The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook

208 The Roman Army
(Fourth hand) (Subscript) Present your case to the strategus and he
will take appropriate action.
(Fifth hand) Deliver.
There is no mention in the legal texts of a restriction on veterans’ exemptions
to a five-year period after discharge, and it may have been a special regulation
applied only in Egypt. Sometimes even veterans, like most of the civilian
population, had difficulties in escaping from the clutches of officials.
340 BGU 628=FIRA 1. 56, papyrus, Egypt, late 1st C.BC
_ _ _ ] when Manius Valens, veteran, [tax-collector?], read out the part
of the edict which is quoted below:
Imperator Caesar, son of a god, triumvir for the second time for the
settlement of the state, declares: I have decided to proclaim that all
veterans shall be granted [exemption from] tribute [ _ _ _ ], to bestow
on them, their parents and children, and the wives they have or shall
have, exemption in every respect, and so that they may be Roman
citizens with every proper legal right, they are to be exempt (from
taxation), free from military service, and excused from the performance
of compulsory public services. Moreover, the above-mentioned are to
have the right of registering their vote and being enrolled in the census
in any tribe they wish, and if they wish to be enrolled in absence, that
will be granted in respect of those who have been mentioned above,
the veterans themselves, their parents, wives, and children. Moreover,
just as I wished veterans to be exempt in respect of the points mentioned,
I grant that they may be permitted to have, use, and enjoy whatever
priesthoods, offices, rewards, benefits, and emoluments they possessed.
I have decided that they are not to be appointed against their will to
other magistracies or as ambassador or superintendent or tax-farmer;
moreover, I have decided that no one is to be billeted in their homes in
order to lodge or spend the winter there (?).
Octavian’s triumviral powers (first voted up to 31 December, 38 BC) were
renewed for five years in the autumn of 37 and therefore formally expired at
the end of 33 if they ran retroactively, or at the end of 32. After the defeat of
Antony he did not call himself triumvir (Tac., Annals 1. 2). This edict then
should be dated to the period just before the battle of Actium, and must represent
an attempt to cement the loyalty of his army in his bid for control of the Roman
world. The language emphasizes the military leader’s generosity to his troops
and their families, and his concern for their welfare. It is likely, however, that
the grant of these privileges to all the family of a veteran was exceptional
(perhaps it had been targeted at particular groups of soldiers) and did not
survive the settlement of conditions of service in 13 BC. But the regular benefits