Provincial governors in the military command system of the early Roman Empire

Abstract

The article analyzes the position of the provincial governors of the senatorial and imperial provinces during the period of the Principate, acting here as military leaders of the highest rank. Based on the analysis of mainly narrative and epigraphic sources, a conclusion is made about the decisive importance of the aristocratic traditions of military leadership in the performance of military functions by governors of both categories. These traditions developed back in the era when the concept of provincia had a comprehensive meaning as a definition of both the legal sphere and the geographical area within which the governor used his imperium. However, as sources show, the powers of the governors were gradually limited, and the possibility of realizing military ambitions fell under the increasing control of the emperor. In this situation, only the stereotypes of the collective consciousness of the Roman nobility could ensure the preservation by the governors of both categories of military activity, which continued to characterize the civilizational originality of Roman society and the state even during the Principate. An integral part of this originality was the obvious decentralization of military command. The position of the military leader in all periods was extremely significant in the system of Roman values. In combination with the corporative spirit of the Roman aristocracy, which was formed during the period of the Republic, the powers of the provincial governor could not be reduced overnight to the level of an executor of orders of a higher commander. Sources show that even the imperial legates retained considerable autonomy in decision-making during the period of the Principate. Their desire for such independence is found throughout the entire period of the early Empire. It is not possible to explain this only by the fact of the remoteness of the provinces and the peculiarity of local conditions. In the period of the early Empire, republican practices continued to live under the authority of the emperors, assuming such a system of command, in which the empire was a real source of supreme power, distributed relatively evenly among all the owners of the empire. The conclusion we come to is that the provincial governors in the military command system of the early Roman Empire act as virtually autonomous military leaders, sometimes realizing their leadership ambitions in spite of the official status of imperial commissioners.

Keywords

• principate
• imperial power
• provinces
• military command
• aristocracy
• procurators
• legates