20 The Imperial Government
fectswhentheyweregivingjudgementandtooktheminutesofthecases
which he introduced in virtue of his position,’’ and amassed a fortune by
alteringtherecordsofthecases,receivingsubstantialbribesforhispains.^117
Thispassageisofparticularvalueinthatitshowsthattheimportanceandin-
fluenceofthesubordinatesofthegreatmenwereentirelycompatiblewith
theoriginaldecisionorverdicthavingbeenmadebythegreatmenthem-
selves, uninfluenced.What happened subsequently to that stage might be
equallyimportant.
Whatisarguedhereis,inessence,thatiftheevidencedoesnotallowusto
seeadministrativeprocessesinconcretetermsthenitdoesnotallowusto
understand them at all. Administration is merelyone facet of a social sys-
tem.Where,ashere,wearedealingwithasocialsystemtotallyforeignto
ourownexperience,commonsense,‘‘judgement,’’themakingofreasonable
assumptions about what ‘‘must have’’ happened, are all equally irrelevant,
indeedpositivelymisleading.Onemaymakevaliddeductionsfromcompa-
rableproceduresinotherpartsofthesamesocialsystem,butnoothers.
However, some conclusions are possible. The imperial regime was the
productofasocietywheredecisionswerereached,andauthorityexercised,
bytheunaidedjudgementofmembersoftherulingclass.Whenonemem-
berofthatclasswaselevatedabovetherest,theres publicagavehimatfirst
noassistantsbeyondthelictorsandsoldiersfromthepraetorianguard.He
dealtdirectly,inpersonorbyletter,withindividualsofallclassesandwith
thecommunitiesoftheEmpire.Ittookalongtimeforofficiatoformround
him—andthus,sotospeak,toreducehispolitical‘‘exposure.’’Thegradual
seclusionoftheemperorhadentirelyintelligiblecauses.Untilthathappened,
hispersonalemployeesperformedfunctionswhichwereinthemselvesrela-
tivelyhumble:theykeptaccounts,arrangedandkeptdocuments,calledliti-
gantsintotheaudiencehall,andeitherwroteletterstodictationorexpressed
areplyordecisionincorrectlanguage.If,assomeofthemcertainlydid,they
exercisedpowerandinfluence,thatwassomethingwhichtheysharedwith
peopleofallsocialgradeswhohappenedtobeclosetotheemperor.Maece-
nas,^118 Sejanus,^119 Narcissustheab epistulis,^120 andParisthedancer^121 couldall
equallyinfluencethepromotionofsenators.Influenceandfortunelayopen
to anyonewho enjoyed imperial favour; to give onlyone example, Aelius
- Philo,In Flaccum130–34(thetextisnotcertain).
- Dio.55,7,4.
- Tac.,Ann.4,68,2;Juvenal,Sat.10,78–79.
- Suet.,Div.Vesp.4.
- Juvenal,Sat.7,88–90.