‘‘Senatorial’’ Provinces ing,heoughttohavespokenofex-praetorsandex-consuls,andhemakes
noreferencetotheuseofthelot.Butheiscorrectinthatthepraetorshipor
consulship,gainedbypopularelection,wasanecessaryandsufficientcondi-
tion—baronlytheuseofthelot—forbeingtheproconsulofapublicprov-
ince(demosia eparchiainStrabo).
Thereisnofurtherdescriptionofthisdivisioninoursources(noneissup-
pliedbyVelleius)untilwecometoSuetonius’LifeofAugustus,wherearefer-
encetothelotdulyappears:‘‘theothershe[Augustus]assignedtoproconsuls
selectedbylot’’(ceteras [provincias] proconsulibus sortito permisit,Div. Aug.).
Againtheemphasisisonthemethodofappointment,andthereisnoref-
erencetotheSenateasabody.Wheresuchareferencedoesappear,though
onlyinatangentialway,isinCassiusDio’saccountofthesamearrangement:
hereitissaidthatAugustus‘‘gaveback’’(apedoke)themorepeacefulprov-
inces,withoutitbeingsaidtowhom.^4 Dioaddsthecommentthathedidso
notionallysothattheSenate(gerousiahere)mighthavetheuntroubledbene-
fitofthefairestpartoftheempire(,,–).Hethenliststhoseprovinces
whichweretobethoseofthepeopleandSenate(,).Thisis,ofcourse,
an allusion to the Senate; but such an allusion, as part of a phrase equiva-
lenttoSenatus Populusque Romanus(SPQR),hasasensequitedifferentfrom
onewhichwouldimplyanadministrativeorconstitutionalcompetenceof
theSenateperse.Ifthatneededademonstration,itisprovidedafewlines
later (, ),when Dio says that Augustus subsequently gave back Cyprus
andNarbonensistothepeople(demos,cf.,,).Thesamecombinedterm,
asusedinDio’sGreek,alsoreappearsacoupleofchapterslater(,),when
hespeaksofthequaestorsappointedbylotandthe(occasional)legatessent
totheprovincescalled‘‘thoseofthePeopleandSenate.’’Theimplicationsof
thisphrasearethusquiteclear:theprovincesconcernedwerethosewhere
thesystemlongestablishedintheRomanres publicaprevailed,wherebyap-
pointmenttospecificprovinceswasmadebylot.
Onlyatonemomentinhisdetaileddescriptionoftheprovincialsystem
does Dio speak as if the provinces governed by proconsuls of consular or
praetorian rank were in someway the collective concern of the Senate as
such.Here(,,–)heiscontrastingthefactthatemperorssometimes
appointedto‘‘their’’provincesgovernorswhowerestillintheiryearofoffice
aspraetororconsul.BycontrastAugustusassignedtotheSenateforitspart,
andtoex-consuls,theprovincesofAfricaandAsia,andtheremainingones
toex-praetors,butwiththestrictrulethatallocationbylotshouldnottake
. As was noted inJRS (): , thewordsτῇβουλῇappear in theversions of
XiphilinusandZonarasatthispoint,butnotinthetransmittedtextofDio.