The provinces

In the early years of the Principate the number of Roman provinces was increased. This was partly due to the introduction of a new system of territorial division and partly due to the further expansion of Roman territory following the conquest of new lands (such as Britain, the Rhine and Danube regions, and parts of Mesopotamia and Arabia).

We saw earlier that Augustus, as holder of the proconsular power (imperium proconsulare), exercised direct control over the frontier provinces in which the bulk of the Roman army was stationed. The rest were placed under the control of the senate. This led to the eventual division of the Roman provinces into two categories: imperial provinces (provinciae principis) and senatorial provinces (provinciae senatus). Outside these two classes of provinces but really within the empire, Augustus and his successors allowed some client kingdoms to exist.^[862] These enjoyed internal self-government and paid no taxes to Rome, but their foreign relations were under the control of the emperor and they were bound to aid Rome militarily.

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The senatorial provinces

The provinces placed under the control of the senate were usually (although not always) those in which conditions of peace and security prevailed and which, therefore, did not require the presence of large armies.

As holder of the imperium proconsulare, the governor exercised general jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters and supervised the political and financial administration of his province. In carrying out his duties he was assisted by deputies termed legati pro praetore. The latter were appointed by the governor, with the approval of the senate or the emperor, and performed certain judicial functions as delegates of the governor (iurisdictio mandata) ^y) With respect to matters relating to the financial administration of the province, such as the collection of taxes, the governor was aided by quaestors {quaestores provinciates) whose duties were similar to those of the aediles curules in Rome. In the senatorial provinces the emperor was represented by a procurator. This official was entrusted with the management of the emperor's property in the province, and was responsible for the collection of the taxes payable to the imperial treasury (Jiscus).

The imperial provinces

one person.

The administration of Egypt

Although it belonged to the imperial provinces, Egypt had its own organisation since the late first century BC (when it was conquered by Octavian). From that time it was regarded as a private estate of the emperor rather than as part of the dominions of the Roman people. The special significance, political, economic and military, which Egypt had for the emperor is manifested by the fact that its governor was not permitted to leave his post before the arrival of his successor.^[865] [866] Moreover senators and eminent members of the equestrian class were prohibited from entering the province without the emperor's permission.^[867]

Egypt was governed by a representative of the emperor, usually a member of the equestrian class,^[868] who bore the title praefectus Alexandriae et Aegypti.

Provincial administration and local government

The internal administration of a province was in the hands of its governor^[873] who, by virtue of his imperium, issued decrees binding throughout the province (ius edicendi), tried cases and heard appeals against judicial decisions of local magistrates. In criminal cases he had the right to impose any punishment he thought fit, including the death penalty (ius gladii). During the Principate governors were more closely supervised by the central government, usually through imperial procurators, and could be more quickly and certainly brought to justice if they abused their power.^[874] Besides the check on power exercised by Rome, there was also a control in the province itself. In the capital city of every province^[875] assemblies (concilia) were held once a year composed of representatives of the various communities in the province. The original purpose of these gatherings was the carrying out of certain religious ceremonies associated with the cult of the emperor. In addition to that, the assemblies discussed various matters concerning the administration of the province, assessed actions of the governor and provincial magistrates and submitted petitions to the emperor.

The period of the Principate is marked by the progressive Romanisation of the provinces, especially those of the West. This process, which was actively promoted by the imperial government, was precipitated by the establishment of new colonies (coloniae) and towns (municipia), both Roman and Latin, throughout the empire. In the provinces, especially those of the East, there existed also many cities and towns whose inhabitants were foreigners (civitates peregrinorum). Some of these communities were allowed to administer their own affairs without direct interference by the Roman authorities (civitates liberae). The status of a civitas libera was granted by a special law (lex data), often as a reward for a city's support to Rome in times of war or for various political purposes. Other provincial communities (civitates immunes) enjoyed special privileges, such as exemption from taxation or other burdens regularly imposed upon the inhabitants of the province. One should note here, however, that libertas did not necessarily imply immunitas, as a community might be a civitas libera and yet heavily taxed.^[876] In a similar manner, a community might have enjoyed immunitas without being a civitas libera. Furthermore, a provincial community might enjoy certain privileges by virtue of a special treaty (foedus) concluded between it and Rome (i.e., a treaty distinct from the law regulating the government of the province as a whole). Such communities were referred to as civitates foederatae. Sometimes the status of colonia was granted by the emperor as a privilege to an existing municipium or civitas peregrinorum, and was accompanied by the granting of the Roman citizenship to its inhabitants.

