12-26-2004, 07:39 PM
<em>What were the Imperial Procurators?</em><br>
<br>
There were different types of <em>procurator</em>, but the principal one in a province like Britain was the <em>procurator Augusti</em> who was an equestrian official directly responsible to the Emperor for the finances of a province, bypassing the authority of the senatorial govenor (the <em>legatus Augusti pro praetore</em>). The conflict between these two officials (personifying the larger equestrian/senatorial classes) can be seen in the rebellion under Boudica, when the whole thing was started off (if you believe Tacitus) by <em>procurator</em> Catus Decianus whilst Paullinus (the <em>legatus</em>) was campaigning in what is now Wales, and finished with <em>procurator</em> Classicianus being helicoptered in (so to speak) to curb Paullinus' enthusiasm for mopping up in the aftermath (...if you believe Tacitus).<br>
<br>
This way the emperor kept his fingers on the purse strings through an appointee of his own choice... and had someone highly placed to keep an eye on a potential rival (and Roman imperial history consistently threw up governors who thought in precisely such a fashion, so it wasn't such a daft idea).<br>
<br>
Mike Bishop <p></p><i></i>
<br>
There were different types of <em>procurator</em>, but the principal one in a province like Britain was the <em>procurator Augusti</em> who was an equestrian official directly responsible to the Emperor for the finances of a province, bypassing the authority of the senatorial govenor (the <em>legatus Augusti pro praetore</em>). The conflict between these two officials (personifying the larger equestrian/senatorial classes) can be seen in the rebellion under Boudica, when the whole thing was started off (if you believe Tacitus) by <em>procurator</em> Catus Decianus whilst Paullinus (the <em>legatus</em>) was campaigning in what is now Wales, and finished with <em>procurator</em> Classicianus being helicoptered in (so to speak) to curb Paullinus' enthusiasm for mopping up in the aftermath (...if you believe Tacitus).<br>
<br>
This way the emperor kept his fingers on the purse strings through an appointee of his own choice... and had someone highly placed to keep an eye on a potential rival (and Roman imperial history consistently threw up governors who thought in precisely such a fashion, so it wasn't such a daft idea).<br>
<br>
Mike Bishop <p></p><i></i>
