Pax Romana

by Adrian Goldsworthy

  16 Caesar, BG 1. 9; in general see the useful discussion in J. Thorne, ‘The Chronology of the Campaign against the Helvetii: A Clue to Caesar’s Intentions?’, Historia 56 (2007), pp. 27–36.

  17 Caesar, BG 1. 11 for raiding; for the narrative of the campaign see Goldsworthy (2006), pp. 212–23.

  18 Caesar, BG 1. 17–20.

  19 Caesar, BG 1. 30–33.

  20 Caesar, BG 1. 34–6, with quote from 1. 34.

  21 See N. Rosenstein, ‘General and imperialist’, in Griffin (2009), pp. 85–99, esp. 88–91; on depiction of the Germans see J. Gardner, ‘The “Gallic menace” in Caesar’s Propaganda’, Greece and Rome 30 (1983), pp. 181–9; see M. Todd, The Northern Barbarians (1987), pp. 11–13, The Early Germans (1992), pp. 8–13, C. Wells, The German Policy of Augustus (1972), pp. 14–31 and Wells (1999), pp. 42–7, 99–121, and Burns (2003), pp. 111–18.

  22 Caesar, BG 1. 39–41; Dio 38. 35. 2 claims that some felt Caesar was exceeding his remit as governor by leading his army so far from his province.

  23 Caesar, BG 1. 47.

  24 Caesar, BG 1. 43–47.

  25 Caesar, BG 1. 47–54; women 1. 51, cf. Tacitus, Germania 7–8, with the unnecessarily sceptical comments in Burns (2003), p. 120–22; subsequent death of Ariovistus, Caesar, BG 5. 29.

  26 Caesar, BG 1. 54; on displays of submission see H. Sidebotham, ‘International Relations’, in P. Sabin, H. van Wees & M. Whitby (eds), The Cambridge History of Greek and Roman Warfare Vol. 2: Rome from the Late Republic to the Late Empire (2007), pp. 3–29, esp. 16–22; Caesar’s inexperience in 58 BC see Goldsworthy (2006), pp. 184–5, Rosenstein (2009), pp. 86–8.

  27 Caesar, BG 2. 1, 3–5.

  28 Caesar, BG 2. 6–7, 12–15.

  29 E.g. Caesar, BG 4. 21 and 7. 76 on favours to Commius of the Atrebates, and other cases in 5. 25, 27.

  30 Caesar, BG 5. 6–7.

  31 Caesar, BG 5. 2–4.

  32 Caesar, BG 5. 24–25, 26–27, 54, 55–58; for the narratives of the campaigns see Goldsworthy (2006), pp. 297–312 or M. Sage, Roman Conquests: Gaul (2011), pp. 84–95.

  33 Caesar, BG 5. 54, 6. 2, 4, 9.

  34 Caesar, BG 7. 1–2; on Caesar’s attitude to the Gauls see J. Barlow, ‘Noble Gauls and their other in Caesar’s propaganda’ and L. Rawlings, ‘Caesar’s portrayal of the Gauls as warriors’, both in in K. Welch & A. Powell (eds), Julius Caesar as Artful Reporter: the War Commentaries as Political Instruments (1998), pp. 139–170, and 171–192 respectively.

  35 Caesar, BG 7. 4, 6. 6, 7. 76; friendly relations between Vercingetorix and Caesar, see Dio 40. 41. 1, 3.

  36 Caesar, BG 7. 32–3, 37–43, 54–5, 59.

  37 Caesar, BG 7. 63 on Aedui seeking to lead rebellion; for the campaign overall see Goldsworthy (2006), pp. 315–342, Sage (2011), pp. 105–40.

  38 Caesar, BG 8. 49.

  39 For Commius see Caesar, BG 8. 6, 7, 22–23, 47–48, and Frontinus, Stratagems 2. 13. 11; for quote 8. 48.

  40 On ‘pacifying’ see for instance Caesar, BG 3. 7, 20.

  CHAPTER IV – TRADERS AND SETTLERS

  1 Cicero, Verrines 2. 5. 167–8 (Loeb translation).

  2 He was awarded twenty days of public thanksgiving, see Caesar, BG 4. 38; for excitement see Cicero, ad Att. 4. 17, ad Quintum Fratrem 2. 16. 4.