The various provincial communities (coloniae, municipia, civitates peregrinorum) had their own assemblies, magistrates and town councils. The latter were modelled on the Roman senate and consisted usually of a hundred members, termed decuriones or senatores, representing the local aristocracy (ordo decurionum). The decuriones were selected, in part, from among those who had served as magistrates in the past and, in part, from persons of a high standing in the community. Within the competence of the local councils fell all matters involving the interests of the community and their resolutions (decreta) were binding upon the local magistrates. With the progressive decline of the democratic institutions during the imperial era the ordo decurionum gradually came to assume the most important functions of the local assemblies.^[877] The administration of a city was usually headed by four magistrates (quattuorviri), two duoviri iuri dicundo and two duoviri aediles. The duoviri iure dicundo were elected annually by the local assembly and their functions were similar to those of the consuls and praetors in Rome. They summoned and presided over the municipal council and the assembly of the people, administered the community's finances and conducted the census (duoviri censoria potestate), and exercised general jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters. Each of them had the right of veto (intercessio) against acts of the other. The duties of the duoviri aediles were similar to those of the Roman aediles. Within their competence fell, among other things, the maintenance of public order, the management of public roads and buildings, the supervision of market transactions and the organisation of public games and festivals. In most cities there were also quaestores, usually two in number, who served as treasurers of the community. In the civitates peregrinorum private disputes were resolved according to each city's own system of laws. In the course of time, however, the continual interference of the Roman authorities into the affairs of the provincial communities and, more importantly, the heavy taxation imposed upon them by the imperial government, led to the decline of their institutions and the gradual erosion of their autonomy.^[878]

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Property rights and taxation in the provinces

In the provinces the whole of the land was regarded, in theory at least, as belonging by right of conquest to the Roman state (dominium populi Romani, or dominium Caesaris). In practice, however, private lands were seldom confiscated by the state and remained in the hands of their owners on payment of a land tax. Nevertheless, with the exception of those territories belonging to communities which had been granted the ius Italicum, provincial lands could not be the subject of private ownership according to the rules of the Roman ius civile {dominium ex iure Quiritium). Land belonging to a community as a whole, on the other hand, was usually seized by the Romans and was disposed of in various ways: a part was sold and the proceeds were deposited into the Roman public treasury (aerarium)·, a part was let to tenants who were required to pay a fixed rent to the Roman state; and a part was left in the hands of the community to which it originally belonged, although it became subject to taxation.

In the provinces land tax was imposed upon all lands not granted the privileged status of Italian soil {ius Italicum). In the imperial provinces this tax was a fixed proportion of the annual yield, whereas in the senatorial ones it was a sum fixed annually for each community.^[879] Besides the land tax, provincials were usually required to pay a property tax {tributum capitis') which was calculated for each individual according to the amount of property (other than landed property) which he possessed. A provincial census was regularly conducted for the purpose of ascertaining the taxable property available.^[880] In addition to the revenues derived from land and personal taxation, revenues were raised from several other sources. These included the duties levied on exports and imports, the profits realised from mines and salt works, the five per cent tax on the value of emancipated slaves and the five per cent inheritance tax. But besides the regular taxes provincials were often liable to extraordinary exactions and levies. Thus, they might be required to provide shelter for the troops, to equip and maintain fleets for war or transport and to provide supplies for the household of the governor. These additional burdens were usually determined by the provincial governor at his discretion and often proved more onerous to the local population than the regular taxes. During the Principate the practice of employing tax farmers {publicani) for the collection of direct taxes (i.e. land and personal taxes) continued in some senatorial provinces. But in the imperial ones the publicani were replaced by procuratores appointed by the emperor. Indirect taxes, on the other hand, continued to be collected by publicani, now under the supervision of imperial procurators.^[881] By the third century AD tax farming was everywhere superseded by the system of direct collection of taxes by procuratores.