Edict of Sex. Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus on requisitioned transport

Edict of Sex. Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus on requisitioned transport — edition

The Latin text Sextus Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus legatus Tiberi Caesaris Augusti pro praetore dicit: est quidem omnium iniquissimum me edicto meo adstringere id quod Augusti, alter deorum alter principum maximus, diligentissime caverunt, ne quis gratuitis vehiculis utatur; sed quoniam licentia quorundam praesentem vindictam desiderat, formulam eorum quae praestari iudico oportere in singulis civitatibus et vicis proposui, servaturus eam aut, si neglecta erit, vindicaturus non mea tantum potestate sed principis optimi, a quo id ipsum in mandatis accepi, maiestate. Sagalassenoso ministerium carrorum decem et mulorum totidem praestare debent ad usus necessarios transe- untium, et accipere in singula carra et in singulos schoenos ab iis qui utentur aeris denos, in mulos autem singulos et schoenos singulos aeris quaternos; quod si asinos malent, eodem pretio duos pro uno mulo dent; aut si malent, in singulos mulos et in singula carra id quod accepturi erant si ipsi praeberent dare praestent iis qui alterius civitatis aut vici munere fungentur, ut idem procedant. praestare autem debebunt vehicula usque Cormasa et Conanam. neque tamen omnibu- s huius rei ius erit, sed procuratori principis optimi filioque eius usu dato usque ad carra decem aut pro singulis carris mulorum trium aut pro singulis mulis asinorum binorum, quibus eodem te- mpore utentur, soluturi pretium a me constitutum. praeterea militantibus et iis qui diplomum hab- ebunt et iis qui ex aliis provincis militantes commeabunt, ita ut senatori populi Romani non plus quam decem carra aut pro singulis carris muli terni aut pro singulis mulis asini bini praestentur, soluturis id quod praescripsi; equiti Romano cuius officio princeps optimus utitur ter carra aut in singula terni muli aut in singulos mulos bini asini dari debebunt eadem condicione. si quo amplius quis desiderabit, conducet arbitrio locantis. centurioni carrum aut tres muli aut asini sexs eadem condicione. iis qui frumen- tum aut aliud quid tale vel quaestus sui caussa vel usus portant praestari nihil volo. neque cuiquam p- ro suo aut suorum libertorum aut servorum iumentu, mansionem. omnibus qui erunt ex comitatu nostro et militantibus ex omnibus provinciis et principis optimi libertis et servis et iumentis eorum gratuitam praestari oportet, ita ut reliqua ab invitis gratuita non exsigant.

