Pax Romana

by Adrian Goldsworthy

  38 Herod Agrippa II’s speech, Josephus, BJ 3. 348–404, with quote from 3. 352; Petilius Cerealis in Tacitus, Hist. 4. 43–4.

  39 The literature on this subject is vast and there are a range of opinions about almost every detail. For the Roman military viewpoint see A. Goldsworthy, ‘“Men casually armed against fully equipped regulars”: The Roman military response to Jewish insurgence 63 BCE–135 CE’, in P. Tomson & J. Schwartz (eds), Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries: How to Write their History (2014), pp. 207–37; for the narrative of rebellion from AD 66–73, a lively and provocative account is N. Faulkner, Apocalypse. The Great Jewish Revolt against Rome AD 66–73 (2002).

  40 Dio 69. 14. 1; on Galilee see S. Freyne, ‘The Revolt from a regional perspective’, in A. Berlin & J. Overman (eds), The First Jewish Revolt. Archaeology, History, and Ideology (2002), pp. 43–56, and R. Horsley, ‘Power vacuum and power struggle 66–7 CE’, in Berlin & Overman (2002), pp. 87–109 and other papers in the same volume, Z. Safrai, ‘Socioeconomic and cultural developments in the Galilee from the late first to early third century CE’, in Tomson and Schwartz (2014), pp. 278–310, E. Meyers, ‘Roman Sepphoris in the light of new archaeological evidence and recent research’, in L. Levine (ed.), The Galilee in Late Antiquity (1992), pp. 321–8.

  41 F. Millar, The Roman Near East 31 BC–AD 337 (1993), pp. 337–74.

  42 For some notable discussions of the causes of the revolt see Goodman (1987) and S. Mason, ‘Why did Judaeans go to war with Rome in 66–67 CE? Realist-Regional perspectives’, in Tomson & Schwartz (2014), pp. 126–206; for Roman attitudes see E. Gruen, ‘Roman perspectives on the Jews in the age of the Great Revolt’, in Berlin & Overman (2002), pp. 27–42.

  CHAPTER IX – RESISTANCE, RIOTING AND ROBBERY

  1 Dio 72. 4. 1 (Loeb translation).

  2 For the garrison of Egypt see R. Alston, Soldier and Society in Roman Egypt. A Social History (1995), pp. 20–38.

  3 For the rebellion see Dio 72. 24, with Alston (1995), pp. 77–8; for a document possibly demonstrating Avidius Cassius’ connection with Egypt see A. Bowman, ‘A letter of Avidius Cassius?’, JRS 60 (1970), pp. 20–26.

  4 For discussion see J. Winkler, ‘Lollianos and the desperadoes’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 100 (1980), pp. 155–81, esp. 180–81.

  5 Diodorus Siculus 20. 100. 3–4, and P. Green, Alexander to Actium (1990), pp. 80–91 for a good survey of Alexandria’s origins and culture.

  6 Tacitus, Hist. 1. 65–6 for Gaul, 4. 50 for Africa.

  7 Tacitus, Hist. 2. 21 for Placentia; Tacitus, Ann. 14. 17 for Pompeii and Nuceria, with R. MacMullen, Enemies of the Roman Order (1966), pp. 169–70.

  8 ILS 5947 = CIL 10. 7852, with B. Shaw, ‘Bandits in the Roman Empire’, Past & Present 105 (1984), pp. 3–52, 7 fn. 12.

  9 S. Mason, ‘Why did Judaeans go to war with Rome in 66–67 ce? Realist- Regional perspectives’, in P. Tomson & J. Schwartz (eds), Jews and Christians in the First and Second Centuries: How to Write their History (2014), pp. 126–206, esp. 170–74, and for the history in general E. Schürer, G. Vermes & F. Millar, The History of the Jewish People in the Age of Jesus Christ Vol. 1 (1973), pp. 125–232; Good Samaritan, Luke 10. 30–35, cf. John 4. 4–30 for the Samaritan woman at the well.

  10 For Cleopatra see Plutarch, Antony 36, Dio 49. 32. 5, Strabo, Geog. 14. 669, 671, with M. Grant, Cleopatra (1971), pp. 135–41, G. Hölbl (trans. T. Saavedra), A History of the Ptolemaic Empire (2001), p. 242; for Herod see Schürer, Vermes & Millar (1973), pp. 287–329.

