Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Emperors at Work 5

Augustus’ written answer toTiberius,who had asked the citizenship fora
Greekclient—‘‘hewouldnotgrantitunlessthemanappearedinpersonand
persuadedhimthathehadgoodgroundsforhisrequest.’’^10 Formanymatters,
Crook’sConsiliumPrincipismakesitunnecessarytocitemuchoftheevidence.
Twopoints,however,needemphasis.Firstly,itissometimesstatedthatwhen
a delegation arrived to see the emperor, they first gave in their decree to
thebureaua legationibus(dealingwithembassies),thatis,thatsomeprepara-
tionsweremadebeforetheformalhearing.^11 But,forinstance,whenPhilo’s
delegationarrived,itwasGaiuswhomtheyfirstsawandgreeted;nothing
could be achieved further, however, until they could actually present the
petitionandspeakbeforehim.^12 ThenthereisthecaseoftheBithynianem-
bassy which came to accuse Junius Cilo before Claudius. Admitted to his
presence,theygaveventtoaconfusedroarofcomplaint,sothatClaudiushad
toaskNarcissus,whowasstandingnexttohim,whattheyhadsaid;beinga
friendofCilohesaidthattheyhadbeenutteringhispraises—‘‘Sohewillbe
procuratorfortwomoreyears,’’announcedClaudius.^13 Itisclearthatthere
were as yetnopapers of the case—and never were, since the embassy was
thendismissed.Theimplicationsofthesestoriesareconfirmedbyinstruc-
tionsofMenandertherhetoricianaboutthepresbeutikos logos(ambassadors’
oration):itaccompaniedtheactualhandingoverofthepsephisma(decree)to
theemperor.^14 ThisistheprocedureintheOxyrhynchuspapyrusreporting
anAlexandriandelegationbeforeAugustusina.d.13:adelegatecalledAlex-
anderhandsoverthedecreesofthecityandbeginsthefirstspeech.^15 Itisalso
envisagedinthedecreepassedina.d.4bythedecuriones(citycouncillors)and
coloniofPisaonhearingofthedeathofGaius:‘‘[I]nthemeantimeT.Statu-
lenusIuncus...should be asked along with envoys,when thelibellushad
beenhandedover,toexcusethepresentdifficultyofthecolonyandtomake
known this devotion of ours and the goodwill of all to Imperator Caesar
Augustus.’’^16 Sowhenanemperorwrites,asAugustustoCnidos,‘‘Youram-
bassadors...presented themselves to me in Rome and, handing over the

10. Suet.,Div. Aug.40.CompareHadrian’sdescriptionofhisprocedureinconducting
    cases,Dig.22,5,3,3.


11. E.g.,DarembergandSaglio,s.v.‘‘legatio,’’1035;CAHX,687.


12. Philo,Legatio179–83.


13. Dio60,33,5.OnCilo,seeD.Magie,RomanRuleinAsiaMinor(1950),chap.23,n.4.


14. Spengel,Rhetores GraeciIII,423–24.Thesectionends,‘‘thenyouwillrequesthimto
    assenttoreceivethedecree.’’
    15.P. Oxy.2435,lines40–41:‘‘Alexanderhandedoverthedecreesandsaid...’’;cf.line44.
    16.ILS140EhrenbergandJones,69,lines42–47.