–5;Socrates,EH1,8,18–19.


29. Suet.,Div. Aug.88;cf.Dio,ed.Boissevain,II,557.Thisinoneofanumberofitems
    whichDiomayhavetakendirectfromSuetonius;seeF.Millar,AStudyofCassiusDio(1964),
    85–86.
    31.Legatio254,trans.Smallwood.


30. Ibid.,331.