enants, Cic. Flac. 21. in Cæcil. 17. Verr. ii. 18. Suet. Jul. 7. and also to others, Cic. Att. v. 21, ad Q. fratr. i. 1.7.

The proconsul summoned these meetings, (conventus indicebat), by an edict on a certain day, when such as had causes to be determined should attend, Liv. xxxi. 29. To this, Virgil is thought to allude, En. v. 758. Indicitque forum, &c.

The provinces were divided into so many districts, called CONVENTUS, or circuits (vouoi, Plin. Ep. x. 5.) the inhabitants of which went to a certain city to get their causes determined, and to obtain justice, (disceptandi et juris obtinendi causâ conveniebant). Thus Spain was divided into seven circuits, (in septem conventus), Plin. iii. 3. The Greeks called conventus agere, yogains άyev, sc. Яuegas. So in Act. Apost. xix. 38. avoga άyorтai, &c. conventus aguntur, sunt proconsules; in jus vocent se invicem. Hence conventus circumire, Suet. Jul. 7. percurrere, Cæs. viii. 46. for urbes circumire, ubi hi conventus agebantur.

The proconsul chose usually twenty of the most respectable men of the province, who sat with him in council, (que ei in consilio aderant, assidebant), and were called his council, CONSILIUM, Consiliarii, ASSESSORES, et Recuperatores. Hence Consilium cogere, in consilium advocare, adhibere; in consilio esse, adesse, assidere, habere; in consilium ire, mittere, dimittere, &c. The proconsul passed sentence according to the opinion of his council, (de consilii sententia decrevit, pronunciavit;) &c.

As the governors of provinces were prohibited from using any other language than the Latin, in the functions of their office, Val. Max. ii. 2. 2. they were always attended by interpreters, Cic. Verr. iii. 37. Fam. xiii. 54. The judices were chosen differently in different places, according to the rank of the litigants, and the nature of the cause, Cic. Verr. ii. 13, 15. 17.

The proconsul had the disposal (curatio) of the corn, of the taxes, and in short, of every thing which pertained to the province. Corn given to the proconsul by way of present, was called HONORARIUM, Cic. in Pis. 35.

If a proconsul behaved well he received the highest honours, Cic. Att. v. 21. as, statues, temples, brazen horses, &c. which through flattery used indeed to be erected of course to all governors, though ever so corrupt and oppressive.

Festival days also used to be appointed; as in honour of

Marcellus,

Marcellus, (MARCELLEA, -orum), in Sicily, and of Q. Mucius Scævola, (MUCEA), in Asia, Cic. Verr. ii. 21. 10. 13.

If a governor did not behave well, he might afterwards. be brought to his trial; 1. for extortion, (REPETUNDARUM), if he had made unjust exactions, or had even received presents, Plin. Ep. iv. 9.-2. for peculation, (PECU. LATUS), if he had embezzled the public money; hence called PECULATOR, or DEPECULATOR, Ascon. in Cic. Verr. Act. i. 1.-and 3. for what was called crimen MAJESTATIS, if he had betrayed his army or province to the enemy, or led the army out of the province, and made war on any prince or state without the order of the people or the decree of the senate.

Various laws were made to secure the just administration of the provinces, but these were insufficient to check the rapacity of the Roman magistrates. Hence the provinces were miserably oppressed by their exactions. Not only the avarice of the governor was to be gratified, but that of all his officers and dependents; as, his lieutenants, tribunes, præfects, &c. and even of his freedmen and favourite slaves, Juvenal. viii. 87.-130.

The pretexts for exacting money were various. The towns and villages through which the governors passed, were obliged, by the JULIAN law, to supply them and their retinue with forage and wood for firing, Cic. Att. v. 16. The wealthier cities paid large contributions for being exempted from furnishing winter-quarters to the army. Thus the inhabitants of Cyprus alone paid yearly on this account 200 talents, or about 40,000l. Cic. Att. v. 21.

Anciently a proconsul, when he had gained a victory, used to have golden crowns sent him, not only from the different cities of his own province, but also from the neighbouring states, Liv. xxxviii. 37. 14. which were carried before him in his triumph, Id. xxxvii. 58. xxxix. 5. 7. 29. xl. 43. Die, xlii. 49. Afterwards the cities of the province, instead of sending crowns paid money on this account, which was called AURUM CORONARIUM, and was sometimes exacted as a tribute, Cic. in Pis. 37.

A proconsul, when the annual term of his government was elapsed, delivered up the province and army to his successor, if he arrived in time, and left the province within thirty days: but first he was obliged to deposit in two of the principal cities of his jurisdiction, an account of the

money which had passed through his own or his officers hands, stated and balanced, (apud duas civitates, qua maxima viderentur, rationes confectas et consolidatas deponere), Cic. Fam. v. 20. If his successor did not arrive, he nevertheless departed, leaving his lieutenant, or more frequently his quæstor, to command in the province, Cic. Fam. ii. 15. Att. vi. 5. 6.

When a proconsul returned to Rome, he entered the city as a private person, unless he claimed a triumph; in which case he did not enter the city, but gave an account of his exploits to the senate assembled in the temple of Bellona, or in some other temple without the city, Liv. iii. 63. xxxviii. 45. Dio, xlix. 15. In the mean time he usually waited near the city till the matter was determined, whence he was said ad urbem esse, Sall. Cat. 30. and retained the title of IMPERATOR, which his soldiers had given him upon his victory, with the badges of command, his lictors, and faces, &c. Appian says that in his time no one was called imperator, unless 10,000 of the enemy had been slain, De Bell. Civ. ii. p. 455. When any one had pretensions to a triumph, his fasces were always wreathed with laurel, Cic. Fam. ii. 16. Att. x. 10. as the letters were which he sent to the senate concerning his victory, Cic. in Pis. 17. Sometimes when the matter was long of being determined, he retired to some distance from Rome, Cic. Att. vii. 15.

