The Empire: Growth of the Bureaucracy
The Empire: Growth of the Bureaucracy
Administrative Positions. The Republican government was minimal by modern standards and remained so under the Empire, but some growth did occur. On the one hand, the emperors created or regularized several hundred posts for knights and senators. These were short-term, salaried positions in both the military and civilian sectors. Examples include the procurators of small provinces, prefects of the city and the imperial bodyguard, iuridici to dispense justice, and the officials in charge of the imperial roads. There was a hierarchy to these jobs insofar as these were recognized career paths, but the organization remained flat. That is, almost everyone still reported to the emperor. On the other hand, there were long-term staff of lower (slave or former slave) status. These included secretaries in charge of the emperor’s accounts, correspondence (Greek and Latin separately), petitions, and other departments. At the heart of this group was the emperor’s own household. There was often tension between the top imperial freedmen and slaves and socially superior aristocrats who envied their power. Over time, most of the top positions shifted from freedmen to equestrians.
Sources
Peter Garnsey and Richard Saller, The Roman Empire: Economy, Society, and Culture (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987).
Fergus Millar, The Emperor in the Roman World (31 B.C.-A.D. 337) (Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1977).