In A.D. 4 Tiberius returned to the German front. In the next year his fleet and army combined in an advance to the Elbe, while some ships were despatched to explore the coast of Jutland. The stage was now set for the next big move: the conquest of the Marcomanni in Bohemia. If they were reduced the defence of the Elbe could be linked with that of the Danube, and a new frontier be established along the line of the modern cities of Hamburg, Leipzig, Prague and Vienna and thence along the Danube to the Black Sea. The Marcomanni had recently moved from the valley of the Main to Bohemia where their leader Maroboduus had built up a strong kingdom, but Roman diplomacy and arms had limited its expansion: the Hermanduri to its west and the Semnones (east of the Elbe) to its north were friendly to Rome, while the Dacians to its east (in modern Romania, north of the Danube) had recently been defeated by the Romans as a reprisal for Dacian raids. In A.D. 6 therefore Tiberius was ready to launch a great converging attack with twelve legions on Maroboduus, but as the Roman troops were advancing and the net was closing around him Maroboduus was dramatically saved. News came of the great revolt in Pannonia (p. 216 f.). Tiberius prudently broke off operations, reached an agreement with Maroboduus by which he was recognized as king and a friend of the Roman people, and hastened off to save Illyricum from disaster. This done, Tiberius was not free to give further thought to the Marcomanni since a fresh calamity in Germany demanded his presence. His military services to the Empire were indeed of a high order.
Roman armies had overrun the country from Rhine to Elbe, but the conquest had not yet been consolidated by the construction of permanent forts or roads, and regular patrolling was still needed.17a About 9 B.C. an altar to Roma et Augustus had been established at the tribal capital of the Ubii (later Cologne), whom Agrippa had earlier at their own request settled on the west bank of the Rhine; and in 2 B.C. Domitius had erected another altar on the Elbe. But the country between the rivers lacked cities and clearly was not yet ripe for conversion into a normal Roman province. Tribal unrest found a leader in Arminius and an opportunity in the arrival of Quinctilius Varus. Arminius, chief of the Cherusci, had obtained Roman citizenship, served in the Roman auxilia, and gained equestrian rank; he now plotted rebellion with neighbouring tribes. Varus, who had married the grandniece of Augustus, owed his appointment as legate of the Rhine armies in A.D. 9 to the emperor’s favour. His earlier governorship of Syria had been successful, but he appears to have misjudged conditions in his new command, where he is said to have tried to introduce unpopular methods of taxation and jurisdiction. At any rate he unsuspectingly entertained Arminius in his camp on the Visurgis and when winter approached he began to withdraw his three legions westwards to their winter quarters. But as he was marching through the dense Teutoburgian Forest, he was treacherously attacked by Arminius: the three legions were virtually annihilated and Varus committed suicide.18
Tiberius hurried to the spot, and although Rome lost all east of the Rhine, there was little fear that Arminius, who failed to win the co-operation of Maroboduus, would threaten Gaul itself. With eight legions Tiberius and his nephew Germanicus, who took over the chief command in A.D. 12, successfully reorganized the defence of the river and conducted some reprisals beyond it. Had Augustus so decided, the lost ground presumably could have been recovered, but he was old and shaken: he would cry out to the spirit of the man whom he himself had appointed, ‘Quinctili Vare, legiones redde’, and he wore deep mourning on each anniversary of the clades Variana. The loss involved a serious diminution of the narrow margin of military man-power, and the standing army was reduced from twenty-eight to twenty-five legions; the moral effects might be more widespread. What policy Augustus would have adopted, if he had enjoyed the prospect of a long life before him, cannot be known, but in the circumstances he appears to have abandoned all thought of any frontier beyond the Rhine. A narrow area along the river was divided into two districts, Upper (southern) and Lower (northern) Germany, with the division near Coblenz. Each received a permanent garrison of four legions, commanded by consular military legates: they were military zones, not provinces, and their civil administration was the responsibility of the governor of Belgica. The legions were quartered in permanent camps at Vetera (Xanten; a double camp), Novaesium (Neuss), Bonna (Bonne), Moguntiacum (Mainz; double), Argentorate (Strassburg) and Vindonissa (Windisch in Switzerland).19
The Varian disaster no less than the Pannonian revolt was a dark shadow, but none the less Augustus had in general achieved a lasting success. He had secured the Danube frontier by the organization of Raetia, Noricum, Pannonia and Moesia, backed by seven legions; and the Rhine was firmly held by its eight. Four in Syria, two in Egypt, one in Africa and three in Spain, aided by oceans, deserts and rivers, co-operated in holding back all assailants on those frontiers which Augustus had chosen with care and deliberation for the Empire. The pattern was complete and must not lightly be altered. In the Brevarium totius imperii, which he wrote in his own hand, he added as a final clause a piece of advice: ‘consilium coercendi intra terminos imperii’.
6. PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION
Many aspects of the ways in which Augustus improved upon the provincial administration of the Republic have already been noticed, but it will be well to draw some of them together here. The provinces fell into two groups, senatorial and imperial, which corresponded roughly with the ‘unarmed provinces’ and those in which legionary troops were stationed. The former were governed by proconsuls of consular or praetorian standing, the latter by ex-consuls or ex-praetors who bore the title of legati Augusti pro praetore or else by equestrian procurators. Though the proconsuls normally held their provinces only for a year, they were nevertheless very different from their Republican predecessors owing to the reorganization of the senatorial Order on a professional basis by Augustus. The senatorial and equestrian governors of the imperial provinces held office for longer periods. The employment of Equites in this way was a complete break with Republican traditions, especially in that such governorships were dissociated from the magistracy. It is true that equestrian officials in general were more concerned with the civil side of administration, but the procurators who governed provinces might command auxilia (while the equestrian Prefect of Egypt even commanded legions). Thus Augustus succeeded in building up an efficient body of salaried professional administrators: all of them indirectly depended on his favour, and a large proportion were directly appointed by him and responsible to him alone.20
The provinces provided a very large proportion of the revenue of the Roman state, but even under the late Republic in normal conditions the provincials would perhaps not have found the burden of taxation unduly heavy or irksome, if its collection had been properly controlled: the system was less open to criticism than the abuses to which it was too often subjected. Here was a field in which Augustus made one of his most valuable and enduring contributions. In order to secure a more equitable distribution of the burden he surveyed the resources of the Empire by means of censuses, which would clearly be easier to hold in the more urbanized provinces. Roman towns had to hold a census every five years which was conducted by local magistrates called quinquennales. It is not probable that a simultaneous census was taken of all the provinces, but gradually the resources of the whole Empire would be revealed. In Gaul, for instance, censuses are mentioned in 27 and 12 B.C., and again in A.D. 14 just after Augustus’ death, while the assessment by Quirinius of Judaea on its annexation in A.D. 6 is famous. Such surveys would provide information about the extent and ownership of land and about other forms of wealth: how detailed such information might be is shown by one of the edicts of Cyrene.
