Christopher J. Fuhrmann
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199737840
- eISBN:
- 9780199928576
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199737840.003.0006
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter examines the emperors’ oversight of public order in the Roman provinces, with special attention to the correspondence between Trajan and Pliny the Younger, when Pliny was governor of ...
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This chapter examines the emperors’ oversight of public order in the Roman provinces, with special attention to the correspondence between Trajan and Pliny the Younger, when Pliny was governor of Bithynia. Emperors typically did not seek out problems to fix in the provinces. Instead, they reacted to conflicts brought to their attention, often via petitions‐‐thus the term “petition‐and‐response” for the model of governance which largely started with Augustus (Chapter 4). The scattered evidence for emperors’ instructions (mandata) to provincial governors reveal that law and order were prime concerns. Among soldiers performing police tasks for the emperors, the frumentarii were an important specialized unit. During the third century, imperial anti‐Christian persecutions, which were partly enforced by police, show the state’s increasing willingness to assert control over citizens‐ lives.Less
This chapter examines the emperors’ oversight of public order in the Roman provinces, with special attention to the correspondence between Trajan and Pliny the Younger, when Pliny was governor of Bithynia. Emperors typically did not seek out problems to fix in the provinces. Instead, they reacted to conflicts brought to their attention, often via petitions‐‐thus the term “petition‐and‐response” for the model of governance which largely started with Augustus (Chapter 4). The scattered evidence for emperors’ instructions (mandata) to provincial governors reveal that law and order were prime concerns. Among soldiers performing police tasks for the emperors, the frumentarii were an important specialized unit. During the third century, imperial anti‐Christian persecutions, which were partly enforced by police, show the state’s increasing willingness to assert control over citizens‐ lives.
