Roman government

Analyzes the evidence and scholarship concerning the question of whether Herod the Great did in fact serve as chief imperial procurator of the Roman province of Syria. Concludes he did, but that this was a private business office and not a government position. Analyzes the evidence and scholarship on the distinction and separate functions of prefects and procurators in the time of Augustus.

The emperor Caracalla emerges from our sources as an archetypal ‘bad’ emperor. Our primary sources for the period construct an image of a volatile despot: militaristic, anti-senatorial, financially profligate and prone to fantasy. However entertaining this image is, though, it remains an obstacle to any objective assessment of Caracalla’s reign. Indeed, many have allowed the emperor’s actions to be viewed as those of an unhinged tyrant, rather than a ruler attuned to the Realpolitik of his contemporary context.

Despite an increasing number of publications advocating a more balanced view of his reign, continued acceptance of Caracallan inadequacy can be observed in connection with his introduction of the constitutio Antoniniana: ‘a decision that has never been plausibly explained on practical grounds, but Caracalla was a shocking megalomaniac and the sheer grandiosity of the gesture may be explanation enough’.  This paper offers a more considered assessment of Caracalla and his edict. Rather than an exercise in vanity, the Antonine Constitution should be viewed as a legislative response to a crisis in which the emperor’s position was vulnerable, his legitimacy debatable.

That emperors would seek mass popularity to bolster their position is undeniable. This paper argues, however, that we must look beyond the bread and circuses mentality: Caracalla’s constitutio represents, in one respect, an attempt by the emperor to forge a lasting and personal connection between himself and his populace via a de facto patron-client relationship. The final section of this paper will consider the implications of this initiative for subsequent emperors. Against this backdrop, the figure of Julian stands out as an emperor who followed a Caracallan precedent, in his case using religious reform, rather than constitutional, to consolidate his reign at the point when it might have seemed in most doubt.

Many modern scholars have argued that the consulship was not created at the foundation of the Republic as Roman tradition maintained, and that the government of the early Republic went through several stages of development before it reached the familiar ‘classical constitution.’ Building on this work, this article considers what the early civilian government of Rome would
have looked like in the absence of chief magistrates. It is argued that the Romans did not create an entirely new government (based on consuls) at the removal of the monarchy, but instead they made use of existing sources of power and authority: rich land-owning clans dominated military activity outside the city, while priests, the curiae, and minor officials exercised responsibilities of civilian governance in Rome. The plebeian tribunate was probably the first significant office to be created in the Republic, and the unusual nature of its power (sacrosanctity) and the absence of any other chief magistracy enabled the tribunes to acquire a broad range of prerogatives. A series
of reforms eventually led to the development of the familiar ‘classical constitution’, and the consulship and praetorship became the most prestigious and desired magistracies (and—outside the city—the most powerful), but the tribunes long retained the broadest prerogatives for civilian
governance inside the city.

The nature and historiography of Roman contact with the peoples of the Arabian East is a complex, understudied topic. Through the compilation and analysis of archaeological, textual, epigraphical, and geographical evidence, this paper demonstrates that the acquisition of Arabia was generally peaceful; the status of rulers in Nabataea and regional unrest inspired, at least in part, Roman annexation; client-style relationships persisted throughout the Roman period, challenging the traditional account of Roman "Grand Strategy"; and that the fortifications along the frontier served primarily as a policing force to act within the confines of Arabia. Previous scholarship is analyzed and contextualized, especially in regards to the nature of Roman-Arab relations. Additionally, new lines of evidence are proposed, including the need for further geographic analysis of the frontier.

This paper was written in partial completion of a Bachelor of Arts, with Honors, at the University of Missouri- Columbia, Department of History. Research was conducted under the supervision of Dr. Jeffrey Stevens, University of Missouri-Columbia, Department of History.

This chapter analyses what inscriptions can tell us about members of the senatorial and equestrian orders, and it explains the significance of the prosopographical method. The interpretation of inscriptions citing senatorial and equestrian careers is discussed.

