Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

212 8. administration and politics in the cities
kinds of evidence: inscriptions, laws and, in Egypt, papyri. For each kind
of evidence, the material is relatively abundant for the fourth century,
scarce in the middle of the fifth century, and again becomes more abundant
from the last quarter of the fifth century to at least the middle of the
sixth. 36 It will be seen that the revival of the late fifth century corresponds
to a transformation of civic government. The decline from the mid sixth
century probably reflects the changes which were to bring about the ‘collapse’
of the ancient city in Asia Minor which became manifest after the
Arab invasions.
1. Cities of the Greek east: pattern I
What general conclusions can be drawn about the political condition of
these cities in the fifth and sixth centuries? The fading out of monuments
commemorating local politicians suggests that by the beginning of the fifth
century the competitive civic politics of the early empire were dead or
dying nearly everywhere. In the smaller cities, it had already disappeared
early in the fourth century; in the larger cities and provincial capitals, it had
for practical purposes come to an end towards the end of the century.
Decurions, from being the political élite, had become a group of hereditary
functionaries whose position was nothing to boast about – certainly
no longer worth publicizing on an expensive monument. In the case of
provincial capitals, imperial officials remained concerned to maintain the
classical and monumental appearance of the cities and took epigraphic
credit for such public work as occurred. 37 It looks as if the administration
was coming to regard provinces rather than cities as the basic administrative
units of the empire. 38 Provincial assemblies, meeting at the capital,
could be attended by decurions and honorati of all the cities in the province,
and expressions of either praise or discontent, included in the acclamations
of the provincial assembly, were sent to the emperor. Imperial legislation
was now often addressed to the inhabitants of a particular province, and it
would be logical if it was first promulgated to the provincial assembly, and
subsequently placed on permanent public record in the provincial capital. 39
The traditional diplomacy by embassy and panegyric seems to have ceased
to operate between ordinary provincial cities and the emperor, and even
between the provincial governor and the ordinary cities of his province. At
any rate, such cities seem first to have stopped putting up inscribed monuments
to emperors, and then to provincial governors as well. It becomes
rare for an imperial decree to be inscribed in a provincial city. Imperial
36 Examples of temporal distribution of inscriptions: Roueché, Aphrodisias passim; Sartre (1982)
(Bostra). Laws: Seeck (1919) lists laws year by year. Papyri: Rémondon (1966); Bagnall and Worp (1980).
37 Robert (1948). 38 Roueché, Aphrodisias 33–4; Roueché (1989) 218–21.
39 Notably the provincial reforms of Justinian: see above, n. 23.
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