  3 Marcus Mettius, Caesar, BG 1. 47, 53.

  4 Caesar, BG 1. 1 for Belgians rarely visited by traders, 2. 15 for the refusal of the Nervii to admit any traders and 4. 2 for the Germans, with comments in J. Barlow, ‘Noble Gauls and their other in Caesar’s propaganda’, in K. Welch & A. Powell (eds), Julius Caesar as Artful Reporter: The War Commentaries as Political Instruments (1998), pp. 139–70; the use of the alleged morality of the simple Germanic peoples in contrast to the decadence of ‘sophisticated’ society in Rome is especially pronounced in Tacitus, Germania.

  5 Caesar, BG 4. 20–21; see in general M. Todd, Roman Britain (3rd edn, 1999), pp. 1–3, B. Cunliffe, Hengistbury Head Vol. 1 (1987) and Facing the Ocean: The Atlantic and its peoples 800 BC–AD 1500 (2001) pp. 261–310, on Caesar and the Veneti see B. Levick, ‘The Veneti Revisted: C. E. Stevens and the tradition on Caesar the propagandist’, in Welch & Powell (1998), pp. 61–83.

  6 For very different attempts to understand events in Britain after 54 BC see G. Webster, The Roman Invasion of Britain (rev. edn, 1993), pp. 41–74, J. Manley, AD 43. The Roman Invasion of Britain – A Reassessment (2002), pp. 37–50.

  7 Cicero, ad Att. 4. 17; Caesar and pearls, see Suetonius, Caesar 47; Strabo, Geog. 4. 6. 12 on Scipio Aemilianus; on the absence of commercial motives in Roman decision-making see W. Harris, War and Imperialism in Republican Rome 327–70 BC (1979), pp. 54–104.

  8 Polybius 34. 10. 10, with Strabo, Geog. 4. 6. 12.

  9 See Appian, Celtica 13, with S. Dyson, The Creation of the Roman Frontier (1985), pp. 75–6; see G. Alföldy (trans. A. Birley), Noricum (1974), pp. 44 for Pompaius Senator, 44–47 on the Magdalensberg settlement.

  10 On Romans abroad see A. Wilson, Emigration from Italy in the Republican Age of Expansion (1966); for Greek colonisation see in general R. Garland, The Wandering Greeks: The Ancient Greek Diaspora from the Age of Homer to the Death of Alexander (2014), J. Boardman, The Greeks Overseas: Their Early Colonies and Trade (4th edn, 1999).

  11 Polybius 3. 22. 1–23. 6; on the treaties with Carthage. F. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius Vol. 1 (1970), pp. 337–56; on Carthage in general see G. Picard & C. Picard, Carthage (rev. edn, 1987), S. Lancel, Carthage (Oxford, 1995) and R. Miles, Carthage Must be Destroyed. The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization (2010), pp. 1–176.

  12 Strabo, Geog. 3. 5. 11.

  13 For Romans in Carthage see Appian, Punic Wars 92; E. Palmer, Carthage and Rome at Peace (1997), pp. 32–62.

  14 Exchanging a slave for an amphora see Diodorus Siculus 5. 26. 3–4; on coinage see C. Howgego, ‘The Monetization of Temperate Europe’, JRS 103 (2013), pp. 16–45, esp. 26–31, 35–7.

  15 Livy 44. 13. 1; Cunliffe (2001), pp. 311–64.

  16 Polybius 2. 8. 1–4, with T. Frank (ed.), An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome Vol. 1 (1933), pp. 102–3 and Harris (1979) pp. 195–7 noting that the Romans appear to have let this piracy continue for some time before taking action; Cicero, Verrines 2. 5. 149–50, 167–8

  17 Colonisation see Wilson (1966), pp. 44–5, 64–5; inscription from Sicily, ILS 1. 864 = CIL 12. 612; Cossutius see Inscriptiones Graecae 3. (1) 561 and Vitruvius, De architectura 8. 160, with Wilson (1966), pp. 96–7.

  18 Strabo, Geog. 14. 2. 5; on Delos in general see Wilson (1966), pp. 99–121, with J. Hatzfield, ‘Les Italiens résidant à Délos’, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 36 (1912), 1431 for dealers in oil; on the Agora of the Italians see M. Trümper, Greaco- Roman Slave Markets. Fact or Fiction? (2009), pp. 34–49 who is sceptical, but presents a good bibliography of the debate over this site.

  19 A. Sherwin-White, The Roman Citizenship (2nd edn, 1996), pp. 399–402.

  20 Caesar, BG. 6. 37 for traders caught outside the camp; BG 7. 3, 38, 42, 55 for massacres of Romans in 53–52 BC.

  21 Appian, Iberica 38. 115, with J. Richardson, Hispaniae. Spain and the Development of Roman Imperialism, 218–82 BC (1986), pp. 53, 57; Carteia, see Livy 43. 3. 1–4, with Richardson (1986), pp. 118–19.

