Power and Status in the Roman Empire, AD 193-284

321 Pages·2011·3.52 MB·English

Power and Status in the Roman Empire, ad 193–284
Impact of Empire
EditorialBoardoftheseriesImpactofEmpire
(=ManagementTeamofImpactofEmpire)
Lukasde Blois, Angelos Chaniotis
Ségolène Demougin, Olivier Hekster, Gerda de Kleijn
Luukde Ligt, Elio Lo Cascio, Michael Peachin
John Rich, and Christian Witschel
ExecutiveSecretariatoftheSeriesandtheNetwork
Lukasde Blois, Olivier Hekster
Gerda de Kleijn and John Rich
RadboudUniversityofNijmegen,Erasmusplein1,
P.O.Box9103,6500HDNijmegen,TheNetherlands
AcademicBoardoftheInternationalNetworkImpactofEmpire
gézaalföldy–stéphanebenoist–anthonybirley
christerbruun–johndrinkwater–wernereck–peterfunke
andreagiardina–johanneshahn–fikmeijer–onnovannijf
marie-thérèseraepsaet-charlier–johnrichardson
bertvanderspek–richardtalbert–willemzwalve
VOLUME12
Power and Status
in the Roman Empire,
ad 193–284
By
Inge Mennen
LEIDEN•BOSTON
2011
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaper.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Mennen,Inge.
PowerandstatusintheRomanEmpire,AD193-284/byIngeMennen.
p.cm.–(Impactofempire,ISSN1572-0500;v.12)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN978-90-04-20359-4(hbk.:acid-freepaper)1.Rome–Politicsandgovernment–30
B.C.-284A.D.2.Rome–Socialconditions.3.Rome–History–Empire,30B.C.-284A.D.4.Power
(Socialsciences)–Rome–History.5.Rome–Officialsandemployees–Selectionand
appointment–History.6.Socialclasses–Rome–History.7.Socialstatus–Rome–History.8.
Imperialism–Socialaspects–Rome–History.9.Politicalculture–Rome–History.10.
Hierarchies–Rome–History.I.Title.II.Series.
DG298.M462011
937'.07–dc22
2011006724
ISSN 1572-0500
ISBN 9789004203594
Copyright2011byKoninklijkeBrillNV,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements.................................................... vii
Abbreviations .......................................................... ix
ListofTablesandFigures.............................................. xi
NotestotheReader.................................................... xiii
Introduction ........................................................... 1
ChapterOne.ChangingEmperorship:SettingtheScene ............ 21
.. FactorsInfluencingEmperorshipbetweenadand .. 22
.. ConsequencesforthePositionoftheEmperor ............... 40
.. Conclusion ..................................................... 46
ChapterTwo.TheImpactofCrisesonthePositionofthe
SenatorialElite...................................................... 49
.. EstablishingtheSenatorialEliteintheThirdCentury........ 50
.. AnalyzingtheSelectedFamilies ............................... 55
.. DefiningaNucleuswithintheSenatorialElite................ 70
.. Conclusion ..................................................... 79
Excursus.ProsopographyoftheSenatorialEliteFamilies............ 83
ChapterThree.PraetorianPrefectsandOtherHigh-ranking
Equestrians.......................................................... 135
.. TheIncreasingResponsibilitiesofHighEquestriansin
ImperialAdministration....................................... 137
.. TheStatusofHigh-rankingEquestriansintheThird
Century......................................................... 156
.. Thepraefectipraetorio:ACaseStudy.......................... 159
.. Conclusion ..................................................... 188
vi contents
ChapterFour.High-rankingMilitaryOfficers:SeptimiusSeverus
versusGallienus..................................................... 193
.. SeptimiusSeverusandHisMilitaryOfficers.................. 194
.. GallienusandHisMilitaryOfficers ........................... 216
.. Conclusion ..................................................... 240
Conclusion............................................................. 247
AppendixOne.ListofEmperorsandUsurpers(ad–)....... 255
AppendixTwo.ListsofMenHoldingSenatorialElitePositions
betweenadand............................................ 257
AppendixThree.ListofPraefectiPraetoriobetweenadand 263
Bibliography ........................................................... 269
GeneralIndex.......................................................... 289
IndexofAncientPersons.............................................. 297
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Romanimperialadministrationaswellaspowerandstatusrelationsare
fascinating,thoughcomplicated,topicsofresearch.Forthisstudy,Ihad
tobecomefamiliarwiththesecomplexthemes,examining,withinabout
halfadecade,aperiodofoverahundredyears.Itmaycomeasnosurprise
thatthiswasnotalwayseasy.Fortunately,thegeneroussupportofothers
helpedme along theway. I would like to expressmy gratitude to those
whohelpedmecompletethisbook,whichisaslightlyrevisedversionof
mydoctoraldissertation(RadboudUniversity,).
