The Roman City-State under the Emperors allyoperatedinRomeintheearlyEmpire.Itisinfactonlynow,withthe
publication of the tablets from Puteoli, and also from reading the Flavian
municipallaw,ofwhichalargenewsectionwaspublishedin,thatwe
canbegintoseewhatwecall‘‘Romanlaw’’actuallyfunctioningintheclas-
sicalperioditself.ItisofsomesignificancethattheFlavianmunicipallaw,
known from inscribed bronze tablets of Domitian’s reign, found in Spain,
repeatedlyrefersbacktotheproceduresforjurisdictioninRome.^24
Imustleavethattopic,notleastbecauseIamstilltooconfusedmyselfasto
howthevariouselementsofjurisdictioninRomeinthefirstcenturyreally
functioned.Butinthinkingoftheroutineofjurisdictionweareextending
ourattentiontothecitizensoftherespublica:‘‘citizens’’inonesensemeans
thepopulationofthecityitself;inanother,itincludesalltheadultmalesin
Italy;and,inanother,notonlythembutallthoseoutsideItalywhoenjoyed
theRomancitizenship.Citizensfromtheprovinceswerestillrelativelyfew.
ButtherewerenowRomancoloniesintheprovinces,andoneofthereally
importantrevelationsprovidedbynewdocumentscomesfromtheTabula
Siarensis,abronzetabletfromBaeticarecordingthepubliccommemoration
ofGermanicusafterhisdeathin.ForinthisdocumenttheSenateadvises
theconsulstoputupatextof itsdecree,andinstructstheambassadorsof
themunicipia(citieswithRoman-styleconstitutions)andcoloniestocopyit
andtosendit‘‘tothemunicipiaandcoloniesof Italy,andtothosecolonies
whicharesituatedintheprovinces.’’^25 Italywasnowinsomerespectssome-
thinglikeanation-state,withcitizenoff-shootsintheprovinces.Inother
respects,whatstillmatteredmost,andwhatinarealsenseconstitutedthe
active citizenryof theres publica,was the population of Rome. All Roman
citizens,wherevertheylived,belongedinprincipletooneorotherofthe
ancientthirty-fivetribes.ButinscriptionsputupinRomeinhonourofGer-
manicusandDrususin..couldrepresentthesourceofthesehonoursas
being‘‘theurbanplebsofthetribes,’’asifthetwocategorieswereessen-
tiallyidentical.^26 TacitushimselfwasofcoursetobeginhisAnnaleswiththe
words ‘‘Urbem Romam,’’ and therewas a real sense in which the essential
subjectofRomanhistorycouldstillbeseenasthecity,itsinstitutions,andits
people:inshort,asthehistoryofastrangeandanomaloussortofcity-state,
whichontheonehandhadextendeditscitizenshiptoallofItalyandbeyond,
. J. González, ‘‘The Lex Irnitana: A New Copyof the Flavian Municipal Law,’’JRS
():.ThethreemaintextsareprintedseparatelyinJ.González,Bronces juridicos
romanos de Andalucia():–(Irnitana);–(Salpensana);–(Malacitana).
. FortheTabulaSiarensis,seenn.–.Thesectionquotedisfr.(b),col.II,ll.–.
.ILS,(Drusus);(Germanicus).Seeesp.C.Nicolet,‘‘Plèbeettribus:lesstatues
deLuciusAntoniusetletestamentd’Auguste,’’MEFR(A)():.