The Greek translation Σέξτος Σωτίδιος Στράβων Λιβουσκιδιανὸς πρεσβευτὴς Τιβερίου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ ἀντιστρα- τηγὸς λέγει· ἔστιν μὲν ἄδικον τὸ ἀκρειβέστατα ἠσφαλισμένον ὑπὸ τῶν Σεβαστῶν, τοῦ μὲν θεῶν τοῦ δὲ αὐτοκρατόρων μεγείστου, ἐμὲ διατάγματι ἐπισφείνγειν· ἐπεὶ δὲ ἡ τινῶν πλεο- νεξία τὴν παραυτίκα ἐκδικίαν αἰτεῖ, κατὰ πόλιν καὶ κώμην ἔταξα κανόνα τῶν ὑπηρεσιῶν, ὃν τη- ρήσω οὐ μόνον διʼ ἐμαυτοῦ ἀλλὰ ἐὰν δεῇ καὶ τὴν τοῦ σωτῆρος Σεβαστοῦ δεδωκότως μοι περὶ τούτων ἐντολὰς προσπαραλαβὼν θειότητα. Σαγαλασσεῖς λειτουργεῖν δεῖ μέχρι δέκα κάρ- ρων ἕως Κορμάσων καὶ Κονάνης, νωτοφόροις δὲ ἴσοις, ἐπὶ τῷ λαμβάνειν ὑπὲρ μὲν κάρρου κατὰ σχοῖνον ἀσσάρια δέκα, ὑπὲρ δὲ νωτοφόρου κατὰ σχοῖνον ἀσσάρια τέσσαρα, ὑπὲρ δὲ ὄνου κατὰ σχοῖνον ἀσσάρια δύο· ἢ εἰ προκρείνουσιν χαλκὸν διδόναι τοῖς ὑπηρετοῦσιν ἐξ ἄλ- λων τόπων, προσθέτωσαν αὐτοῖς ὅσον αὐτοὶ ὑπηρετοῦντες ἔμελλον λαμβάνειν. οὐ πᾶ- σιν δὲ τοῖς βουλομένοις τὴν τοιαύτην ὑπηρεσίαν παρέχεσθαι δίκαιόν ἐστιν, ἀλλὰ τῷ τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ ἐπιτρόπῳ καὶ τῷ υἱῶι αὐτοῦ, μέχρι κάρρων δέκα ἢ νωτοφόρων εἰς λόγον ἑνὸς κάρρου τριῶν ἢ ὄνων εἰς ἑνὸς ἡμιόνου λόγον δυεῖν, οἷς ὑπὸ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν χρήσεσονται, ἀποδιδόντες τὸν ὡρισμένον μισθόν. ἐπὶ τούτοις καὶ τοῖς στρατευομένοις καὶ τοῖς διπλώματα ἔχουσιν καὶ τοῖς ἐξ ἄλλων ἐπαρχειῶν διοδεύου- σιν, ἐξ ὧν τοῖς μὲν συνκλητικοῖς οὐ πλείονα τῶν δέκα ζευκτῶν ἢ ὑπὲρ ἑνὸς τρεῖς ἡμι- όνους ἢ ὑπὲρ ἑνὸς ἡμιόνου δύο ὄνους, ἀποδιδοῦσιν τὸν ὡρισμένον μισθὸν παραστῆσαι ἀνάνκην ἕξουσιν· τοῖς δὲ ἱππικῆς τάξεως, ἐάν τις ἐν ταῖς τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ χρήαις ᾖ, κάρρων τριῶν ἢ εἰς τὸν ἑκάστου λόγον ἡμιόνων τριῶν ἢ ὄνων ἓξ ἐπὶ τῇ ἰδίαι αἱρέσει· ἑκατοντάρχῃ κάρρον ἢ νωτοφόρους τρῖς ἢ ὑπὲρ ἑκάσ- του ὄνους δύο, τοῖς τὸν μισθὸν διδοῦσιν. ἐὰν δέ τις τούτοις μὴ ἀρκῆται, τὰ λοι- πὰ μισθώσεται παρὰ τῶν βουλομένων. τοῖς σεῖτον ἢ ἄλλο τι τοιοῦτο ἐπʼ ἐμπορίᾳ ἢ χρήσει διακομίζουσιν ὑπηρετεῖσθαι οὐ βούλομαι. ὑπὲρ ἰδίων ἢ ἀπελευθερικῶν ἢ δουλικῶν κτηνῶν λαμβάνεσθαί τι ἀποδοκιμάζω. σταθμὸν πᾶσιν τοῖς τε με- θʼ ἡμῶν καὶ τοῖς στρατευομένοις ἐν πάσαις ἐπαρχείαις καὶ τοῖς τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ ἀπε- λευθέροις καὶ δούλοις καὶ τοῖς κτήνεσιν αὐτῶν ἄμισθον παρασχεθῆναι δεῖ. τἆλ- λα δὲ ρνπαρασοντων

Edict of Sex. Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus on requisitioned transport — translation

The Latin text (ll. 1–7)

Sextus Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus, legate of Tiberius Caesar Augustus with propraetorian power, declares: It is indeed of all things the most unjust that I should bind by my own edict that which the Augusti — the one [now numbered] among the gods, the other the greatest of principes — most diligently provided against: namely, that no one should use vehicles free of charge. But since the licence of certain persons calls for immediate redress, I have posted up in the individual cities and villages a schedule of those services which I judge ought to be furnished, intending to uphold it — or, if it is disregarded, to enforce it — not by my own power only, but by the majesty of the best of principes, from whom I received this very charge among my mandata.

The Latin text (ll. 8–12)

The Sagalasseni must furnish a service of ten wagons and as many mules for the necessary uses of those passing through, and shall receive, for each wagon and for each schoenus, ten asses from those who use them, and for each mule and each schoenus four asses. But if those who use them prefer donkeys, let them give two at the same price in place of one mule. Or, if the Sagalasseni prefer, in place of single mules and single wagons let them pay over that which they themselves would have received had they furnished the service, so that those who discharge the obligation of another city or village may proceed on the same terms.

The Latin text (ll. 13–16)

They shall be bound to furnish vehicles as far as Cormasa and Conana. Yet not everyone shall have the right to this service, but the procurator of the best of principes, and his son: to them the use is granted, up to ten wagons, or — for single wagons — three mules each, or — for single mules — two donkeys each, which they shall use at one and the same time, paying the price fixed by me.

