Andivius Hedulio: Adventures of a Roman Nobleman in the Days of the Empire
Page 43
NOTES TO ANDIVIUS HEDULIO
A. THE ROMAN ADMINISTRATIVE SYSTEM
From the expulsion of the Kings, the people of Rome, assembled in theirvoting-field outside their city, each year elected the magistrates for theyear: others, and especially quaestors, answering to our army-paymasterand custom-house collectors; praetors (judges, generals and governors ofprovinces), and two consuls, acting as chief-magistrates and generals-in-chief. A man was generally first quaestor, later praetor and finallyconsul, often holding other intermediary offices.
Ex-officials, who had held the more important offices of the Republic,became by immemorial custom life-members of the Senate, which was never anelective, always a selective body, without legal authority but with greatinfluence. As the Republic's Empire spread the Senate was less and lessable to control provincial governors, until such self-confident geniusesas Sulla, Caesar and Augustus became able to control it. The RomanRepublic was never abolished, and did not die till the Turks capturedConstantinople in 1453. It conquered a great Empire and when its Senatecould no longer control the magistrates who managed that Empire, itssolders who, by conquering and holding provinces to pay taxes maintainedthe Empire and the Republic, wearied of the incompetence of the Senate'sappointees, of the squabbles and strife of their leaders, chose byacclamation one commander whom they loved and trusted. The Senate, at hismercy, legalized his sovereignty by conferring on him for life the powersof a Tribune, an official who could initiate nothing, but had the legalpower to forbid anything and everything.
The Senate continued to administer those provinces reckoned safe frominvasion or insurrection; always two governed by ex-consuls and about tengoverned each by an ex-praetor. It continued to dispose of the fundsderived from their taxes and to recruit itself from ex-magistrates and toretain much of its influence, dignity and importance.
The outer provinces and those prone to turbulence were governed not by ex-consuls and ex-praetors acting in the name of the Senate, but each by adeputy of the Emperor, styled propraetor, praeses, or procurator. Thesewere called imperial provinces. The magistrates of the senatorialprovinces were, under the Empire, no longer elected by the people, butappointed by the Senate, with or without an indication of the Emperor'swishes.
The Romans never devised any method of choosing a chief magistrate otherthan acclamation by an army and confirmation by the Senate, creating anEmperor. If two commanders at about the same time were separately saluted"Imperator," as were Septimius Severus and Pescennius Niger, there was nomethod of adjudicating their conflicting claims except by Civil War andthe survival of one Imperator only.
B. THE FISCUS
From this word comes our "confiscate," "to turn totally into the Fiscus."A fiscus was a large basket, such is were used by all Roman financialconcerns to contain live vouchers. The fiscus was the organizationmanaging the pubic property, income and expenditures of the Roman Emperor.It controlled the proceeds of the taxes of all the imperial provinces andof the domains, mines, quarries, fisheries, factories, town property andwhatever else the fiscus held for the Emperors, impersonally. It gatheredin all moneys and possessions forfeited for suicide, crime or treason.
C. THE ROMAN CALENDAR
All primitive calendars went by the moon. Moon and month are the same wordin English. No more than Hengist and Horsa could the early Romans haveconceived of a month not beginning with the day of the new moon, as allmonths begin yet in the Jewish and Mohammedan calendars.
The first day of each month the Romans called its Kalends (announcementday). After that day they called each day so many before the Nones (halfmoon), then so many before the Ides (full moon), then so many to theKalends of the next month. Julius Caesar, impatient with the difficultiesof fitting together the solar and lunar calendars, bade his experts ignorethe moon and divide the solar year into twelve months. They did, and hiscalendar, with trifling improvements, has lasted till our days. The Romanscontinued to reckon days before the Nones, Ides and Kalends. The Nonesfell on the seventh of March, May, July and October, on the fifth of theother months; the Ides on the fifteenth of March, May, July and Octoberand on the thirteenth of the rest.
D. THE LEGION
The legion, always the largest fighting unit of the Roman armies,corresponded most nearly to our regiment, but had also features of ourbrigade. It was always rostered as of 6,000 men, all told. But the causeswhich operate in all armies brought it about that a legion in the fieldhad usually about 5,000 men. It was divided into sixty bodies resemblingour companies, called centuries, because nominally of 100 men, eachcommanded by a centurion. The Roman army never, like ours, had tieringgrades of officers; it always, theoretically, consisted of soldiers,centurions and the commander: other officers were additional and special.Each centurion chose from among his men an _optio_, to assist him and totake his place if killed. These _optiones_ corresponded most nearly to ourcorporals, but their duties and authority were always very vague. Thecenturions corresponded to our sergeants, in that they were picked menfrom the ranks, but they had all the duties and powers of our lieutenantsand, some of them, of much higher officers. Three centuries made up amaniple, more or less like one of our battalions, each commanded by itssenior centurion. Two maniples made up a cohort, also commanded by itssenior centurion, and the ten centurions commanding cohorts were theactual officers of the legion, its head centurion an officer of greatimportance.
True, a _tribunus militum_ (tribune of the soldiers) was attached to eachcohort; but he did more advising than commanding, though, in theory, herepresented the general. The tribunes answered to our captains. Under theEmpire each legion was commanded by a _legatus_, who also represented thegeneral in his absence. Such an officer corresponded most nearly to ourcolonel, but had many of the characteristics of a brigadier-general.
E. "_Ubi tu Caius, ego Caia._"
These words, never varied whatever the names of the bride and groom, werethe kernel of the Roman wedding ritual and after their utterance the bridewas a wife. They correspond to the "I do" and "love, honor and obey" ofour customary marriage formulas. As Caius and Caia were far and away themost frequent names among the Romans the phrase might be rendered: "Whereyou are Jack, I'm Jill."
No English words convey precisely the mingling of banter, and earnestness,of archness, devotion, shyness and fervor implied in the Latin words asuttered by Vedia.
F. OPTIONES
Private soldiers chosen by their centurions as informal assistant-centurions; to take their superior's place if he fell in battle, or wasdisabled or ill, and to assist him with his routine duties. Theycorrespond more or less to the corporals of modern armies. (See also NOTED.)
G. SPINA
The stone wall, platform, or long narrow structure down the middle of thearena of a Roman circus, dividing its race-course into half laps. Along itthe teams tore at top speed, for the short turns about its rounded endstheir drivers reined them in. The spina was about 660 feet long. It variedfrom a low wall to a gorgeous and complicated series of structures.
H. ERGASTULUM
A hard-labor prison, whether belonging to a private person, company ormunicipality, usually below ground-level, for criminal, dangerous,unmanageable or runaway slaves.
J. COMMODUS AS AN ATHLETE
Even more than Babe Ruth at baseball Commodus was a wonder at beast-killing in the amphitheater. Dio Cassius, who, being a senator, looked onfrom a front seat, says (LXXII, 18.) that he killed a hundred bears in oneday. Herodian, who grew up with men who had known Commodus and had beenspectators of his prowess, says (I; 15; 3, 4, 5, 6.) that when he spearedlions and leopards no one saw a second javelin cast nor any wound notfatal, that he sent his dart at will through the forehead or the heart ofan animal rushing at top speed and that his missile never struck any partof a beast except so as both to wound and kill. Hurling his javelins froma distance he killed a hundred lions let out of the crypts of theColosseum with precisely the same number of spear-casts, no dart missingits mark.
you for reading books on Archive.