  11 On the Olympic Games see Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 16. 149, Jewish War 1. 427, and his own Hellenic-style festival 15. 268–71; on Herod’s gifts to Greek communities see G. Bowersock, Augustus and the Greek World (1965), pp. 54–6, and A. Spawforth, Greece and the Augustan Cultural Revolution. Greek Culture in the Roman World (2012), pp. 84–6; on Herod’s troops see M. Speidel, ‘The Roman army in Judaea under the Procurators’, in M. Speidel, Roman Army Studies Vol. 2: Mavors (1992), pp. 224–32.

  12 Josephus, Ant. 19. 356–9 for joy at Herod Agrippa I’s death; for the region in general see F. Millar, The Roman Near East 31 BC–AD 337 (1993), pp. 43–69, 337–66.

  13 For Augustus’ joke see Macrobius, Saturnalia 2. 4. 11; for a public act of opposition to Herod and the subsequent executions see Josephus, BJ 1. 648–53.

  14 Herod’s war, see Josephus, Ant. 16. 271–99; Herod Antipas’ campaign against the Nabataeans, see Ant. 18. 109–15, 120–25.

  15 D. Schwartz, Studies in the Jewish Background of Christianity (1992), pp. 182–217 has suggested that Pontius Pilate held office for even longer, from AD 18 to 36/37; for the standards see Josephus, BJ 2. 169–74, Ant. 18. 55–9.

  16 Josephus, BJ 2. 184–7, 192–203, Ant. 18. 257–309, Philo, Legatio 199–205; for discussion see Mason (2014), p. 178.

  17 Josephus, BJ 175–7, Ant. 60–62.

  18 Josephus, Ant. 18. 85–9.

  19 Josephus, Ant. 20. 97–9 (quote from Loeb translation), Acts 5. 36.

  20 Josephus, BJ 2. 261–3, Ant. 20. 97–8 and Acts 21. 38.

  21 Josephus, Ant. 20. 106–12, BJ 2. 224–7

  22 Josephus, Ant. 20. 113–17, BJ 2. 228–31, and in general Mason (2014), pp. 180–82.

  23 Josephus, BJ 2. 232–46, Ant. 20. 118–36; Claudius considers posting the garrison to Pontus, Ant. 19. 365–6, with Mason (2014), p. 180.

  24 For embassies and decisions in favour of the Jewish leaders see P. McKechnie, ‘Judaean embassies and cases before Roman Emperors, AD 44–66’, Journal of Theological Studies 56 (2005), pp. 339–61; agitators, see Philo, in Flaccum 20; on the incident at Alexandria see Philo, in Flaccum 18–114, with B. Decharneux, ‘The Carabas affair (in Flacc 36–39): An incident emblematic of Philo’s political philosophy’, in Tomson & Schwartz (2014), pp. 70–79.

  25 Josephus, BJ 2. 1. 408–16, 266–70, Ant. 20. 173–8, 182–4, with McKechnie (2005), pp. 353–6.

  26 Josephus, BJ 2. 289–90 (Loeb translation).

  27 Josephus BJ 2. 285–92, with Mason (2014), pp. 184–7; cohort massacred in Jerusalem, but commander spared, see BJ 2. 450–554.

  28 Josephus, BJ 2. 460–62 (Loeb translation).

  29 Josephus, BJ 2. 461–80.

  30 Josephus, Ant. 20. 121, BJ. 2. 235 also mentions an ‘Alexander’ as one of the leaders of these raids; bandits hired as mercenaries in Galilee, Josephus, BJ 3. 581–3; sicarii, see BJ 2. 254–7, 425, Ant. 20. 162–6, 186, 204.

  31 Digest 49. 15. 24

  32 On bandits and pirates in general see R. MacMullen, Enemies of the Roman Order (1966), pp. 192–212, 255–68, B. Shaw, ‘Bandits in the Roman Empire’, Past & Present 105 (1984), pp. 3–52, ‘The bandit’, in A. Giardina (ed.), The Romans (1993), pp. 3–52, T. Grünewald (trans. J. Drinkwater), Bandits in the Roman Empire. Myth and Reality (2004), P. de Souza, Piracy in the Graeco-Roman world (1999), and C. Fuhrmann, Policing the Roman Empire. Soldiers, Administration and Public Order (2012).