  22 Strabo, Geog. 4. 1. 5, with Wilson (1966), pp. 64–7.

  23 Cicero, pro Fronteio 11–12, cf. pro Quinctio 11 describing Romans buying cattle from the province, and in Catilinam 2. 14 and Sallust, Bell. Cat. 34. 2 on a merchant who had done business with the Allobroges tribe.

  24 Caesar, BG 7. 3, 38, 42, 55; Cicero, pro Fronteio 46; raising forces from Roman citizens in the provinces, see Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 14. 84 for armed civilians in Judaea, and Cicero, ad Fam. 15. 4 for re-enlisting demobilised soldiers in Cilicia.

  25 Sallust, Bell. Jug. 21, 23–7, 47, 67.

  26 Appian, Mith. 22 (Loeb translation).

  27 Appian, Mith. 22, Athanaeus frag. 5. 213, Tacitus, Ann. 4. 14; Valerius Maxi
mus 9. 2. 3 gives a death toll of 80,000, although Plutarch, Sulla 24 claims the total was 150,000; for handy introductions to the background see P. Matyszak, Mithridates the Great. Rome’s Indomitable Enemy (2008), pp. 43–7, A. Mayor, The Poison King. The Life and Legend of Mithridates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy (2010), pp. 170–75.

  28 Cicero, de imperio Cn. Pompeio 11; 20,000 massacred on Delos and elsewhere, see Appian, Mith. 28; on the general hatred of Romans see Sherwin-White (1996), pp. 399–402, referring to the Sibylline Oracles circulating in the eastern Mediterranean. However, it should be noted that similar prophecies in the past had foretold the humbling of other nations, notably the Macedonians.

  29 Cicero, Verrines 2. 1. 63–76.

  30 Romans in provinces seen as greedy, see Cicero, ad Quintum Fratrem 1. 1. 16.

  31 Humiliation and execution of Q. Oppius by Mithridates, see Appian, Mith. 20–21; see Matyszak (2008), pp. 43–8 for a good analysis of Mithridates’ motives.

  32 However, anger at such an outrage might make Roman legionaries fight with more than usual fury, e.g. at Avaricum in 52 BC, Caesar, BG 7. 17, 29.

  CHAPTER V – ‘HOW MUCH DID YOU MAKE?’ – GOVERNMENT

  1 Cicero, ad Fam. 15. 5 (Loeb translation).

  2 Cicero, ad Att. 5. 1–15 for letters written on the journey and describing his itinerary. The month of July was not yet named after Julius Caesar and was still called Quinctilis, but I have used the later term to avoid confusion.

  3 In general see A. Lintott, Imperium Romanum. Politics and Administration (1993), pp. 22–7, 46–8.

  4 On Cicero’s career in general and his appointment to Cilicia see D. Stockton, Cicero: A Political Biography (1971), esp. pp. 225–6; for a detailed discussion of his appointment see A. Marshall, ‘The Lex Pompeia de provinciis (52 BC) and Cicero’s Imperium in 51–50 BC: Constitutional aspects’, ANRW 1. 1 (1972), pp. 887–921.

  5 Cicero, ad Att. 5. 15 for the quote; for pleas to prevent any extension of his command e.g. Cicero. ad Att. 5. 14, 15, 18, 20, 21, 6. 1, 3, with letters to incoming magistrates ad Fam. 15. 7, 8, 9, 12.

  6 Cicero, ad Fam. 2. 12.

  7 On Petreius see Sallust, Bell. Cat. 59. 6 describing him in 62 BC, but probably referring to his entire career; for Caesar see A. Goldsworthy, Caesar. The Life of a Colossus (2006), pp. 184–5; Catullus 10. 8.

  8 Cicero, pro Cn. Plancio 64–6.

  9 Cicero, ad Att. 6. 1. 15, Valerius Maximus 8. 15. 6; on edicts see Lintott (1993), pp. 60–62, A. Marshall, ‘The Structure of Cicero’s Edict’, The American Journal of Philology 85 (1964), pp. 185–91.

  10 For a survey of the province and Cicero’s governorship see Stockton (1971), pp. 227–53; on relations with the Parthians see D. Kennedy, ‘Parthia and Rome: Eastern Perspectives’, in D. Kennedy (ed.), The Roman Army in the East. JRA Supplementary Series 18 (1996), pp. 67–90.

