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

Trajan 25

turies shows that the Empire also did not have at its disposal an organised
transportsystemforofficialtravellersormessengers:thetermcursus publicus
infactonlyappearsinthefourthcentury.Whattheimperialstatedeployed
wassomethingverydifferent,namelyasetofrightsonthepartofofficial
travellerstorequisitionvehicles,animals,andguidesandacorrespondingset
ofobligationsonthepartoflocalcommunitiestosupplythem.Thisnetwork
ofrightsandobligationswasknowninLatinasvehiculatio,andinGreekoften
asangareia,andwasoneofthemostcommonsourcesoftensionbetweenthe
agentsofthestateanditssubjects.^6
The corollaryof thevery limited degree towhich the state as such ar-
rangedforthetransferenceofmessages,requests,orcomplaintswasthatany
materialwhichwasthoughttorequiretheemperor’sattentionhadphysi-
callytobebroughttowhereverhewas,eitherbygroupsofinterestedparties
orbyindividualmessengers.‘‘Groupsofinterestedparties’’refersmostobvi-
ouslytoembassiesfromprovincialcommunities,bringingdecreespassedby
citiesorprovincialcouncils,deliveringthemtotheemperorwithanaccom-
panyingoration,andcarryingbackareplywhichmightbereadoutbefore
acitycouncil(boulē),orevenawholepopularassembly(ekklēsia),whenthey
returned.Individualmessengerswereconcernedprimarilywhenprovincial
governors,orotherofficials,sentletterstotheemperorandreceivedreplies
fromhim(or,incertaincases,didnotreceiveanyreply).
It is clear, as we will see, that not only persons actually holding office
but also individuals of high status could write letters to the emperor and
mighthopetoreceivereplies.Lower-statusindividualswereforcedeither
topresentpetitions(libelli)totheemperor,inthehopeofhismakingabrief
written reply,or, if they were at a distance, to have their petition (libellus)
sentonwithaletterdespatchedbyanoffice-holder.Aswewillsee,thislatter
procedurehappenstobeparticularlywellattestedforTrajan’sreign.
Three accidental circumstances give the reign of Trajan an exceptional
significanceforus,inlookingattheevolutionof imperialgovernmentby
correspondence.OneoftheseisofcoursethepreservationofPliny’scorre-
spondencewithTrajan.Buthere,whileitistheexchangeoflettersbetween
Pliny,inPontusandBithynia,andTrajanwhichhasalwaysattractedthemost
attention,thereisatleastasmuchsignificanceintheletterswhichPlinysent
toTrajanearlier,alloftheminfactfromquiteearlyinhisreign.Theyall,it
seems,belongtoperiodswhenTrajanwasoutofRomeonthefrontiers.

6. The best collection and discussion of the evidence remains S. Mitchell, ‘‘Requisi-
   tionedTransportintheRomanEmpire:ANewInscriptionfromPisidia,’’JRS66(1976):
   106–31.Thesubjectwoulddeserveacomprehensivetreatment.