  33 See Grünewald (2004), pp. 72–90, P. de Souza, ‘Pirates and politics in the Roman world’, in V. Grieb & S. Todt (eds), Piraterie von de Antike bis zur Gegenwart (2012), pp. 47–73, esp. 61–73.

  34 Strabo, Geog. 3. 3. 8, and A. Morillo Cerdán, ‘The Augustean Spanish Experience: The origin of the limes system?’, in A. Moirillo, N. Hanel & E. Martín, Limes XX: Estudios sobre la frontera romana. Roman Frontier Studies. Anejos de Gladius 13 Vol. 1 (2009), pp. 239–51, esp. 244–7.

  35 Grünewald (2004), pp. 91–109, B. Shaw, ‘Tyrants, bandits and kings: personal power in Josephus’, Journal of Jewish Studies 44 (1993), pp. 176–204; Matthew 22. 17, ‘sons of thunder’, Mark 3. 17, and for Barabbas Luke 23. 19.

  36 For discussion of the social and economic problems see M. Goodman, The Ruling Class of Judaea. The Origins of the Jewish Revolt against Rome AD 66–70 (1987), pp. 51–75.

  37 Velleius Paterculus 2. 126. 3.

  38 See B. Isaac, The Limits of Empire. The Roman Army in the East (rev. edn, 1992), pp. 68–100.

 
39 Sifre Deuteronomy, 318 (ed. Finkelstein) quoted in Isaac (1992), p. 115.

  40 Examples taken from Isaac (1992), pp. 83–4, 85–8, 117–18.

  41 Dio 69. 12. 3 (Loeb translation); Y. Sharar, ‘The underground hideouts in Galilee and their historical meaning’, in P. Schäfer (ed.), The Bar Kokhba War Reconsidered: New Perspectives on the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome (2003), pp. 217–40.

  42 Isaac (1992), pp. 85–9 suggests some ambiguity in rabbinic attitudes to bandits, but no active or enthusiastic support for them; Marcus Aurelius’ comment mentioned because it was misquoted by the Emperor Julian in the fourth century AD, Ammianus Marcellinus 22. 5. 5.

  43 Isaac (1992), pp. 116–17.

  44 MacMullen (1966), pp. 84–90, and for the texts see H. Musurillo, The Acts of the Pagan Martyrs, Acta Alexandrinorum (1954).

  45 Millar (1993), pp. 337–66, 408–14.

  CHAPTER X – IMPERIAL GOVERNORS

  1 Suetonius, Domitian 8.

  2 (Loeb translation). 2 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 15–18. Pliny’s letters are not dated and there is a question over whether his provincial command began in AD 109, 110 or 111, but there is no means to resolve this debate and it does not matter for our purpose. On his appointment and for background to the province and the letters, see A. Sherwin-White, The Letters of Pliny. A Historical and Social Commentary (1966), pp. 526–55.

  3 Sherwin-White (1966), pp. 1–84; see also R. Gibson, ‘On the nature of ancient letter collections’, JRS 102 (2012), pp. 56–78, esp. 67–9.

  4 For mandata see G. Burton, ‘The issuing of mandata to proconsuls and a new inscription from Cos’, ZPE 21 (1976), pp. 63–8, and D. Potter, ‘Emperors, their borders and their neighbours: the scope of imperial mandata’, in D. Kennedy (ed.), The Roman Army in the East. JRA Supplementary Series 18 (1996), pp. 49–66.

  5 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 106–7, mentioning a centurion from a cohors VI equitata, and in general see J. Ritterling, ‘Military forces in senatorial provinces’, JRS 17 (1927), pp. 28–32, esp. 28.

  6 e.g. Pliny the Younger, Ep. 4. 9, 5. 20, 6. 5, 13, 7. 6, 10, with P. Brunt, ‘Charges of provincial maladministration under the early principate’, Historia 10 (1961), pp. 189–227, esp. 213–14, 227.

  7 For an early-third-century AD summary of the two types of governors see Dio 3. 13. 2–14. 4; on senatorial careers see E. Birley, ‘Senators in the emperor’s service’ and ‘Promotion and transfers in the Roman army: senatorial and equestrian officers’, in E. Birley, The Roman Army. Papers 1929–1986 (1988), pp. 75–114, with J. Campbell, ‘Who were the viri militares?’ JRS 65 (1975), pp. 11–31.