FirstandforemostIamexceptionallygratefultoLukasdeBlois,whose
enthusiasm,infinitetrust,andsupporthavebeenessentialstimulitomy
research. I have benefited greatly from his inexhaustible knowledge on
thethirdcenturyanditsadministration.OlivierHekster,whosespeedof
speechandthoughtarepeerless,regularlysavedmefromcircularargu-
mentsand methodologicalerrors.His commentsandquestions helped
me to improve my texts and put things in a wider perspective. I have
receivedthefriendship,encouragementandfeedbackofmyfellowteam
membersofthe‘ImageandReality’project,DaniëlleSlootjesandErika
Manders. Lien Foubert and Janneke de Jong commented thoughtfully
andhelpfullyonmyideasandpartsofmythesisaswell.Iwanttothank
thembothforbeingclosefriends.
During my PhD years I had the opportunity to spend considerable
time abroad, at inspiring institutes and in excellent libraries. This also
affordedmethechancetomeetsomepeoplewhohelpedmedevelopmy
ideas. At Heidelberg, I learned a lot about epigraphy and discussedmy
researchataveryearlystagewithGézaAlföldyandChristianWitschel.
DuringmystaysatOxford,IreceivedawarmwelcomefromEdwardBis-
pham,AlanBowmanandFergusMillarandprofitedfromtheirexpertise.
InNewYork,IwasfortunatetomeetMichaelPeachin,withwhomIhad
valuableconversationsontheuseofprosopographyinexaminingRoman
administrationandwhoagreedtobeamemberofmythesiscommittee.I
amgratefulforhisstimulatingcomments.PierreSánchezwelcomedme
toGenevaandenabledmetoworkthere.NoemiPogetistobethanked
forshowingmearoundtheGenevanlibraries.Itwastherethatthefirst
viii acknowledgements
chapter ofthisstudy took shape.Finally, Iwould like to thankthestaff
oftheRoyalNetherlandsInstituteinRome,andespeciallyGert-JanBur-
gers,forthehospitalitytheyextendedtome.
IamgreatlyindebtedtoDavidDeVore,whoadvisedmeandimproved
my English most acutely. He came highly recommended, but still ex-
ceeded all expectations. Needless to say, any remaining errors are my
responsibility. Warm thanks are given to all colleagues of the History
department at the Radboud University, especially my fellow ancient
historians.
My friends and in-laws are to be thanked for their encouragements
and expressing interest in my work. I wish to thank my parents and
my sister for their unconditional support and love. The final words
of thanks are reserved for Folkert, who is probably the only physicist
whoisanexpertonbothparticleacceleratorsandthird-centuryRoman
imperialadministration: hislove, support,optimismandpatience have
beenindispensable.Iamextremelythankfulforeverythinghedid.
This project, which is part of the larger research program ‘Image and
Reality of Roman Imperial Power, ad–’, could not have been
carried out without the financial support provided by the Netherlands
Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). Thanks are also due to
the Radboud University of Nijmegen, the EU’s Lifelong Learning Pro-
grammeErasmus,theRoyalNetherlandsInstituteinRome(KNIR),the
Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds and the Stichting Dr. Hendrik Muller’s
VaderlandschFonds.Anearlierversionofmuchofsection.waspub-
lished in O. Hekster, G. de Kleijn and D. Slootjes (eds.), Crises and the
RomanEmpire.IMEM(LeidenandBoston).
ABBREVIATIONS
AAntHung ActaAntiquaAcademiaeScientiarumHungaricae
AE L’Annéeépigraphique
AJPh AmericanJournalofPhilology
ANRW AufstiegundNiedergangderrömischenWelt
BJ BonnerJahrbücherdesRheinischenLandesmuseumsinBonnund
VereinsvonAltertumsfreundenimRheinlande
BMCRE H.Mattingly,C.H.V.Sutherland,E.A.Sydenhametal.,Coinsof
theRomanEmpireintheBritishMuseum(LondonandOxford
–)
CAH TheCambridgeAncientHistory(Cambridge–)
CCG CahiersduCentreGustave-Glotz
CIL CorpusInscriptionumLatinarum
Cod.Iust. CodexIustinianus,ed.P.Krueger(Berlin–)
CP ClassicalPhilology
CQ ClassicalQuarterly
CR ClassicalReview
DNP H.Cancik,H.Schneider,M.Landfester(eds.),DerNeuePauly.
EnzyklopädiederAntike.BändeAltertumA–Z,Bände
Rezeptions-undWissengeschichteA–Z,Registerband(Stuttgart
andWeimar–).
DoS J.ScottandG.Marshall(eds.),ADictionaryofSociology(rd
revisededition,Oxford).
DSS C.J.Calhoun(ed.),DictionaryoftheSocialSciences(NewYork
).
HA HistoriaAugusta
IEph DieInschriftenvonEphesos(IGSK–),vols.(Bonn–
)
IESBS N.J.Smelser,P.B.Baltes(eds.),InternationalEncyclopediaofthe
SocialandBehavioralSciences(Oxford).
IG InscriptionesGraecae(Berlin–)
IGBR InscriptionesGraecaeinBulgariaRepertae
IGRR R.Cagnat,A.Merlin,L.Chatelain,InscriptionesGraecaeadRes
RomanasPertinentes,vols.(,,)(Paris–).
ILAfr Inscriptionslatinesd’Afrique(Tripolitaine,Tunisie,Maroc)(Paris
)
ILAlg Inscriptionslatinesdel’Algérie(–)
ILS H.Dessau(ed.),InscriptionesLatinaeSelectae,vols.(Berlin
–).