  11 For subordinates and staff see Lintott (1993), pp. 50–52, and on quaestors see A. Lintott, The Constitution of the Roman Republic (1999), pp. 133–7; on the accensus, Cicero, ad Quintum Fratrem 1. 1. 13.

  12 Lintott (1993), pp. 53–4; Cicero, Verrines 2. 5. 29, 39–42.

  13 A. Marshall, ‘Governors on the Move’, Phoenix 20 (1966), pp. 231–46, Lintott (1993), pp. 54–65; captured praetor killed because he was old and fat, Appian, Bell. Hisp. 63.

  14 Marshall (1966), p. 246; for Caesar see Suetonius, Julius Caesar 56–7.

  15 Cicero, ad Att. 5. 14, 15, 16, 17, ad Fam. 3. 6, 15. 4.

  16 assizes as he travelled along the road, Cicero, ad Att. 5. 20.

  17 For the quote, Cicero, ad Att. 5. 20, and the campaign in general see also ad Fam. 2. 7, 10, 15. 1, 2, 4, with discussion in A. Goldsworthy, The Roman Army at War 100 BC–AD 200 (1996), pp. 95–7, 99–100.

  18 ‘perpetual enemies’, Cicero, ad Fam. 2. 10, Bibulus’ defeat, ad Att. 5. 20; tribes in the Alps, Caesar, BG. 3. 1.

  19 E.g. Lintott (1993), pp. 53–4, Marshall (1966), pp. 239–40.

  20 Cicero, ad Att. 5. 21.

  21 Cicero, Verrines 2. 4 passim on Verres’ alleged thefts or compulsory purchases of artworks.

  22 Cicero, ad Att. 5. 21.

  23 Quotes from Cicero, ad Att. 5. 15; efforts to keep tight control over expenses, e.g. ad Att. 5. 15, 16, 17, 21 (for a blemish on the record), 6. 2, 3.

  24 Cicero, ad Att. 6. 1, with R. Syme, ‘Who was Vedius Pollio?’, JRS 51 (1961), pp. 23–30.

  25 Polybius 6. 17. 1–9, and in general see E. Badian, Publicans and Sinners (1972).

  26 Second Punic War, Livy 23. 48. 4–49. 4, 25. 3. 9–5. 1, with Badian (1972), pp. 17–20; Strabo, Geog 3. 2. 10 on mining, quoting a lost passage from Polybius, with Badian (1972), pp. 31–6; the latter’s visit to the area, Polybius 3. 59. 7; mines in Macedonia, Livy 45. 18. 3–5, with Badian (1972), pp. 40–41, 127–8 ns. 40–41.

  27 Cicero, ad Att. 1. 17. 9, 18. 3, 2. 1. 8, with Badian (1972), pp. 101–04.

  28 On size of contracts see Badian (1972), pp. 67–70; quote from Cicero, ad Quintum Fratrem 1. 1. 32–5, cf. ad Att. 6. 1 for his own relations with the publicani in Cilicia.

  29 Cicero, Verrines 2. 3 which deals at length with abuse of the grain tithe; 2. 182, 3. 167, 182 for companies keeping records. This oration was never delivered in court because Verres had already gone into exile. For recent discussion see the collection of papers in J. Prag, Sicilia Nutrix Plebis Romanae. Rhetoric, Law, and Taxation in Cicero’s Verrines (2007); quote from Livy 45. 18. 4; on Rutilius Rufus see Badian (1972), pp. 90–92, and for suggestion of guilt A. Lintott, ‘Leges Repetundae and associate measures under the Republic’, ZSS 98 (1981) pp. 194–5.

  30 Badian (1972), pp. 102–5.

  31 Cicero, Verrines 2. 5. 158–73.

  32 Cicero, ad Fam. 13. 55, 53, and 56 respectively (Loeb translation).

  33 Cicero, ad Fam. 8. 9, 2. 11, ad Fam. 5. 21.

  34 Cicero, ad Att. 5. 21, 6. 1, 2, 3.

  35 Quote from Plutarch, Brutus 6.

  36 For Ariobarzanes see Cicero, ad Fam. 15. 2, ad Att. 5. 20, 6. 1.

  37 Cicero, ad Fam. 3. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 for letters to Appius, ad Att. 5. 15, 16, 6. 1, 2, with 6. 1 for the joke about a doctor resenting someone else curing his patient.