  8 Note the scepticism of this raised in G. Woolf, ‘Pliny’s province’, in T. Bekker- Nielsen (ed.), Rome and the Black Sea Region: Domination, Romanization, Resistance (2006), pp. 93–108.

  9 Suetonius, Augustus 53. 1.

  10 For the province see J. Madsen, Eager to be Roman. Greek Response to Roman Rule in Pontus and Bithynia (2009), esp. pp. 11–57.

  11 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 21–2.

  12 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 25, cf. Sherwin-White (1966) pp. 394–5 on legates; Fronto, Correspondence with Antoninus Pius 8. 1 with translation and comments in B. Levick, The Government of the Roman Empire. A Source-book (2nd edn, 2000), p. 14.

  13 J. Oliver, ‘A Roman governor visits Samothrace’, American Journal of Philology 87 (1966), pp. 75–80; prefect of Pontic Shore, Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 21–2; Maximus, Pliny the Younger, Ep. 27–8.

  14 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 19–20, 77–8.

  15 See B. Rankov, ‘The governor’s men: the officium consularis’, in A. Goldsworthy & I. Haynes (eds), The Roman Army as a Community in Peace and War. JRA Supplementary Series 34 (1999), pp. 15–34, esp. 23–5 on numbers, A. Goldsworthy, The Roman Army at War 100 BC–AD 200 (1996), pp. 22–5 on men on detached service; for Legio III Augusta see M. Speidel, Emperor Hadrian’s Speeches to the African Army – A New Text (2006), p. 8, field 2, lines 3–4 of the inscription; for a discussion of literacy and the importance of the written word for auxiliaries see I. Haynes, The Blood of the Provinces. The Roman Auxilia and the Making of Provincial Society from Augustus to Severus (2013), pp. 313–36.

  16 Matthew 27. 19, 24.

  17 Tacitus, Ann. 3. 33–4, with A. Marshall, ‘Tacitus and the governor’s lady: a note on Annals iii. 31–4’, Greece and Rome 22 (1975), pp. 11–18 and A. Barrett, ‘Aulus Caecina Severus and the Military woman’, Historia 54 (2005), pp. 301–14.

  18 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 120–21 for use of the imperial post by Pliny’s wife; see also S. Mitchell, ‘Requisitioned transport in the Roman empire: a new inscription from Pisidia’, JRS 66 (1976), pp. 106–31.

  19 G. Burton, ‘Proconsuls, assizes, and the administration of justice under the empire’, JRS 65 (1975), pp. 92–106, A. Lintott, Imperium Romanum. Politics and Administration (1993), pp. 148–60.

  20 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 81–2.

  21 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 47–8.

  22 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 58–9, 79–80, 112–15.

  23 Lintott (1993), pp. 122–3, and E. Badian, Publicans and Sinners (1972) for an overview of organisation of the publicani.

  24 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 96–7 (quotes from Loeb), with Sherwin-White (1966), pp. 691–712.

  25 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 19–20, 32–3 (quote from Loeb).

  26 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 37–41 for these projects.

  27 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 22–3.

  28 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 41–2, 60–61, 90–91, 98–9.

  29 AE 1954, 137, and see C. Serafina, ‘A Roman engineer’s tales’, JRS 101 (2011), pp. 143–65 for discussion.

  30 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 34–5 (quote from Loeb)

  31 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 10. 34–5 (quote from Loeb), with Sherwin-White (1966), pp. 606–10; 10. 65–6 on foundlings.

  32 Dio Chrysostom, Discourse 46. esp. 8, 11–14; on Dio see Madsen (2006), pp. 107–19.

  33 Suetonius, Vespasian 4. 3.

  34 Digest 1. 18. 13

  35 For banditry see especially R. MacMullen, Enemies of the Roman Order (1966), pp. 192–241, 255–68, and B. Shaw, ‘Bandits in the Roman empire’, Past & Present 105 (1984), pp. 3–52 and ‘The Bandit’, in A. Giardina (ed.), The Romans (1993), pp. 300–41.

  36 Pliny the Younger, Ep. 6. 25 (Loeb translation).

  37 CIL 3. 8242, and for other tombstones see Shaw (1984), pp. 10–12, fn. 25; 2 Corinthians 11. 26; Epictetus, Diss. 4. 1. 91, praise of governor, see Apuleius, Florida 9. 36 and discussion in C. Fuhrmann, Policing the Roman Empire (2012), pp. 182–4.

