The Romans had never shown any hesitation in declaring that their wars of conquest were justified and they showed no inhibitions in asserting their right to rule
Others. Their confidence in Rome’s destiny found justification in the famous words of Virgil in Book VI of the Aeneid.
Others will cast more tenderly in bronze Their breathing figures, I can well believe,
And bring more lifelike portraits out of marble;
Argue more eloquently, use the pointer To trace the paths of heaven accurately And accurately foretell the rising stars.
Roman, remember by your strength to rule Earth’s people—for your arts are to be these:
To pacify, to impose the rule of law,
To spare the conquered, battle down the proud.
(Translation: Robert Fitzgerald)
This was an idealistic view of imperialism. In the early years there were few restraints on plunder. The election system made it inevitable that governorships would be used to recoup election expenses and individual governors went well beyond fulfilling this need. The misdeeds of Gaius Verres, the corrupt governor of Sicily between 73 and 70 BC, stand out because of the remorseless way they were catalogued by Cicero in his celebrated speeches of prosecution that made his name. Cicero details his exactions:
I affirm [said Cicero] that in the whole of Sicily, in a province which is so wealthy and old, which has so many towns and so many rich family estates, there is no silver vase, neither Corinthian nor Delian, no gem or pearl, no object of gold or of ivory, no bronze, marble or ivory statue, no picture either painted on a tablet or woven on a tapestry, which he [Verres] has not sought out, inspected, and, if it pleased him, stolen.
It was also common for governors to collaborate with the equestrian publicani who collected the taxes, if only to acquire valuable allies to support them if prosecuted. The depth of resentment that resulted can be seen in the alacrity with which Greeks massacred Roman businessmen in Asia when called on by Mithri-dates to do so (earlier, p. 406). The resentment of the provincials was more marked because within Italy itself direct taxation for Roman citizens in Italy had been abolished in 167 Bc.
However, the reputation of the Roman republic for condoning corruption does need to be qualified. Verres’ misdeeds are recorded because he was successfully brought before a Roman court after an appeal by the Sicilians for justice. The evidence was so overwhelming that Verres, despite having influential supporters, went into exile after Cicero’s opening speech. There was in fact a tension between those who indulged in or condoned exploitation of the empire and those who had the vision or prudence to see that unrestrained plundering was immoral and self-defeating. Lucullus, who commanded the Roman armies in the east against Mithridates between 73 and 70 BC, the same years that Verres was governor in Sicily, worked hard to stem the abuses of the equestrians of Asia. (It did him little good as the embittered equestrians simply stirred up opposition to him in Rome.) In 59 BC as part of his legislation in his first year as consul, Caesar passed a law (the lex
Lulia de repetundis) that brought together and enhanced existing legislation on how a governor should behave. Its many clauses dealt with such varied topics as bribery, the unfair requisition of grain, abuse of local privileges, and unjustified demands for ‘hospitality. At the end of his term of office a governor had to deposit copies of his accounts both in his province and at Rome.
Pompey made his own contribution by breaking the link that connected heavy election expenses with a subsequent governorship that could recoup them through requiring a five-year break between a magistracy and a governorship (the lex Pom-peia de provinciis of 52 bc). The five-year gap meant that there was a temporary shortage of qualified magistrates to act as governors, and it was in the following year, 51 bc, that Cicero himself was persuaded to become governor of Cilicia. He was reluctant to leave Rome (‘All service in the provinces, as I realized long ago when I was young,’ he later wrote in his urbane manner, ‘is dull and sordid for one who is able to shine in the city’) but once arrived in Cilicia, in July, he set about becoming a model governor. His immediate task lay in keeping good order and arranging for the fair but firm collection of taxation. He decided to use the remaining summer months of 51 for what fighting needed to be done and the winter for court work.
Cicero was accompanied, as every governor was, by legates (the term refers to one who holds delegated authority), in his case all experienced soldiers, to whom he entrusted the pacification of the borders between Cilicia and Syria. (He hoped, in vain as it proved, that their success might enable him to be given a triumph.) So far as the exploitation of the locals was concerned, the previous governor had been, in Cicero’s words, ‘a beast’, and a great deal needed to be done to soothe discontent. Much of Cicero’s work lay, in fact, in resolving disagreements between tax collectors and provincials. He tried to encourage cities to solve their own disputes when these did not involve Roman citizens (these cases the governor normally judged himself) and to sort out their financial muddles. (He was also asked to provide panthers for shows in Rome but reported back that he was unable to trap any!) Just how much of a gold mine provincial government had become for most of its administrators could be seen at the end of his term of office when Cicero proposed paying back his unused expenses to the treasury in Rome. His quaestor, the deputy responsible for financial affairs, and legates were furious at being deprived of what they had come to see as their legitimate perks.
World History
