34 The Imperial Government
Finally,inepist.14PlinywritestoTrajantocongratulatehimonhisvic-
toryintheDacianwar;ifitisthefirstwar,asitseems,thedatewillbe102,
andtheimmediateoccasionwillbesometimebeforeTrajan’sreturnandhis
celebrationofatriumphinDecember.
Farlessevidencesurvivestoilluminatetheexchangeofcommunications
withtheEmperorduringeitherthesecondDacianwarof105–6,fromwhich
hemaynothavereturnedtoRomeuntilspring107,ortheParthianwar,for
whichheleftRomeinOctober113,nevertoreturn.FromtheDacianwar,
however,wemaynotetheverystrikingreportinPliny’slettersthattheheirs
inacaseinvolvingadisputedwill,whichpittedthemagainstbothaneques-
trian(eques)andafreedmanandprocuratoroftheEmperor,hadwrittento
TrajaninDaciaaskinghimtotakethecase,andheonhisreturnhaddoneso.^34
Thecontextpositivelyimpliesthattheheirswerenotpeopleofthehighest
socialstatus.Finally,astheonlyinstancewhichwehave(otherthanletters
totheSenate,alreadymentioned)fromtheParthianwar,wemaynotethe
complexexchangeswithPergamumoversettingupofanew‘‘iselastic’’agon,
whichdatesomewhereintheyears114–16.^35 TrajanhadarrivedinSyriain
December113.
TheconductoftheEmperor’scorrespondencewhilehewasonjourneys
throughtheprovinces,orwhilehewasstayinginprovincialcitiesorwhile
on campaign, is a special case; for, firstly, it must have been conducted in
thecontextofconstantuncertaintyastowheretheEmperoractuallywas,or
wouldbenext.Secondly,itimpliesontheEmperor’spartanextraordinary
diversionoftimeandenergy,plusthepresenceatalltimesofthenecessary
secretarialstaff.Butinotherrespectsgovernmentatadistance,bymeansof
letters,wassimplythestandardmechanismthroughwhichtheRomanEm-
pireworked.Inparticular,thegovernorofaprovincecouldcommunicate
withtheemperoronlybyletter,whetherthelatterwascurrentlyinRome
oroncampaign.
ProvincialGovernorsandtheEmperor:TheLegalSources
Timeandspacearetheessentialelementswhichwehavealwaystobearin
mindifwearetounderstandtheworkingsoftheEmpire.Aswewillsee,a
provincialgovernorreceivedacodeofinstructions(mandata)fromtheEm-
archéologiques. Les copies épigraphiques des protocoles annuels de la confrére arvale (21 av.–304 ap.
J-C)(Rome,1998),180,Trajanbfr.1.
- Plin.,epist.6,31,8.
35.Ins. v. PergamonII,1895,no.269;IGRIV,no.336;Oliver,no.49.