Such returns provided the basis for fair taxation. Direct taxes comprised tributum soli, levied on all occupiers of land, and tributum capitis, levied on other forms of property (not a poll-tax except in backward regions, as Egypt). All provincials, including Roman citizens and the liberae civitates, had to pay the land-tax, with the sole exception of the very few towns that enjoyed the Ius Italicum
(i.e. the exemption enjoyed by Italy itself); those that had immunitas were perhaps exempt from the tributum capitis. Freedom from taxation could of course be granted to specific communities or individuals by Augustus. Indirect taxes included portoria (dues up to 5 per cent on goods that crossed certain frontiers; cf. p. 155);21 the tax on manumission and on the sale of slaves (to which the Italians were liable; but only Roman citizens in the provinces paid death-duties, vicesima hereditatum: p. 188); grain for the governor and his staff (p. 155); and aurum coronarium, a gift paid later at the accession of an emperor. Revenue from provincial estates (e.g. saltus) that had become the emperor’s private property either by confiscation or bequest, was naturally paid into his patrimonium. Such estates would be managed by procurators, often freedmen; other imperial procurators were in charge of the mines, which they let out to contractors (conductores) to work.22
‘Where the publicani are, there is no respect for public law and no freedom for the allies’, Livy had written of Republican times; it was by his control of these subordinates that Augustus rendered such valuable service to the provinces. In the imperial provinces the direct taxes were collected by an imperial procurator of equestrian status, who was largely independent of the governor: there might often be friction or enmity between the two men. The indirect taxes were still let out to contractors, but these publicani were carefully supervised. In the senatorial provinces the quaestor was responsible for finance, but publicani continued to act as middlemen in some of them; further, imperial procurators, who officially had authority only in connexion with any of the emperor’s private property in a senatorial province, could keep an eye open for abuses. Unable immediately to dispense altogether with the help of publicani, Augustus subjected all financial operations to careful control and scrutiny.
Besides this immense boon of improved financial administration, the provinces gained many other solid advantages compared with Republican days, not least greater care in the choice and control of the governors, now salaried professionals whose prospects of promotion depended upon their efficiency. Naturally all misgovernment and corruption did not disappear: Valerius Messalla, proconsul of Asia, was alleged to have executed three hundred people on one day, and the exactions of the freedman Licinus, imperial financial procurator in Gaul, were notorious. But in general retribution was swifter and surer: imperial officials would be recalled and punished by the emperor; offenders in the senatorial provinces, possibly more numerous than in the imperial ones, were brought to trial before the Senate. Further, the improvement of communications made it easier for the emperor to keep in touch with and if necessary to restrain his officials: the road systems in the provinces were improved, and the imperial post, the cursus publicus (see p. 194), was extended to them. Though the local authorities who were responsible for the cost of this system might grumble, messages could be sent at an average speed of fifty miles a day in the imperial provinces. Governors could also be checked by means of the provincial Councils that grew up to promote the imperial cult (see p. 198). These assemblies of representatives from different parts of a province, meeting together annually, would naturally discuss their common interests as well as transact the business for which they had met. Since they lacked legislative powers, they could not develop into provincial parliaments, but they could voice any grievances and from the time of Tiberius they were authorized to approach the Princeps or Senate direct without the intervention of the governor, and to complain about, and even initiate the prosecution of, governors guilty of maladministration.23
Augustus continued the Republican method of working through existing provincial communities, whether cities or tribes (p. 154).24 Without an adequate basis of local self-government the administrative system that Rome imposed on the provinces would have collapsed: the officials had to rely on the co-operation of the provincials. Rome naturally encouraged city-life where there were communities with organized magistrates and senates. Where these did not exist (as in Gaul, and later in Britain), she used the tribal system, but before long the tribe (civitas) often borrowed the titles used in Roman cities and had its own duoviri and senate (the ordo). Rome did not enforce a policy of urbanization, but she encouraged it where she thought it feasible. Towns also served as centres to which large surrounding areas of territory were attached (‘attributed’) for administrative purposes; when these became more civilized, municipal privileges might be extended to them. One of the chief ways in which city-life spread was the settlement of veterans in the provinces: to the forty or so colonies established in the triumviral period Augustus added at least a similar number: the majority were placed in peaceful areas in the west (as Narbonensis, Spain and Africa), but others were planted in the east (as those in Asia Minor, which ringed off the rebellious Homanades: p. 247).25