The Latin text (ll. 17–20)

Furthermore, for those on military service, and those who shall hold a warrant (diploma), and those who pass through on service from other provinces, [the rule is] as follows: for a senator of the Roman people, not more than ten wagons, or, for single wagons, three mules each, or, for single mules, two donkeys each, shall be furnished, they paying what I have prescribed; for a Roman knight whose service the best of principes employs, three wagons, or, for each, three mules, or, for single mules, two donkeys, shall be given, on the same terms.

The Latin text (ll. 21–23)

If anyone shall require more, he shall hire it at the discretion of the lessor. For a centurion: one wagon, or three mules, or six donkeys, on the same terms. To those who carry grain, or any other such thing, whether for their own trade or for their own use, I will that nothing be furnished; nor [shall anything be furnished] to anyone…

The Latin text (ll. 24–25)

…in respect of his own beast of burden, or those of his freedmen or slaves; nor lodging. To all who shall be of our retinue, and to those on military service from all the provinces, and to the freedmen and slaves of the best of principes, and to their animals, free service must be provided — provided that they do not exact the rest, without payment, from the unwilling.

The Greek translation (ll. 26–31)

Sextus Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus, legate of Tiberius Caesar Augustus, propraetor, declares: It is unjust that I should bind by an edict that which has been most exactly secured by the Augusti — the one of the gods, the other the greatest of emperors. But since the greed of certain people demands immediate redress, I have laid down, city by city and village by village, a rule (kanōn) of the services; and I shall keep it, not only of myself, but, if need be, also taking to my aid the divine power (theiotēs) of the Saviour Augustus, who gave me commands concerning these matters.

The Greek translation (ll. 32–34)

The Sagalasseis must perform the service — up to ten wagons as far as Cormasa and Conana, and an equal number of pack-animals — on these terms of payment: for a wagon, ten asses per schoenus; for a pack-animal, four asses per schoenus; for a donkey, two asses per schoenus.

The Greek translation (ll. 35–37)

Or, if they prefer to give money to those who do the service from other places, let them add to them as much as they themselves, doing the service, would have received. It is not just that this kind of service be provided to all who wish for it, but only to the procurator of Augustus…

The Greek translation (ll. 38–43)

…and to his son: up to ten wagons, or, reckoned against one wagon, three pack-animals, or, reckoned against one mule, two donkeys, which they shall use at the same time, paying the appointed hire. On these terms too for those on military service, and those holding warrants, and those passing through from other provinces: of whom the senators shall have the right to require not more than ten teams, or, for one, three mules, or, for one mule, two donkeys, paying the appointed hire.

The Greek translation (ll. 44–47)

For those of equestrian rank, if any be in the service of Augustus: three wagons, or, to each man's account, three mules, or six donkeys, at his own choice. For a centurion: a wagon, or three pack-animals, or, for each, two donkeys — for those who give the hire. But if anyone be not content with these, he shall hire the rest from those willing to provide it.

The Greek translation (ll. 48–52)

To those who convey grain, or any other such thing, for trade or for their own use, I do not wish service to be given. I reject that anything be taken in respect of private animals, or those of freedmen or slaves. Lodging must be provided without charge to all those with us, and to those on military service in all the provinces, and to the freedmen and slaves of Augustus and their animals. But the rest … (the close of the Greek is damaged; it corresponds to the Latin ‘so that they do not exact the rest, gratis, from the unwilling’).

Edict of Sex. Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus on requisitioned transport — commentary

The document opens with the issuer's name and full title and the verb dicit, ‘declares’ — the unmistakable protocol of an edict. The issuer is Sex. Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus, legate of Tiberius with propraetorian power — the governor of the great imperial province of Galatia.

The preamble is a small masterpiece of administrative self-positioning. The governor calls it ‘most unjust’ that he should have to re-issue, as his own edict, what the two Augusti had already laid down — ‘the one [now numbered] among the gods, the other the greatest of principes’. That phrase dates the text: Augustus is already divus, a god, so the edict falls after his consecration on 17 September AD 14. The remedy he announces is a formula — a written schedule — posted ‘in the individual cities and villages’, and he will enforce it not only by his own potestas but by the maiestas of the emperor, ‘from whom I received this very charge in my mandata’ — the standing written instructions every governor carried.

