1.1 Terminological remarks
I use a number of terms in the book to refer to various categories of imperia. One of those is imperium proconsulare, a term I use to indicate the powers of commanders of proconsul rank. However, there has been a tendency in recent years to deny the term being applicable to late Republic or early Empire situations, as some historians believe proconsul commanders active then held imperium consulare of chiefly military nature (imperium militiae).1 This opinion is primarily based on the interpretation of a number of passages by Cicero, who writes that provincial governors and commanders acting outside Rome held imperium consulare, and is also based on the lack of the notion of imperium proconsulare in Republican sources.2 This term appears for the first time in Valerius Maximus, writing at the time of Tiberius.3 I believe that opinion is open to discussion: if we were to accept this interpretation, it would mean that the proconsuls were vested with the same imperium outside Rome as the consuls and were of equal status to commanders. This assumption is obviously unacceptable. Reading texts by ancient authors demonstrates, for instance, that, in some situations, consuls could issue orders to proconsuls, which clearly indicates their imperium was superior (maius quam) to that of proconsuls.4 Under the circumstances, I find the claim that proconsuls held imperium consulare militiae—that is, their power was equal to that of consuls—unjustified. I am also unconvinced by the notion that the term imperium proconsulare never coming up in sources from Republican and Augustan times means no such imperium existed at the time. Although Republican authors do not use the imperium proconsulare notion expressis verbis, their texts do contain the phrase imperium pro consule.5 I do not believe these terms are diametrically different in meaning. It seems that we are dealing with the same model of authority, expressed only in a different grammatical form. The justification for such an assumption can be the fact that, in sources dating back to the Empire, both terms are used interchangeably to describe the prerogatives of the pro-consuls. In the SCPP, written during the rule of Tiberius, the prerogatives of Germanicus, who was delegated to the East as a proconsul, were described as imperium pro consule.6 Valerius Maximus, writing in the same period, uses the notion of imperium proconsulare in his description of the authority of P. Cornelius Dolabella, who, in 43, was proconsul of Asia.7 However, when referring to the prerogatives of Pompey, who was delegated proconsul in 77 and sent to oppose Sertorius, he uses the term imperium pro consule.8 An important addition to the records of Valerius Maximus is a mention by Livy, who writes that Pompey was sent to Spain with proconsular authority.9 These two examples clearly show that both terms possessed the same meaning. The fact that both Livy and Valerius Maximus used the term imperium proconsulare when referring to the situation during the Republic is crucial. Taking into account the fact that these authors were writing during the principates of Augustus and Tiberius—and, therefore, in a period not so far removed from the events described—it is difficult to assume that we are dealing with an anachronism.10 In this context, the mentions in Livy and Maximus can be a further argument to confirm that the use of the term imperium proconsulare is justified in the description of the prerogatives of the proconsuls. For that reason, I shall consistently apply the term to refer to the powers of commanders of proconsul rank, both in the late Republic and during Augustus’s and Tiberius’s principates.11
Another term I use in the book is imperia extraordinaria, although, unlike imperium proconsulare, it is not a technical term. I employ it to refer to the extraordinary powers held by some commanders under the Republic and, later, members of the domus Augusta who carried out special missions in the provinces in the reigns of the first two emperors. The term is in widespread use in scholarly literature in reference to the powers of commanders called privati cum imperio, meaning for the most part people who received their imperia as privati—that is, even though at the time they held no office cum imperio or even though they had skipped some rungs in the cursus honorum.12 However, I do find objectionable the aforementioned term privatus cum imperio: it is my belief that this term, apart from the fact that it does not appear in ancient sources, is unfortunate and raises serious concerns. The context in which the notion of privatus appears in ancient sources indicates serious opposition to the term imperium. Sources show that a public person becomes privatus after imperium ceases, not at the moment when it is gained.13 We also have source evidence indicating that the granting of imperium to an individual not holding a position in office means that this person ceases to be privatus.14
I use the term imperium maius quite often in the book, but it ought to be stressed that, unlike imperium consulare or proconsulare, it is not a technical term, merely a general one reflecting the hierarchy applying to any two types of imperium (such as a consul’s imperium being superior to a praetor’s). I mostly use the term to refer to the imperia held by the emperors and those members of the domus Augusta who, as proconsuls acting in the provinces, had imperia greater than (maiora quam) those of proconsuls governing public provinces on the senate’s mandate.
1.2 Extraordinary commands during the Republic
Under the Republic, military campaigns were conducted by diverse categories of commanders.15 Besides magistrates cum imperio—that is, consuls and praetors—there were proconsuls and propraetors—former consuls and former praetors, whose military imperium was, as a rule, prolonged after their term of office was over in the practice of prorogatio imperii.16 Under special circumstances, a campaign would be entrusted to a dictator appointed for a term of 6 months; the dictator had imperium maius relative to the powers of other magistrates. Beginning with the Second Punic War, the Roman arena of war started to see the rise of commanders whose careers differed greatly from the traditional cursus honorum of most Republican generals. These new commanders were nominated extra ordinem and had imperium, although as a rule they did not hold any office cum imperio.
1.2.1 P. Cornelius Scipio (Africanus)
The first example of a spectacular command in Republican times I want to highlight is the case of P. Cornelius Scipio (later Africanus), granted special imperium in Spain in 210 BC. After the deaths of the commanders in charge in the region—incidentally, they were Scipio’s father and uncle—the senate faced the necessity of nominating a new general in their place. From Livy, we learn the incumbent consuls convoked the comitia centuriata, which unanimously elected Scipio—incidentally, the sole candidate—the commander for Spain. The historian reports Scipio held his command in the rank of proconsul,17 which some scholars took to mean he received imperium consulare. They reached that conclusion based on the assumption that, under the Republic, proconsuls had the same military powers (imperium consulare militiae) as consuls.18 I have already argued above (in Section 1.1) that their viewpoint seems unconvincing to me. Thus, we may assume Scipio acted in Spain based on a proconsular imperium.19
Granting young Scipio (who was only 24 at the time he received the command) a proconsul’s powers was not extraordinary in and of itself: many commanders had led, and would lead, military campaigns with proconsular rank. The unusual circumstance was that Scipio received imperium proconsulare without having held either a praetorship or a consulship before, as, until then, proconsular-rank commands had only been given to ex-consuls and ex-praetors, whose imperium would usually be prolonged after their term of office ran out. Scipio, however, had only held an aedileship by then (in 213 BC), and, as we know, that office did not come with imperium.20
1.2.2 Pompey
No doubt one of the most flamboyant military careers of the late Republic was that of Gnaeus Pompeius; here, I would like to take a closer look at his three extraordinary command...