  38 Cicero, ad Att. 6. 2 on corruption among local magistrates.

  39 Cicero, ad Fam. 15. 4, 5, 6 for exchange of letters with Cato.

  40 In 44 BC Decimus Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar’s assassins and by this time governor of Cisalpine Gaul, sent a punitive expedition into the Alps ‘not so much in quest of the title imperator as desiring to satisfy my men and make them firm for the defence of our concerns’, see Cicero, ad Fam. 11. 4 (Loeb translation).

  41 Risk of famine, Cicero, ad Att. 5. 21.

  42 On putting his quaestor in charge see Marshall (1972), pp. 899–921.

  CHAPTER VI – PROVINCIALS AND KINGS

  1 Polybius 31. 20 (Loeb translation).

  2 On the establishment of a permanent presence in Macedonia see discussion in R. Kallet-Marx, Hegemony to Empire. The Development of the Roman Imperium in the East from 148 to 62 BC (1995), pp. 11–41, and for Asia, pp. 97–122.

  3 Kallet-Marx (1995), pp. 30–40, E. Gruen, The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome (1984), pp. 429–36, and A. Eckstein, ‘Hegemony and annexation beyond the Adriatic 230–146 BC’, in D. Hoyos (ed.), A Companion to Roman Imperialism (2013), pp. 79–97; on the course of the Via Egnatia see Kallet-Marx (1995), pp. 347–9 and N. Hammond, ‘The western part of the via Egnatia’, JRS 64 (1974), pp. 185–94.

  4 M. Hassall, M. Crawford & J. Reynolds, ‘Rome and the Eastern Provinces at the end of the Second Century BC’, JRS 64 (1974), pp. 195–220, esp. pp. 201–7 for text and 207–29 for translation of the law.

  5 Plutarch, Cimon 1. 2–2. 1 tells the story but is unclear about the date of the incident. For this see Kallet-Marx (1995), pp. 280–81, and esp. p. 280 n. 77.

  6 On homosexuality in the army see Polybius 6. 37 and the incident in Plutarch Marius 13–14 where a soldier received the high
est award for valour, the corona civica, when he killed his commander after the latter had abused his authority in an effort to seduce the man.

  7 In general see Gruen (1984), pp. 523–8 on Greece, pp. 529–610 on Asia, Kallet-Marx (1995), pp. 223–334.

  8 Polybius 31. 2. 1–6, Appian, Syrian Wars 45–46, with Gruen (1984), p. 664 esp. fn. 244 with fuller references, pp. 714–15 for another tour by a delegation led by a distinguished senator, in this case Scipio Aeminilianus.

  9 For a good survey see Kallet-Marx (1995), pp. 161–83, and for the background see J. Ma, ‘Peer Polity Interaction in the Hellenistic Age’, Past & Present 180 (2003), pp. 9–39.

  10 For the declaration of the Second Macedonian War see Livy 31. 5. 1–8. 4; and comments and doubts over the true motive in W. Harris, War and Imperialism in Republican Rome 327–70 BC (1979), pp. 212–18, F. Walbank, ‘Polybius and Rome’s eastern policy’, JRS 53 (1963), pp. 1–13, P. Derow, ‘Polybius, Rome and the east’, JRS 69 (1979), pp. 1–15, and in general J. Rich, Declaring War in the Roman Republic in the Period of Transmarine Expansion. Collection Latomus 149 (1976); On Popillius Laenas see Livy 44. 20. 1, 29. 1–5, 10. 45. 2–15, 12. 1–3, with Gruen (1984), pp. 656–60.

  11 On declining offers of aid see the case of the Ptolemies in Gruen (1984), pp. 672–85; on Roman decisions to act and priorities see T. Hillard & L. Beness, ‘Choosing friends, foes and fiefdoms in the second century BC’, in Hoyos (2013), pp. 127–40.

  12 In general see Kallet-Marx (1995), pp. 162–77; on receiving embassies in February see T. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic Vol. 3 (1986), pp. 97–8.

  13 Caesar and Cicero as students, see Cicero, Brutus 316, Suetonius, Caesar 4; Horace, Epistles 2. 1. 156–7 for quote.

  14 On Athens see Kallet-Marx (1995), pp. 203–5, with Cicero, de Oratore 3. 75 for Crassus; on Ptolemies and the cat incident see Diodorus Siculus 1. 83. 1–9, 1. 44. 1; in general see M. Siani-Davies, ‘Ptolemy XII Auletes and the Romans’, Historia 46 (1997), pp. 306–40, esp. 317–22, and G. Hölbl (trans. T. Saavedra), A History of the Ptolemaic Empire (2001), pp. 225–7.