Introduction
The Romans controlled an empire far fl ung by any historical standards. They
did not, however, develop an imperial administration that matched the
dimensions of the empire. A rudimentary apparatus of offi cialdom suffi ced a
government whose concerns were limited to essentials. The basic goals of the
government were twofold: the maintenance of law and order, and the collection
of taxes. Taxes were needed for wages, military expenses and to provide
shows, buildings and handouts of food or cash in the capital city. To achieve
these very limited aims the early emperors took the Republican system of
senatorial administration and expanded it, creating more posts for senators,
but in addition employing for the fi rst time in positions of public responsibility
non- elective offi cials, men from the equestrian order, or lesser aristocracy, and,
more controversially, slaves and freedmen of their own household.^1
Expansion in the number of posts and diversifi cation in the social
background of offi cials do not in themselves entail a more rationalized or
bureaucratic administrative system. The functions of government remained
essentially the same. The emperors brought in no sweeping social and
economic reforms, and were not interested in interfering to any substantial
degree in the lives of their subjects. Hence there was no dramatic increase in
the number of centrally appointed offi cials. The Roman empire remained
undergoverned, certainly by comparison with the Chinese empire, which
employed, proportionately, perhaps twenty times the number of
functionaries.^2 Meanwhile the operation of patronage rather than the
application of formal procedures and rules determined the admission and
promotion of administrators, who were not and never became ‘professionals’.
Again, there was substantial continuity in administrative practices. The
limited fi nancial ends of the government were achieved without recourse to
economic dirigisme. The state did not seek to exercise control over the
3
Government without
bureaucracy
35