  38 On soldiers see Fuhrmann (2012), pp. 186–94, 201–38, R. Davies, ‘The investigation of some crimes in Roman Egypt’, in R. Davies, D. Breeze & V. Maxfield (eds), Service in the Roman Army (1989), pp. 175–85; Apuleius, Metamorphoses 2. 18 (Loeb translation).

  39 Apuleius, Metamorphoses 7. 7–8 (Loeb translation).

  40 AE 1956, 124 and F. Millar, ‘The world of the Golden Ass’, JRS 71 (1981), pp. 63–75, 66–7.

  41 Apuleius, Metamorphoses 8. 16–17 (Loeb translation); Aelius Aristides, see Fuhrmann (2012), pp. 67–8, fn. 76, citing Orations 50. 63–94.

  42 Shaw (1984), pp. 14–18, Fuhrmann (2012), pp. 66–87.

  43 Florida Ostraka 2, cf. O. Mons Claudianus 175 requesting that a man be sent to serve in a watch-tower as a skopelarios.

  44 Quote from Mons Claudianus Ostraka 48; in general see R. Bagnall, ‘Army and police in upper Egypt’, JARCE 14 (1976), pp. 67–88, V. Maxfield, ‘Ostraca and the Roman army in the eastern desert’, in J. Wilkes (ed.), Documenting the Roman Army. Essays in Honour of Margaret Roxan (2003), pp. 153–73.

  45 M. Bishop, ‘Praesidium: social, military, and logistical aspects of the Roman army’s provincial distribution during the early Principate’, in A. Goldsworthy & I. Haynes (eds), The Roman Army as a Community in Peace and War. JRA Supplementary Series 34 (1999), pp. 111–18.

  46 Galen, On anatomical procedures 1. 2 (trans. C. Singer, 1
956); for Social Bandits see E. Hobsbawm, Bandits (1969), with critical comments in Shaw (1984), pp. 4–5, and ‘The Bandit’, in A. Giardina (ed., trans. L. Cochrane), The Romans (1993), pp. 300–41, and Fuhrmann (2012), pp. 134–6, 156 with the fictionalised stories about Bulla Felix and Maternus; for another period, see the comments on Hobsbawm in C. Esdaile, Outpost of Empire. The Napoleonic Occupation of Andalucía, 1810–1812 (2012), pp. 119–23, 158–9.

  47 Shaw (1984), pp. 9–10.

  CHAPTER XI – LIFE UNDER ROMAN RULE

  1 Tacitus, Hist. 4. 74 (Loeb translation).

  2 For the importance of courtesy in dealing with provincials especially in the eastern provinces, see C. Kokkinia, ‘Ruling, inducing, arguing: how to govern (and survive) a Greek province’, in L. de Light, E. Hemelrijk & H. Singor (eds), Roman Rule and Civic Life: Local and Regional Perspectives. Impact of Empire Vol. 4 (2004), pp. 39–58; on the importance of formality and courtesy in general see J. Lendon, Empire of Honour. The Art of Government in the Roman World (1997), passim.

  3 See S. Schwartz, ‘The Rabbi in Aphrodite’s bath: Palestinian society and Jewish identity in the High Roman Empire’, in S. Goldhill (ed.), Being Greek under Rome. Cultural Identity, the Second Sophistic and the Development of Empire (2001), pp. 335–61, esp. 337 emphasising how rare it is for rabbinic literature to express hostility to the pagan environment; on the Greeks see Dio Chrysostom, Orations 45. 6, 48. 2, Plutarch, Praecepta gerendae reipublicae 17, with S. Dmitriev, City Government in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor (2005), esp. pp. 289–328, R. Preston, ‘Roman questions, Greek answers: Plutarch and the construction of identity’, in Goldhill (2001), pp. 86–119.

  4 Matthew 22. 17–22, with F. Millar, ‘State and Subject: the impact of monarchy’, in F. Millar & E. Segal (eds), Caesar Augustus. Seven Aspects (corrected paperback edn, 1990), pp. 37–60, esp. 44–5.

  5 Strabo, Geog. 10. 5. 3 (Loeb translation), with Millar (1990), pp. 44–5 and J. Rea, ‘Lease of a Red Cow called Thayris’, The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 68 (1982), pp. 277–82.