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The process of imperial decision-making from Augustus to Trajan
Descriptive
TitleInfo
Title
The process of imperial decision-making from Augustus to Trajan
Name
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Hicks
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Benjamin Wesley
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Benjamin Hicks
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author
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Brennan
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T. Corey
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T. Corey Brennan
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Advisory Committee
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chair
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Connolly
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Serena
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Serena Connolly
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Advisory Committee
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internal member
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(type = family)
Farney
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(type = given)
Gary
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Gary Farney
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Advisory Committee
Role
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(authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name
(type = personal)
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Farney
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Gary D.
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Gary D. Farney
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Advisory Committee
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(authority = RULIB)
internal member
Name
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(type = family)
Peachin
NamePart
(type = given)
Michael
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Michael Peachin
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Advisory Committee
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(authority = RULIB)
outside member
Name
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Rutgers University
Role
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(authority = RULIB)
degree grantor
Name
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Graduate School - New Brunswick
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school
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Text
Genre
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theses
OriginInfo
DateCreated
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2011
DateOther
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(type = degree)
2011-05
Place
PlaceTerm
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xx
Language
LanguageTerm
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(type = code)
eng
Abstract
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Previous studies of Roman imperial decision-making have largely viewed the structure of imperial government either through the lens of the later Principate or of the consilium principis. This dissertation instead focuses on the early Principate, the era when the first emperors established patterns that shaped the growing imperial governmental and bureaucratic apparatus. It examines decision-making as a process, tracing the handling of problems of state and law from the provincial governor to the implementation of the emperor’s decisions. The evidence of Pliny the Younger’s letters from Bithynia-Pontus make him the subject of the first component of this study, which uses social network theory to examine the flow of information both within an imperial province and between emperor and governor, wherein the governor acted as a filter through which information flowed to the emperor. Turning to the actual deliberation on decisions, this same consideration of social networks reveals that the consilium principis, whose position between court and petitioner allowed it to function as the node between two “cliques,” played a central role in mediating the tensions between ruler and subject while fulfilling a particularly Roman need to legitimate the acta of magistrates through consultative decision-making. The final major portion of the decision-making process involves the implementation of those self-same decisions. Precedent and informational insecurity proved a significant challenge to Roman imperial governance. The relatively broad swath of imperial power, which combined legislative, judicial, and executive authority, resulted in a system where both decisions and their implementation in any instant case could produce a precedent. As becomes evident in the examination of legal and epigraphic sources, the bureaucratic means to cope with the potential snares of this system developed slowly with the growth of imperial record-keeping mechanisms stemming from the precedent of a magistrate’s semi-private collection of his commentarii rather than the public records of the aerarium and tabularium. This study concludes that the imperial decision-making apparatus as a whole grew out of Roman, distinctly republican precedents adapted to fit the reality of empire and supports its findings with an appendix of representative imperial decisions.
Subject
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Topic
Classics
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TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier
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ETD
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ETD_3192
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electronic resource
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application/pdf
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text/xml
Extent
viii, 246 p. : ill.
Note
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Ph.D.
Note
(type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note
(type = statement of responsibility)
by Benjamin Wesley Hicks
Subject
(authority = lcsh/lcnaf)
Geographic
Rome--Politics and government--30 B.C.-284 A.D.
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Public administration--Decision making
Subject
(authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Emperors--Rome--Decision making
Identifier
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http://hdl.rutgers.edu/1782.1/rucore10001600001.ETD.000061268
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Graduate School - New Brunswick Electronic Theses and Dissertations
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rucore19991600001
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NjNbRU
Identifier
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doi:10.7282/T3K64HF0
Genre
(authority = ExL-Esploro)
ETD doctoral
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Rights
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The author owns the copyright to this work.
RightsHolder
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Name
FamilyName
Hicks
GivenName
Benjamin
Role
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RightsEvent
Type
Permission or license
DateTime
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2011-03-28 18:35:09
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Name
Benjamin Hicks
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Affiliation
Rutgers University. Graduate School - New Brunswick
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License
Name
Author Agreement License
Detail
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.
Copyright
Status
Copyright protected
Availability
Status
Open
Reason
Permission or license
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