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BANDITS IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE
were not those of nature, but created by human beings, and therefore in the
end rested on no absolute justification. It is unlikely, to say the least, that
such conversations between bandits and rulers ever took place in reality.
Let us now turn again to Bulla’s downfall. While Corocotta was granted
the bounty that was on his own head and given his freedom by Augustus,
Bulla was thrown to ravening beasts in the arena. Without its leader, Bulla’s
band scattered to the winds. 76 He alone gave the movement its direction and
its strength. 77 There is no mention of further state action against it, suggesting
that the rest probably escaped unpunished. 78 This, too, was no good
advertisement for the imperial authority, which always set itself out to be
the guarantor of security throughout the provinces. 79
4 Cassius Dio on bandit history:
contemporary criticism and perception of crisis
In saying what he does about bandits such as Claudius and Bulla Felix, Dio
diverges considerably from one of the avowed principles of his narrative.
Earlier in his work he had sworn deliberately to eschew detail and minutiae:
the passage concerned has already been considered in the Introduction. 80
‘This avoidance of detail is a characteristic of his work throughout, not
merely in the rhetorical passages.’ Fergus Millar’s remark, 81 though referring
to another matter, may be extended to this same passage. However, in the
context of a comprehensive account of Roman imperial history, if anything
was trivial it had to be tales of bandits. What, therefore, made Dio move
away from his original conception and, in the contemporary part of his
work, introduce episodes which, viewed overall, are minor? One might respond
that the passages in question appear unimportant only when taken at
face value, without regard for what lies behind them. Though, indeed, their
facts remain trivial, consideration of their deeper meaning reveals them to be
a means for practising cryptic criticism of current conditions.
In the light of its close similarity to that of the false Agrippa Postumus,
it may plausibly be claimed that Dio’s account of Bulla Felix was, after the
manner of Tacitus, conceived of as covert censure of the emperor. As has
already been shown, in a number of different ways, the episode also displays
parallels with other bandit stories within Dio’s history aimed at increasing
the attractiveness of his reporting of his own times. In this respect one
might cite those of Isodorus leader of the Bukoloi, Maternus the deserter (of
whom more below and concerning whom Dio may have been the inspiration
for our only source, Herodian), and Claudius the bandit. As we have seen,
the historical authenticity of all of these accounts is, at least with regard
to detail, extremely questionable. At the core of what has come down to us
we can probably assume the existence of each of these individuals as bandits
capable of sensational deeds. Dio will have elaborated on oral tradition,
through which dry facts will already have been dressed up as legend. However,
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