This brief paper summarizes the evidence and scholarship backing my analysis in Herod the Procurator, pp. 34-35 (in context, pp. 29-36), which shows that from the time of Pontius Pilate to the time of Tacitus, equestrian governors of Roman provinces were both prefects and procurators.

The article develops the subject discussed in the author's paper about the Roman governor's
behaviour at his working time (Civilis dominatio: the Roman Governor in a Provincial City // VDI. 1997.
№ 3). His present aim is to point out the ways and habits characteristic of the Roman governor in his
leizure time and to reveal the links between his conduct and the polis traditions and peculiarities of the
Roman provincial government system of the Imperial period.
Evidence of Roman jurists, orators, and writers of 2-3 c. AD, as well as epigraphical and
papyrological sources bring the author to the conclusion that the institution of hospitality (hospitium) and
the public polis festivals played an essential part in the governor's otium.
The institution of hospitality, banquets and gift-making associated with it permitted the governor to
establish informal relations with the most prominent of the city nobles who took part in the sittings of his
counsil (consilium) when he sat in judgement, and the relations of «friendship» and patronate with those
whose help was indispensable for his normal functioning. The polis habit of exercising political and
administrative control through friends and dependents was still valid in governor's practice of the
Imperial period.
Participating in public festivals and attending popular spectacles, the governor could get an
opportunity to maintain direct contacts with the civil community of the administered city and to take
account of the mood and attitudes of mind of ordinary citizens, whom he encountered at popular
assemblies and before whom he held his trial.
During the banquets and spectacles, in accordance with the long established etiquette, the governors
(like magistrates in the imperial cities and emperors in Rome) were expected to behave generously,
politely and democratically, to manifest their fidelity to the city laws and customs and their unity with
their subjects.
Thus, the governor spent his otium and negotium within the same circle of persons and in about the
same manner, otium being as important for organizing provincial government as negotium.

Abstract
This paper introduces a new weight from Nicomedia in the Halûk Perk Museum Collection. It is not exactly known, where the weight dating to the reign of Emperor Philippus Arabs is from. Though according to Perk Collector, it must be from Sakarya. The inscription on side A of the pentagon-shaped weight dating to the 5th regnal year of Emperor Philippus Arabs, gives the name and regnal year of Philippus Arabs and the name of L. Egnatius Victor Lollianus, the governor of Pontus et Bithynia; while the inscription on side B states the names of Titus
Marcus Caesilius Aquila Cornelianus, agoranomos of the city of Nikomedia; and Marcus Ulpius Pius the Bithyniarkhes. The weight unit is not mentioned in the inscription. It is known from two published weight inscriptions that L. Egnatius Victor Lollianus was legatus Augusti pro praetor in Pontus et Bithynia during the reign of Decius. In those two inscriptions, the first regnal year of Decius, i.e. AD 249. With this new weight with the inscription “5th regnal year.

Özet
Bu makalade Halûk Perk Müzesi Koleksiyonu’ndaki Nikomedeia’dan yeni bir ağırlık tanıtılmaktadır. İmparator Philippus Arabs zamanına tarihli bu ağırlığın geliş yeri tam olarak bilinmemektedir. Bununla birlikte, Koleksiyoner Perk’in ifadesine göre, yazıt Sakarya’dan olmalıdır. Philippus Arabs’ın 5. yönetim yılına tarihlenen beşgen biçimli ağırlığın A yüzündeki yazıt İmparator Philippus Arabs’ın adı ve yönetim yılı ile Pontus et Bithynia valisi L. Egnatius Victor Lollianus’un; B yüzündeki yazıt ise Nikomedeia kentinin agoranomos’u Titus Marcus Caesilius Aquila Cornelianus’un; ve Bithyniarkhes Marcus Ulpius Pius adlarını vermektedir. Yazıtta ağırlık birimi verilmemiştir. L. Egnatius Victor Lollianus’un Decius zamanında Pontus et Bithynia’da legatus Augusti pro praetore olarak görev yaptığı, daha önce yayımlanmış iki ağırlık
yazıtından bilinmektedir. Bu her iki yazıtta da Decius’un yönetim yılı olarak birinci yılı yani 249 yılı gösterilmektedir. Bu yeni ağırlıkta “Philippus Arab’ın 5. yönetim yılı” ifadesinin geçmesiyle birlikte, L. Egnatius Victor Lollianus’un Pontus et Bithynia Eyaleti’nde MS 248 yılından beri görev yaptığı görülmektedir.

