Die Officia der Statthalter in der Spätantike. Forschungsstand und Perspektiven

Abstract

The officia of the governor of the Late Roman Empire (consulares, correctores, praesides) have not so far been the subject of a systematic study. Various aspects of their composition, structure and staff numbers have been dealt with in the research literature on provincial history, social history or the study of the higher administrative organisms, in particular that of the praetorian prefect. The aim of the present contribution is to bring together the detailed evidence, in order to draw up a comprehensive picture of the provincial offices and those clerks (cohortales) who were appointed to them. Given that documentary sources providing substantial evidence, the papyri in particular, are still not used to full advantage, we are often forced to make deductions based on analogy with the well known offices of the praetorian and urban prefects. It appears, on the other hand, that the offices of the Late Roman Empire are more strongly linked to the better understood organisational scheme of the Principate than one might at first have assumed. The offices took a different appearance when the administration was divided into a military and a civil branch as a result of the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine. The office was strictly subdivided into a judicial section (largely corresponding to the officium of the Principate) and a financial section ; though civilian, the service continued to operate as militia. If, subsequently, the pattern of organisation and the spheres of competence of each post were subject to continual change and some adjustments in respect of rank, the basic structure nevertheless remained unchanged. The officia of the governor even survived to the end of Roman rule, as well in Italy as in the East. [Author, translated by Michael Jones]