son’s career seems to have been similarly localized.[304] We should perhaps add Moesia Inferior to the list of provinces in which Eastern _praefecti_ appear frequently during the second century, since those mentioned on the diplomata for 134 and 138 came from Palmyra and Side respectively.[305] But Moesia Inferior was reckoned in other respects as coming within the Hellenic sphere of influence. These restrictions are probably due to the low estimate which was placed throughout the first two centuries on the military qualities of Greeks and orientals, in spite of the value of the latter as archers.[306] But we may also see evidence of the unbridgeable gulf which still existed between the two halves of the Empire, and of the reluctance of the Hellene to embark upon a career in what he considered to be the barbarous provinces of the West. It is only with the advent of the semi-orientalized dynasty of the Severi that _praefecti_ drawn from the Eastern provinces appear in any numbers on the Western frontiers. In all this the course of events is what one would naturally expect. The spread of uniform culture throughout the Western provinces of the Empire, the prosperity of the ubiquitous municipalities which were its material expression, and the general extension of the franchise which accompanied this development, involved a steady increase in the class qualified and eager for the equestrian career. The admission of these provincial _equites_ to the posts for which they were qualified followed automatically without special encouragement from any particular emperor,[307] and the diverse origins of the _praefecti_ at the beginning of the third century are one of the best proofs that can be adduced of the prosperity and civilization of the provinces at this period. It is impossible to follow von Domaszewski in concluding from the evidence that at this date the inhabitants of Italy and the more civilized areas in the provinces were deliberately excluded from the _militia equestris_, and that the auxiliary regiments were given into the hands of barbarians.[308] The army was indeed beginning to suffer from the introduction of a barbarian element, but it is not among the officers of the auxilia that this element is most noticeable. The following list of _praefecti_, who can be dated to the first half of the third century, does not bear out the accusation: vii. 344. Britain.[309] Aemilius Crispinus natus in provincia Africa de Tusdro (dated 242). viii. 2766. Britain. P. Furius Rusticus. Lambaesis. Severus or later. Britannia Inferior is mentioned. xiii. 6658. Germania Superior. Sentius Gemellus. Berytus. Date probably 249. xiii. 7441. Germania Superior. Flavius Antiochanus. Caesarea. Date 191 or 211. I. G. R. R. i. 10. Raetia. T. Porcius Porcianus. Massilia. 3rd century. iii. 1193. Dacia. C. Julius Corinthianus. Theveste. _circa_ 200. C. I. Gr. 3497. Dacia. T. Claudius Alfenus. Asia. _circa_ 200-210.