The imperial officials

The administrative reforms initiated by Diocletian and completed by Constantine were aimed at removing heavy concentrations of power from the hands of state officials and army commanders, thus minimising the risk of internal revolt.

One of the most important civil functionaries of the later imperial period was the quaestor sacri palatii, the officer in charge of the administration of justice. The quaestor, usually a distinguished jurist, was the emperor's adviser on legal matters and played an important part in the preparation of imperial legislation. From the fourth century AD he presided over the imperial council {sacrum consistorium), when the latter met in the absence of the emperor. Among the highest offices of the state was also that of the master of the offices (magister officiorum), created in 320 AD. As was noted above, the magister officiorum exercised general superintendence over the secretarial bureaus of the palace (scrinia). He also supervised the imperial intelligence service (agentes in rebus, curiosi), the imperial bodyguard and the public post system.

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Besides the imperial officers mentioned above, the praetorian prefects (praefecti praetorio) continued to play a significant part in the administration of the empire. Under Diocletian their number was increased to four - with one prefect being assigned to each member of the tetrarchy. In the time of Constantine, however, the praetorian prefects were divested of their military authority (following the disbandment of the praetorian guard) and became purely civilian officials entrusted with the civil administration of each of the four prefectures into which the empire had been divided. Within the province of the praefecti praetorio fell, among other things, the collection and distribution of taxes in kind and matters relating to the administration of justice.

The cities of Rome and Constantinople were each administered by an urban prefect (praefectus urbi) who, being responsible for the maintenance of peace, was armed with broad powers for the suppression and punishment of offences against public order. Most of the powers which once appertained to the praetors and aediles were now concentrated in his hands and all police magistrates were acting under his commands. He had general jurisdiction in both criminal and civil cases and, with the assistance of a board of assessors, he decided on appeals sent up from lower courts. Within his jurisdiction fell, moreover, cases involving accusations against persons belonging to the senatorial class. Besides his judicial and police functions, the urban prefect convoked and presided over meetings of the senate and published the imperial laws in the city. He was also responsible for the regular supply of the city with provisions, having under his command the praefectus annonae. The praefectus urbi carried out his duties under the supervision of a vicarius in urbe who acted as a representative of the praefectus praetorio?®

¹⁰ On the imperial civil service see W. Kunkel, An Introduction to Roman Legal and Constitutional History, 2nd edn, Oxford 1973, 141-2; H. F. Jolowicz and B. Nicholas, Historical Introduction to the Study of Roman Law, 3rd edn, Cambridge 1972, 423 ff; A. H. Μ. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, Oxford 1964, chapters 11, 12 and 16; A. Cameron, The Later Roman Empire, London 1993, 39-41; Μ. Kaser, Römische Rechtsgeschichte, Göttingen 1976, 208 ff; E. Stein, Untersuchungen über das Officium der Prätorianerpräfektur seit Diokletian, Amsterdam 1962; J. Harries, 'The Roman imperial quaestor from Constantine to Theodosius II', 78 JRS (1988), 148-72; A. Giardina, Aspetti della burocrazia nel Basso Impero, Rome 1977; J. Harries, Law and Empire in Late Antiquity, Cambridge 1999, 38 ff; R. Delmaire, Les Institutions du Bas- Empire romain, de Constantin ä Justinien, I, Les Institutions palatines, 1995;