Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz

Nouvelle série

Die römische kaiserzeitliche Administration

Die Ausfertigung der Bürgerrechtskonstitutionen für Angehörige des Heeres

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Abstract

There is only one area of the imperial administration concentrated in Rome for which so many documents have survived that it is possible to gain an insight into the course of activities: these are the imperial citizenship constitutions, with which soldiers who did not serve in the legions but in the auxiliary units were granted Roman citizenship after completing their years of service. Thanks to the more than 1300 surviving diplomas issued to veterans, we know of more than 500 constitutions, at least one constitution from every year between the Vespasian period and the middle of the 3rd century, usually several or even many. Thus, changes can be recognized not only in the content, but also in the forms of preparation. The offices of the governors and, for the emperor in Rome, the officium of the ab epistulis were involved in drawing up the constitutions, while the actual diplomas were produced by entrepreneurs. Overall, this work, which produced several thousand diplomas a year, must have been effective.


Open access | Peer reviewed

Presentato: 15 Dicembre 2022 | Accettato: 30 Marzo 2023 | Pubblicato Prossimamente | Lingua: de

Keywords Roman armyConstitutions for citizenshipDiplomasImperial administrationAb epistulis