Commanders and Command in the Roman Republic and Early Empire

433 Pages·2015·3.538 MB·English

by  Fred K. Drogula

Commanders
& Command
in the Roman Republic and
Early Empire
STUDIES IN THE HISTORY OF GREECE AND ROME
Robin Osborne, James Rives, and Richard J. A. Talbert, editors
Books in this series examine the history and society of Greece and Rome from approximately
1000 BC to AD 600. Th e series includes interdisciplinary studies, works that introduce new
areas for investigation, and original syntheses and reinterpretations.
Commanders
& Command
in the Roman Republic and
Early Empire
FRED K. DROGULA
Th e University of North Carolina Press(cid:4)Chapel Hill
© 2015 Th e University of North Carolina Press
All rights reserved
Set in Garamond Premier Pro by Tseng Information Systems, Inc.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Th e paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources. Th e University of North Carolina Press has been a member of the
Green Press Initiative since 2003.
Jacket illustration: Adlocutio, from the Arch of Constantine (south face, attic panel 3).
Photograph by Bill Storage.
Complete cataloging information can be obtained online at the
Library of Congress catalog website.
ISBN 978- 1- 4696- 2126- 5 (cloth: alk. paper)
ISBN 978- 1- 4696- 2127- 2 (ebook)
For my mother and father
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Contents
Acknowledgments, ix
Introduction, 1
CHAPTER 1
Concepts and Traditions of Military Leadership in
Early Rome (to 367 BC), 8
CHAPTER 2
Fundamental Concepts of Authority in Early Rome (to 367 BC), 46
CHAPTER 3
Th e Concept of Provincia in Early Rome (to 367 BC), 131
CHAPTER 4
Th e Development of the Classical Constitution (367 to 197 BC), 182
CHAPTER 5
From Command to Governance, 232
CHAPTER 6
Th e Late Republic (100 to 49 BC), 295
CHAPTER 7
Augustan Manipulation of Traditional Ideas of
Provincial Governance, 345
Conclusion, 374
Bibliography, 383
Index, 409
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Acknowledgments
Many years ago I determined to undertake a major project on Roman gov-
ernors, but at the time I had little idea how diffi cult this subject would be,
or how many diff erent threads of research would be needed to understand it
fully. Much has been written on individual aspects of Roman governors, and
many scholarly debates about Roman government involve questions about its
governors, but I wondered if a single comprehensive study of the provincial
governor would reveal new information about ancient Rome. I decided to
attempt this task, which turned out to be a rabbit hole that grew only more
complex and daunting the further I proceeded. As a result, this work has been
many years in the making, as I strugg led to determine the best questions to ask
and the right way to build my arguments and structure the book. Entire chap-
ters were taken out or reconceived, and the whole work has been repeatedly
restructured and rewritten as I discovered new and important lines of inquiry.
Th rough every step of this process, I have been fortunate to have the friend-
ship and counsel of Elizabeth A. Meyer, whose knack for asking the right
question— which all- too- oft en forces you to rethink your entire position— is
unparalleled. I am deeply grateful for her guidance, her sugg estions, her criti-
cisms, and her comments on several draft s of this book. I also owe a great
debt to J. E. Lendon, Richard Talbert, and A. J. Woodman, who have gener-
ously assisted me over the years by reading draft s of my work, by pointing me
in the direction of valuable evidence, by identifying weaknesses in my argu-
ments, and by sugg esting improvements. While these scholars and friends have
made important contributions to my thinking and have been invaluable to
me in my work, all errors of fact or interpretation in this book remain exclu-
sively my own. I am also grateful to the anonymous readers at the UNC Press,
who off ered many sugg estions and constructive criticisms of my work, and
to Charles Grench, the editor at UNC Press who accepted my book for pub-
lication in this prestigious series and who provided the needed support to get
this book to press. I would also like to thank my employer Providence Col-
lege for its fi nancial assistance in producing this work and for providing an
exceptional Interlibrary Loan staff , whose tireless eff orts have facilitated my
research. Finally, I owe an eternal debt to my parents Betty Ann and Fred Dro-
ix