The schedule itself begins. The community of Sagalassos must keep ready a standing ‘service’ (ministerium) of ten wagons and ten mules ‘for the necessary uses of those passing through’. Crucially, the transport is not free: the villagers are to be paid, and the edict fixes the rates — ten asses for a wagon, four for a mule, per schoenus of road.

This is the heart of the reform. The abuse the edict attacks is the seizure of transport gratuitis, free of charge; the cure is not to abolish requisition but to price it and write the price down. The clause even allows the Sagalasseni to substitute donkeys for mules, or to pay a neighbouring community to discharge the duty in their place — a glimpse of how the burden was actually shuffled between villages along a road.

Two limits are set. First a geographical one: the Sagalasseni owe transport only as far as Cormasa and Conana — the next stages on the road, where the duty passes to another community. The requisition is a relay, village by village.

Then the decisive limit of persons. ‘Not everyone shall have the right’ to demand transport. The edict now builds a graded list of who may, beginning at the top with the emperor's own procurator of the province and his son. Even they pay — ‘the price fixed by me’. The principle is consistent: rank determines how much transport one may take, never whether one takes it for nothing.

The graded schedule continues, and it is the most remarkable thing in the document. Three categories of traveller on the emperor's business are entitled to requisition: those holding a diploma, a travel-warrant, and those passing through on military service from other provinces. Within them the entitlement is fixed by rank with bureaucratic exactness.

A senator of the Roman people may take up to ten wagons; a Roman knight in imperial service, three; (in the next section) a centurion, one. The edict turns the Roman social hierarchy into a transport tariff — and at every level the traveller still pays the rate. This graded list is the earliest precisely dated evidence we have for how the vehiculatio distributed its burden across the orders of Roman society.

The tariff closes with the centurion's allowance and then turns, sharply, to exclusions. Anyone wanting more than his entitlement may have it — but only by hiring it on the open market, ‘at the discretion of the lessor’. The state's compulsory transport stops exactly at the edge of official need.

Then the firm refusals. Those who carry grain or goods ‘for their own trade or use’ get nothing: the vehiculatio is not a subsidy for private commerce. And no one may requisition in respect of his own pack-animals, or his freedmen's or slaves' — nor seize lodging. The edict is policing precisely the grey zone where official travel shaded into private extortion.

One narrow class does travel free. The governor's own retinue, soldiers on service from any province, and the freedmen and slaves of the emperor — with their animals — must be given service ‘without charge’. The exception proves the rule: free transport exists, but it is a tightly defined privilege of the emperor's immediate people, not a general licence.

The final clause is the edict's sharpest sentence — and a window onto the real abuse. Even the privileged, it says, must not ‘exact the rest, gratis, from the unwilling’: a free wagon did not license its user to extort fodder, lodging, or anything else for nothing from people who did not want to give it. The whole document is, in the end, a defence of the provincial against the traveller.

Below the Latin, the same edict is given again in Greek — the official translation made so that the Greek-speaking communities of Pisidia could read the rule that bound them. The two texts are not independent compositions: the Greek follows the Latin clause by clause, and watching it work is watching Roman administrative language being carried across into Greek in real time.

The renderings repay attention. Latin legatus … pro praetore becomes πρεσβευτὴς … ἀντιστράτηγος; edictum becomes διάταγμα; the mandata become ἐντολαί; the emperor's maiestas is rendered by θειότης, ‘divine power’, and Augustus is named σωτήρ, the ‘Saviour’ — a word with deep roots in the Greek civic vocabulary of benefaction. The Greek of the stone is heavily itacistic (ἀκρειβέστατα for ἀκριβέστατα, μεγείστου for μεγίστου) — the spelling of a provincial cutter writing the Greek as it was spoken. Its closing line is broken on the stone.

