History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 2Gibbon, Edward
History
History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 2
Gibbon, Edward
Byzantine Empire -- History -- To 527; Rome -- History -- Empire, 30 B.C.-476 A.D.
armies, the military counts and dukes, who will be hereafter
mentioned, were allowed the rank and title of _Respectable_.
110 (return) [ Eunapius affirms, that the proconsul of Asia was
independent of the præfect; which must, however, be understood
with some allowance. the jurisdiction of the vice-præfect he most
assuredly disclaimed. Pancirolus, p. 161.]
111 (return) [ The proconsul of Africa had four hundred
apparitors; and they all received large salaries, either from the
treasury or the province See Pancirol. p. 26, and Cod. Justinian.
l. xii. tit. lvi. lvii.]
112 (return) [ In Italy there was likewise the _Vicar of Rome_.
It has been much disputed whether his jurisdiction measured one
hundred miles from the city, or whether it stretched over the ten
thousand provinces of Italy.]
As the spirit of jealousy and ostentation prevailed in the
councils of the emperors, they proceeded with anxious diligence
to divide the substance and to multiply the titles of power. The
vast countries which the Roman conquerors had united under the
same simple form of administration, were imperceptibly crumbled
into minute fragments; till at length the whole empire was
distributed into one hundred and sixteen provinces, each of which
supported an expensive and splendid establishment. Of these,
three were governed by _proconsuls_, thirty-seven by _consulars_,
five by _correctors_, and seventy-one by _presidents_. The
appellations of these magistrates were different; they ranked in
successive order, and the ensigns of and their situation, from
accidental circumstances, might be more or less agreeable or
advantageous. But they were all (excepting only the pro-consuls)
alike included in the class of _honorable_ persons; and they were
alike intrusted, during the pleasure of the prince, and under the
authority of the præfects or their deputies, with the
administration of justice and the finances in their respective
districts. The ponderous volumes of the Codes and Pandects 113
would furnish ample materials for a minute inquiry into the
system of provincial government, as in the space of six centuries
it was approved by the wisdom of the Roman statesmen and lawyers.
It may be sufficient for the historian to select two singular and
salutary provisions, intended to restrain the abuse of authority.
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