Senator C. Asinius Gallus appears in the well known tabula Lougeiorum. Several authors have defended that his presence in the inscription is due to his condition of governor of the Hispania citerior. In this article I explain that it is not possible to place Gallus as governor of the Citerior between the years 7-4 BC, as part of the current researchers defend. More reasonably he occupied the position at the time of the dating of the table, possibly between years 1 BC - 3 AD

El senador C. Asinio Galo aparece mencionado en la conocida tabula Lougeiorum. Varios autores han defendido que su presencia en la inscripción se debería a su condición de gobernador de la Hispania citerior. En este artículo defendemos que no es posible que Galo fuese gobernador de la Citerior entre los años 7-4 a.C., como defiende gran parte de la historiografía actual, sino que habría ocupado el cargo en el momento de la datación de la tabula, probablemente entre los años 1 a.C. - 3 d.C.

Libro de historia política que recoge mil años de la evolución de Roma, desde sus orígenes hasta mediados del siglo III d.C., centrado en cómo gobernaron los romanos el gigantesco imperio que levantaron sus legiones, y a qué planteamientos teóricos respondía.

Since its inception in 224 AD, the Sassanid government adopted a policy of aggressive against its western neighbor; so that at the time of the first kings of this state (especially Shapur I), the Romans suffered several defeats against it. Although during the reign of his successors, up to the time of Shapur II this policy lost its strength the Sassanid Empire faced crises that affected its foreign policy. Considering the importance of the issue, this study is to find the reasons for the crisis in the late third century of the Sassanid government and their passivity in foreign policy. The findings show that after the Shapur I, the Sassanid government faced a succession crisis and its consequences (internal turmoil and fratricide). In fact, during this time when weak kings came to the power, the aristocrats and the Zoroastrian priests were the true rulers of Iran; So, the conflicts at the highest levels of the society and the competitive approach to power were among the factors contributing to the tensions within the structure of the Sasanian political system at the end of the third century. Such issues not only weakened the government's ability to resolve domestic crises within the power sector, but also exacerbated external crises and ultimately caused undeniable destructive effects on the structure of government and society. Under such circumstances, some Roman Caesars, having been aware of the devastation of the Sassanid government, arranged some attacks against the country and succeeded, to some extent.

Nelrarticolo viene presentata la traduzione in russo dei frammenti conservati dei trattati giurìdici romani sugli obblighi dei governatori di provincia, ad eccezione della già tradotta opera di Domizio Ulpiano «De officio proconsulis».
La traduzione è preceduta da una breve caratteristica dei trattati. Secondo l'opinione dell'autore, queste opere appartengono alla letteratura giuridica di tipo nuovo, tipico dell'epoca dei tardi Antonini e Severi. Il particolare di questa letteratura sta nell'elaborazione di quei campi del  diritto che prima non avevano attirato l'attenzione dei giuristi, nel suo orientamento pratico, nel suo carattere isagogico. L'autore ritiene che i frammenti conservati dei trattati abbiano subito relativamente poche modifiche effettuate dagli interpolatori successivi.
Grazie a ciò i trattati sono una fonte storica estremamente importante. Essi comprendono preziose, a volte uniche notizie sul diritto romano penale ed amministrativo, sull'applicazione del diritto romano nelle provincie, sul carattere, sistema ed ideologia dell'amministrazione provinciale romana.