Critical apparatus Sex(tus) Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus leg(atus) — The issuer: Sextus Sotidius Strabo Libuscidianus, legatus Augusti pro praetore — the legate governing the imperial province of Galatia for Tiberius. The cognomen Libuscidianus marks an adopted or inherited family name. Augusti, alter deorum alter principum — 'The Augusti, the one [now] of the gods, the other the greatest of principes' — Divus Augustus and Tiberius. Augustus was consecrated a god on 17 September AD 14; the phrase therefore dates the edict after that day, to about AD 14/15. praes⟨e⟩ntem — The stone engraves PRAESNTEM, omitting the E; the editor supplies it — read praesentem. Single-letter engraver's omissions of this kind recur at lines 22 (q⟨u⟩id), 24 (provinci⟨i⟩s) and 25 (e⟨x⟩sigant). [pra]estari — The first letters are lost and restored: formulam eorum quae praestari iudico oportere — 'a schedule of those things which I judge ought to be furnished'. id ip[s]um in mandatis accepi — P. Frisch (ZPE 41, 1981, 100), reading the photograph, corrected Mitchell's uncertain text here to id ips[u]m in mandatis accepi: the legate received 'this very charge' — the regulation of transport — in the mandata, the standing instructions issued to him by the emperor. The reading accepi (1st person, 'I received') is required by the grammar; maiestate completes the preceding clause (non mea tantum potestate sed principis optimi … maiestate). Sagalassenos{o} — The stone engraves SAGALASSENOSO; the final O is surplus and deleted. The word is the subject of praestare debent ('must furnish') and should grammatically be the nominative plural Sagalasseni — Frisch (ZPE 41, 1981, 100 n. 3) noted the engraver's error. The Greek version (line 31) has the correct nominative plural, Σαγαλασσεῖς. schoenos — The schoenus, a unit of road distance, is the basis of every charge: the rates are reckoned 'per schoenus' for each wagon and animal. Cormasa et Conanam — The transport duty of the Sagalasseni runs only as far as the towns of Cormasa and Conana, where it passes to the next community — the requisition worked as a relay along the road. diplomum — The diploma is a travel-warrant: only its holders, and those on military service, may lawfully requisition transport. The word recurs in the Greek as διπλώματα (line 40). sex{s} — The stone engraves SEXS for sex, 'six'; the second S is surplus and deleted — one of the document's several engraver's slips. q⟨u⟩id … cau{s}sa — Two engraver's slips in one line: QID for q⟨u⟩id (the U omitted and supplied) and CAUSSA for cau{s}sa (a surplus S, deleted). iumentu — The stone reads IVMENTV; the form is left uncorrected by the editors. The sense is 'in respect of his own beast of burden, or his freedmen's or slaves''. provinci⟨i⟩s — The stone omits one I (PROVINCIS); the editor supplies it — read provinciis. The same spelling stands uncorrected at line 17. e⟨x⟩sigant — The stone engraves ESIGANT, omitting the X; read exsigant (= exigant), 'let them exact'. The closing clause forbids exacting 'the rest, gratis, from the unwilling'. Σέξτος Σωτίδιος Στράβων Λιβουσκιδιανὸς πρεσβευτὴς … ἀντιστράτηγος — The Greek protocol renders the Latin title exactly: legatus becomes πρεσβευτής, pro praetore becomes ἀντιστράτηγος, and dicit becomes λέγει. The Greek is the official translation of the same edict, cut below the Latin on the same stone. τοῦ μὲν θεῶν τοῦ δὲ αὐτοκρατόρων μεγείστου — The Greek for Latin 'alter deorum alter principum maximus': 'the one of the gods, the other the greatest of emperors'. The inscription's Greek is heavily itacistic — here μεγείστου for μεγίστου, and at line 27 ἀκρειβέστατα for ἀκριβέστατα — the spelling of a provincial cutter rendering the sounds of spoken Greek. σωτῆρος Σεβαστοῦ … θειότητα — The Greek renders the emperor's maiestas by θειότης, 'divine power', and names Augustus σωτήρ, 'Saviour' — a term long established in Greek civic honours for a benefactor. Σαγαλασσεῖς here is the correct nominative plural that the Latin line 8 garbled. λα δὲ [...] — The final line of the Greek is badly damaged; only scattered letters survive. It corresponds to the close of the Latin (line 25), 'so that they do not exact the rest, gratis, from the unwilling'.

Editions and commentary S. Mitchell, ‘Requisitioned Transport in the Roman Empire: A New Inscription from Pisidia’, Journal of Roman Studies 66 (1976), 106–131, with plates 8–10 (editio princeps). L'Année épigraphique 1976, 653; 1978, 789; 1989, 727. Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 26, 1392 (with SEG 28, 1212; 31, 1286; 36, 1208). P. Frisch, ‘Zum Edikt des Sex. Sotidius Strabo für Pisidien’, Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 41 (1981), 100. J. & L. Robert, Bulletin épigraphique 1977, 510. G. H. R. Horsley, New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity 1 (1981), no. 9. H. Freis, Historische Inschriften zur römischen Kaiserzeit, Darmstadt 1994, no. 30. Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss–Slaby, EDCS-09300547 (the machine-readable text followed here).