Emperors, Frontiers, and Foreign Relations 173atInchtuthil,perhapsin84,anditssystematicdismantlementinabout87,
alongwiththewithdrawalofthelegioIIAdiutrixperhapsinthesameyear,and
itstransferencetoMoesia,^60 mightsuggestthatimperial‘‘policy’’couldoften
consist of allowing imperial governors to follow their own presumptions
until external factors, a major crisis or their own excessive activity, com-
pelledintervention.Alternatively,interventionmightfollowmorequickly,
asweseeinthecaseofCorbuloaslegatusofthelowerRhinearmyin47.The
Chaucistirred,andCorbulomovedagainstthem,apparentlyreportinghis
actiontoRome.Whilehewasbuildingacampinenemyterritory,aletter
arrivedfromClaudiusorderinganendtooperationsandawithdrawalback
acrosstheRhine.^61 IfthegovernordidnotwritetotheEmperor,theeques-
trian procurator might, as we see in the well-known case of Classicianus’
reporttoNerofromBritain,andthemissionofPolyclitus(Ann.14,38–39).
Alternatively,agovernormightwritetotheemperortorequesthisin-
structions before taking action. So, for instance, Domitius Marsianus, the
legatusof Syria, wrote to Claudius to report that Agrippa I was strength-
eningthewallsofJerusalem,andevokedaletterfromtheEmperortothe
kingtellinghimtostop.^62 Similarly,CaesenniusPaetus,asalegatusofSyria
inabout72,reportedtoVespasianthatAntiochusofCommagenewascon-
spiring withVologaeses of Parthia and received instructions to invade the
kingdomandbringroyalruletoanend.^63
It is easy to take such correspondence for granted, as we do the com-
municationsbetweenPlinyinBithyniaandTrajaninRome.Butitisessen-
tialtoemphasizeitslimitationsasadecision-makingprocedure.First,there
were the delays in time. There is no evidence that the Empire possessed
anysignallingprocedurecapableoftransmittingcomplexmessages(orin-
deedanylong-distancesignallingprocedureatall).If,infact,Augustusever
establishedrelaysofrunnersforcarryingmessages(whichwouldhavebeen
prohibitively expensive in manpower if widely used), this procedure was
quickly replaced bya system whereby messengers travelled the entire dis-
tance,andcouldbequestionedforfurtherinformationonarrival.^64 Thesys-
temreliedontheuseofdiplomata(permits)torequisitionhorsesorvehicula
(carriages),andlaterontherelaysofhorsesavailableatthepostingstations
(mansiones).Sinceeverythingdependedontheurgencyofthesituationand
- SeeFrere(n.59),136–38.
- Tacitus,Ann.11,19–20;Dio61,30,4–5(4).
- Josephus,Ant.19,7,2(326–27).
- Josephus,BJ7,7,1–3(219–43).
- Suetonius,Aug.49.