A.D. 381 heretics, pagans, and the dawn of the monotheistic state ( PDFDrive )

decrees, and these could be used as precedents in local courts. The majority of
imperial lawmaking, however, was in the form of rescripta. These were the
replies to petitions, many of which were requests for a clarification of a
particular law. 11
The implementation of laws and the administration of taxation and defence
depended on the quality of the imperial civil service. The days when provincial
governors and a small staff of a few hundred in total could run the empire were
long over. From Diocletian onwards, a much larger civil service had grown up,
with perhaps some 6,000 senior officials. Jobs were keenly fought over. As the
emperor assumed the attributes of divinity, and even his palace and stables were
regarded as sacred, so the status of his officials rose. There were many other
perks to the job, including access to military rations, the chance to charge fees
for services, and opportunities for corrupt activity. There was such a flow of
eager young men towards the court that the emperors had to issue laws
instructing them to remain in the cities, where they were needed for local
administration. One result of the competition within the service was the
proliferation of a mass of different grades. At the very highest level were the
illustres, consuls, praetorian prefects and other chief ministers closest to the
emperors; then came the spectabiles, a class including higher provincial
governors, with both groups being part of the clarissimi, a status awarded to all
those considered of senatorial rank, with other grades below these. Inevitably,
preoccupation with maintaining status must have taken up a great deal of
administrative energy. The sheer extent of the empire and the enormous
pressures it was under made inefficiency and poor decision-making inevitable. It
was remarkable that the system continued to operate as well as it did.
The challenges facing Theodosius when he became emperor of the eastern
empire in 379 were immense. He had had experience as a successful commander
and as dux in Moesia, a strategically important province on the lower Danube,
but he had never been further east in the Greek-speaking world. He had not even
visited his new capital, Constantinople. He was taking over a part of the empire
where the Romans had lost the initiative. The borders along the Danube were
breached and the Goths were moving freely through the Balkans, attracting other
groups already settled there and ravaging the countryside. The Roman armies
were demoralised and their manpower was diminished. The margins for success
were very small - it would only need one more major defeat for the whole area to
be lost to the empire.