42 THE ROMAN EMPIRE
The constitutions of the rest of the cities of the empire were as diverse as
the cities themselves. The cities ranged all the way from the Greek polis with
its elaborate and time- hallowed constitution to the tribal capital of Gaul
and Britain, which tended to ape Roman constitutional practices. Within the
cities there existed a number of privileged categories. Federate cities ( civitates
foederatae ) were so called because they had struck treaties with Rome
establishing their rights. Free cities ( civitates liberae ) were theoretically
exempt from interference by the provincial governor. Free and immune cities
( civitates liberae et immunes ) possessed the additional privilege of immunity
from taxation. Tax- exempt cities were always very rare, while the number of
free cities declined in the course of the late Republic and early empire. A
mere handful of western cities enjoyed free or federate status at any time.
This goes back to the fact that in the West, outside the areas where Etruscan,
Greek and Phoenician infl uence was strongly felt, the growth of cities was a
late and largely unspontaneous development, coinciding with the spread of
Roman power. Most provincial cities in the West were either new creations
or grew up on or near the site of earlier communities of lesser signifi cance.
Thus the typical western city was always in principle subject to outside
interference. In the East, in contrast, the Romans had to establish a modus
vivendi with numerous city- states having proud and long- standing traditions
of sovereignty. Nevertheless privileges were dispensed only selectively in the
East. They were typically the reward for conspicuous service to the winning
side during the civil wars staged by Roman generals in the eastern
Mediterranean in the course of the fi rst century BC. Thus for example
Aphrodisias was rewarded with freedom and immunity by Octavian
(Augustus) in 39 BC for its loyal support of the Julian cause after the death
of Caesar.^23
Cities and villages
Cities, despite their diverse traditions and character, did have something in
common that distinguished them from communities of lower degree. A city
was essentially a self- governing urban community, with a regular constitution
centring on a council and magistrates and a rural territory under its
jurisdiction and control. This is a political/administrative defi nition, squaring
with the attitude of the central government, if not with that of representatives
of the Greek- speaking or Hellenocentric elite, whose defi nition would have
included cultural institutions, amenities and public buildings, whether
purely decorative or utilitarian. However, when the Roman authorities are
found making decisions as to the status of a particular community, practical
considerations come to the fore, in particular the potential viability of the
community in economic and demographic terms. The interplay of formal
and material requirements can be followed in the documents.
In an inscription of Orcistus, a town situated on the borders of Galatia in
central Asia Minor, the citizens are shown seeking from the emperor