Table Of ContentROMAN PROVINCIAL AD~1INISTRATION
ROMAN PROVINCIAL
ADMINISTRATION
TILL THE AGE OF THE 1\NTONINES
G. H. STEVENSON
Fellow and P.raelector in Ancient History,
University College, Oxford
WITH A MAP
rn
GREENWOOD PRESS, PUBLISHERS
WESTPORT, CONNr.CTIClJT
Library or f'ongrf'S'i C'alaloging in Publil"ation Data
Stevenson, George Hope, 1880-
Roman provincial administration ~ill the a;-e of 7he
Antonines.
Reprint of the l'.139 ed. published b:r G. F. ~ +:echer•,
New York.
Includes index.
1. Rome--Provinces--Administration. Rome--
Politics and government--265-30 B.C.
·i
and government--30 B.C.-284 A.D. :'itle.
DG87.S7 1975 354'.~: "· -l'l3b4
ISBN 0-8371-8321-9
Originally published in 1939 by G. E. Stechert & Co., New York
Reprinted in 1975 by Greenwood Press,
a division of Williamhousc-Regency Inc.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 75-18364
ISBN 0-8371-8321-9
Printed in the United States of America
PREFACE
IT is hoped that students of Roman history and institutions
will find in this little book a not inadequate substitute for
\V. T. Arnold's Roman Provincial Administration, which
first appeared in 1879, was revised in 1906 and 1914, and
is now out of print. My debt to Arnold \vill be clear to
every reader, but I have allowed myself to alter considerably
his method and arrangement. In particular I have given in
the :first chapter a brief historical summary of the growth of
the Roman Empire, and have refrained from discussing
certain other questions which seemed to belong rather to
the general history of Rome. I have thought it best not to
attempt to deal with the obscure period which follows the
age of the Antonines nor with the problems raised by the
Roman administration of Egypt, the complexity of which is
shown in the recent works of A. C. Johnson and S. L.
Wallace. I do not profess to have done more than
give an account of the main features of Roman Provincial
Administration in the hope that readers may be encouraged
to pursue their study of the subject in more detailed works.
It has not been considered necessary to compile a bibli
ography, as the most important English books and articles
dealing with the subject have been referred to in the foot
notes, and detailed bibliographies are appended to the
relevant chapters in the CatnbridgeA ncient History.
The late Professor Tenney Frank, to whose published
writings I owe much, was good enough to read my book in
V
J
I ,
.
Vl PREFACE
proof a fe\v \vceks before his lan1ented death and to n1ake
some useful suggestions. I should like to thank my
colleague ;-,lr. J\. . F. \\'ells, for invaluable help in the matter
of style and composition.
G. I-I.
STEYE:--.;SO:\I.
University College, Oxford.
1\pril, 1939.
CONTENTS
CHAP. PAGE
I. The character and growth of the Roman Empire r
II. The Client Princes 36
III. Provincial Administration under the Republic 53
IV. Provincial Administration under the Early
Principate 94
V. Provincial Taxation 133
VI. The 11unicipal System in the Provinces r 56
Index
181
11ap
CHAPTER I
THE CHARACTER AND GROWTH OF
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Ir it is still possible to speak of European culture as embody
ing a set of ideas and ideals shared by men whose roots are
planted in Europe even if their homes may be across the
Atlantic or in the Antipodes, the study of the institutions of
Rome must be of more than academic interest. For Rome
·was the instrument which enabled the two forces which
have done most to mould ,vestern civilization, Christianity
and Greek thought, to extend their influence beyond quite
narrow limits. 1 Though the Romans themselves contributed
comparatively little to religious, philosophical, or political
speculation, their creation of an empire and their enforce
ment of the 'Roman Peace' rendered possible the spread of
ideas to an extent which ·would have been impossible had the
civilized world remained an aggregate of mutually hostile
units. In his most famous lines Virgil2 asserts that the task
of Rome was simply to govern the world and to foster the
love of peace. The subjects of Rome were free to speak and
think as they would, provided that they respected her author
ity and paid their due share of the cost of administration.
The Romans, like the British, were individualists and had
no love of rigid uniformity. They recognized and respected
the differing traditions of the different parts of their
empire. In the eastern provinces Rome allowed Greek to
remain the official language and interfered little with the
J.
1This point is eloquently worked out by Carcopino in his Points de v11es ur
l'Impiria/isme romain (Paris 1934), pp. 259 sqq.
2Aen. VI, 851-2.
I
2 ROMAN TOLERANCE
Hellenic civilization which the conquests of £\lexander had
spread to the eastern .\fediterranean and beyond. In the \vest
the situation \Vas some\vhat different. 1\t the time of their
subjugation Gaul, Spain, and Britain \Vere back\,·ard and
disunited, and in these provinces the task of Rome \Vas to
provide the conditions which might facilitate the extension
to them of a Latin culture which itself O\\·ed n1uch to Greece .1
But she interfered as little as possible \Vith native institutions
and made no attempt to i1npose hon1ogeneity. Gauls, Span
iards, and Britons continued to \,·orship their o\,·n gods,
speak their own languages, and in son1e measure to preser,e
their local loyalties and political divisions. Rome had dis
covered the secret \Vhich is still hid from n1any go\·erning
peoples, that an alien ruler can \,·in the respect and e\·en the
affection of his subjects if in the affairs of e ;erydJ.y life he re
1
frains from unnecessary interference and is content \,·ith the
n1aintenance of peace, Lnv and order. C nder these conditions
taxes arc paid \,-ithout cornpL1int, and n1cn are ,,·illing even
to risk their lives in the service of a po\Yer ,,·hich has con
ferred on then1 the blessings of a peaceful and order! y
civilization.
If in philosophy and rdigion Ro111cd id little n1ore than
enable the ideas of 1nore highly gifted peoples to be \\·idely
dissenunatc<l, she 111adc a contribution of the greatest
possible value to posterity in the invention and application
of a systen1 of b.,v \vhich is still the foundation of the
legal systen1 of soinc Eu ropcan countries. Ron1an La ,v
evolved :-;Jo\vlya nd \Vas based on trial and cxpcri111cnt. Jn its
con1pleted fonn it sunm1arized the experience of a people
possessing an innate sense of justice, and its extension
through the en1pirc \Vas the greatest benefit conferred by
Rome on her subjects.