If he obtained a triumph, a bill was proposed to the people, that he should have military command (ut ei imperium esset) on the day of his triumph, Liv. xlv. 35. Cic. Att. iv. 16. for without this no one could have military command within the city.

Then he was obliged by the JULIAN law, within thirty days to give in to the treasury an exact copy of the accounts, which he had left in the province, (easdem rationes totidem verbis referre ad ærarium), Cic. Att. v. 20. At the same time he recommended those, who deserved public rewards for their services, (in benefices, ad ærarium detulit), Cic. ibid. et pro Arch. 5.

What has been said concerning a proconsul, took place with respect to a proprætor; unless that a proconsul had twelve lictors, and a proprætor only six. The army and retinue of the one were likewise commonly greater than that of the other. The provinces to which proconsuls were sent, were called PROCONSULARES; proprætors, PRÆTORIÆ, Dio, -liii. 14. PROVINCIAL

PROVINCIAL MAGISTRATES under the

EMPERORS.

AUGUSTUS made a new partition of the provinces. Those which were peaceable and less exposed to an enemy, he left to the management of the senate and people; but of such as were more strong, and open to hostile invasions, and where of course, it was necessary to support greater armies, he undertook the government himself, (regendas ipse suscepit), Suet. Aug. 47. This he did under pretext of easing the senate and people of the trouble, but in reality to increase his own power, by assuming the command of the army entirely to himself.

The provinces under the direction of the senate and people, (PROVINCIE SENATORIE et POPULARES vel Publica), at first were Africa propria, or the territories of Carthage, Numidia, Cyrene; Asia, (which when put for a province, comprehended only the countries along the Propontis and the Agean Sea, namely, Phrygia, Mysia, Caria, Lydia, Cic. pro Flacc. 27), Bithynia and Pontus, Gracia and Epirus, Dalmatia, Macedonia, Sicilia, Sardinia, Creta, and Hispania Batica, Dio, liii. 12.

The provinces of the emperor (PROVINCIÆ IMPERATORIE, vel Casarum,) were Hispania Tarraconensis and Lusitania, Gallia, Calosyria, Phænicia, Cilicia, Cyprus, Egyptus, to which others were afterwards added. But the condition of these provinces was often changed; so that they were transferred from the senate and people to the emperor, and the contrary, Dio, liii. 12. liv. 4. 3. Strabo, xvii. fin. The provinces of the emperor seem to have been in a better state than those of the senate and people, Tacit. Annal. i. 76.

The magistrates sent to govern the provinces of the senate and people were called PROCONSULES, although sometimes only of prætorian rank, Dio, liii. 13. The senate appointed them by lot, (sortitò mittebant), out of those who had borne a magistracy in the city at least five years before, Suet. Aug.. 36. Vesp. 4. Plin. Ep. ii. 12. Dio, liii. 14. They had the same badges of authority as the proconsuls had formerly; but they had only a civil power, (potestas vel jurisdictio), and

no

no military command (imperium), nor disposal of the taxes. The taxes were collected, and the soldiers in their provinces commanded by officers appointed by Augustus. Their authority lasted only for one year, and they left the province immediately when a successor was sent, Dio, ibid.

Those whom the emperor sent to command his provinces were called LEGATI CÆSARIS pro Consule, Proprætores, vel pro pratore, Dio, liii. 13. Consulares Legati, Suet. Tib. 41. Consulares Rectores, Suet. Vesp.8. or simply, Consulares, Suet. Tib. 32. Tacit. Hist. ii. 97. and Legati, Suet. Vesp. 4. also Præsides, Præfecti, Correctores, &c.

The Governor of Egypt was usually called PRÆFECTUS, Suet. Vesp. 6. or, Præfectus Augustalis, Digest, and was the first imperatorial legate that was appointed.

There was said to be an ancient prediction concerning Ægypt, that it would recover its liberty when the Roman fasces and pretexta should come to it, Cic. Fam. i. 7. Trebell. Poll. in Emilian. Augustus artfully converting this to his own purpose, claimed that province to himself, and discharging a senator from going to it without permission, Dio, li. 17. he sent thither a governor of equestrian rank, without the usual ensigns of authority, Tacit. Ann. ii. 59, Suet. Tib. 52. To him was joined a person to assist in administering justice, called JURIDICUS ALEXANDRINÆ CIVITATIS, Pandect, (ö dimcuodotas, Strabo, xvii. p. 797-),

The first præfect of Egypt was Cornelius Gallus, celebrated by Virgil in his last eclogue, and by Ovid, Amor. i. 15. 29. (Hunc primum Ægyptus Romanum judicem habuit, Eutrop. vii. 7.) Suet. Aug. 66. Dio, li. 17.

The legates of the emperor were chosen from among the senators, but the præfect of Egypt only from the Equites, Tacit. xii. 60. Dio, liii. 13. Tiberius gave that charge to one of his freedmen, Dio. lviii. 19. The legati Casaris wore a military dress and a sword, and were attended by soldiers instead of lictors. They had much greater powers than the proconsuls, and continued in command during the pleasure of the emperor, Dio, liii. 13.

In each province, besides the governor, there was an officer called PROCURATOR CÆSARIS, Tacit. Agric. 15. or curator, and in later times rationalis, who managed the affairs of the revenue, (qui res fisci curabat; publicos reditus colligebat et erogabat), and also had a judicial power in matters that concerned the revenue, Suet. Claud, 12. whence that office was

called,