The status of the cities in the provinces varied greatly, from colonies and municipia to ‘Latin’ cities and the great bulk of the ‘stipendiary’ cities. The most privileged were not, as under the Republic, civitates foederatae (though some of these survived), but those that had Roman citizenship, i.e. colonies and municipia. Before the time of Julius Caesar the idea of establishing Roman towns outside Italy was not popular, and Narbo was the only example: Roman citizenship was given to individuals in the provinces but not normally to cities. Caesar broke away from this narrow convention with his numerous overseas colonies for veterans and the poor, and Augustus, though less liberal in his ideas of the wisdom of widespread grants of franchise, followed Caesar’s colonizing policy. At the top of the hierarchy of cities stood the colonies: some of them were immunes and probably did not pay tributum capitis, and a few had the privilege of Ius Italicum which excused them from the land tax. Next came the municipia which were existing cities that had been given Roman citizenship, not settlements of immigrant Romans: thus Gades received the title and privileges from Caesar. In practice one chief difference between municipia and colonies was not that the magistracies in the former were less uniform, but that the prestige of the latter was higher; the municipia gradually (but more especially in the second century) began to seek the status and title of colony. They spread through the western provinces, especially in Mediterranean regions, but this status is not found in the east until much later. Below the municipia come the ‘Latin’ cities, which enjoyed a status partway between citizenship and non-citizenship, like the cities of Latium in relation to Rome in the earlier days of the Republic; the most important aspect was that their local magistrates became Roman citizens. These ‘Latin’ rights were usually given to cities before they were granted Roman citizenship and became municipia, and thus formed a valuable stepping-stone to greater reward. Lastly were the ‘stipendiary’ cities, which formed the majority in most provinces; a few of them had been ‘free’ or ‘federate’ cities under the Republic, but this status no longer exempted them from taxation, though perhaps they might expect less attention from the governor.
Thus Roman control in the provinces was to a large extent indirect and rested upon the support and loyalty of self-governing communities. The internal municipal constitutions of these cities naturally varied: those comprising Roman citizens, as colonies, would obviously tend to adopt a Roman pattern, but even those that did not possess Roman rights tended to model their constitutions on that of Republican Rome, with popular assemblies, senates and magistrates, while the Greek cities of the East had enjoyed welldeveloped constitutions often for centuries. Local assemblies of burgesses elected local magistrates and accepted or rejected proposals put before them; gradually inhabitants of the territorium ‘attributed’ to the town might receive limited voting rights. But influence tended to rest with the propertied classes who controlled the local senate (ordo or decuriones). This usually numbered one hundred; its members held office for life and consisted largely of ex-magistrates. The magistrates, as in Rome, were chosen on a collegial and annual basis: usually they consisted of duoviri iure dicundo, two aediles, and two quaestors. The duoviri exercised judicial powers, presided over meeti
ngs of the senate and assembly, were responsible for local Games and festivals, and every fifth year served as censors (quinquennales) when they filled up vacancies in the senate. As they received no salary and their office involved heavy expenses (gradually it became customary even to pay an ‘entrance fee’), the magistrates would naturally be drawn from the wealthier classes. Many men were extremely generous to their towns, and provided baths, theatres and other local amenities. The motive may often have been personal pride, but it was also often a genuine affection for their cities. Thus an active spirit of local patriotism fostered healthy municipal life, which was made possible by the degree of civic liberty that the Romans with wisdom and generosity accorded to the provinces.
An improved administrative system and the encouragement of local co-operation and responsibility were not by themselves enough. Their success depended in turn upon the maintenance of the greatest benefaction of Augustus to the Roman world, the pax Romana. His personal interest in the provinces, exemplified in his early tours of inspection, and his development of a consistent frontier policy to replace the somewhat haphazard development under the Republic, together with the creation of a standing army to hold the frontiers against barbarian attacks, helped to restore confidence and to open up for the provinces a prospect of increasing security and prosperity.
7. AUGUSTUS
The long life of Augustus falls into three phases. The revolutionary faction leader, fighting his way to power, developed into a constructive statesman who with the help of loyal friends achieved a remarkable constitutional reform; then, stability won, he spent the last twenty or so years of his life in a period of quieter development that was, however, not unmarked by personal and national anxieties. Unlike his immediate successors, he turned not from better to worse but from worse to better: the youth, whom many
From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68 Page 36