ΘΕΙΑ ΔΩΡΕΑ.

ΜΕΛΕΤΕΣ ΠΑΝΩ ΣΤΗΝ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ ΤΗΣ ΔΥΝΑΣΤΕΙΑΣ ΤΩΝ ΣΕΒΗΡΩΝ kai thn
Constitutio Antoniniana by K. Buraselis
Review by: A. J. S. Spawforth
The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 83 (1993), p. 254
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/301038 .
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254 REVIEWS

AmmonandtheCarthaginian Baal Hammon,as hasoftenbeensuggested, butis simplya calqueofthe

former; inspelling(255-65).
thepresenceofthe'h' is justa confusion
In general,thebookhasboththeadvantages anddisadvantages onewouldexpectofa catalogue,
anditis unreasonableto complainaboutthelatterwhentheformer areso wellsecured.Throughher
carefulandjudiciouscollection,B.-R. hasprovided a valuablebasisforfurther
workonthereligious and
ofNorthAfrica.
socialhistory
Columbia University J.B. RIVES

K. BURASELIS, OEIA AQPEA. MEAETEX HANQ ZTHN IIOAITIKH THZ A YNAZTEIAZ TQN ZEBHPQN
KAI THN CONSTITUTIO ANTONINIANA (with English summary)(Academyof Athensmonographi).
Athens:Academy,ResearchCentreforAntiquity,i989. Pp. 224. ISBN 960-7099-00-I .

The currentlyprevailingmodel ofthespread of Roman citizenshipunderthe Principateis a steady

progressionto the climax of Caracalla's edict of universalenfranchisement in I 2: 'the world became
ready,and Caracallus had onlyto affixtheofficialseal' (so A. N. Sherwin-White,TheRoman Citizenship
(I9732), 280). As for Caracalla's aims, most modern historians,beguiled by the siren authorityof
contemporaneity, have been contentto go along withthe jaundiced explanationof the Severan senator
Cassius Dio (LXXVII (LXXVIII) 9.5), forwhom the measurewas essentiallyfiscal(to enlargethe pool of
subjects liable to the I0 per cent inheritancetax levied on Roman citizens). As Buraselisunderlinesin
this important,heavily-footnoted, monograph,thereare problemswiththese views. The widespread
notionthat,by A.D. 200, Roman citizenshipwas the normamong provincialdecurions (a farbroader
social stratumthan theprimoresof the city-councils)is not borne out by the evidence of papyriand
inscriptions(carefullysiftedby B., I 20-48) fortheedict'sconsiderableimpacton provincialonomastics
(i.e. thesudden appearancein thethirdcenturyofAureliiin largenumbers,a phenomenonwell-known
to papyrologistsand Greekepigraphists),nor,indeed, by theTabula Banasitanaof I7718 (published in
I971), withits solemnaffirmation in the name of Marcus Aureliusthat,as late as this,Rome stillmade
personalawardsofRoman citizenshiponlyon groundsof'verygreatmerit',maxima merita(so B., I I4).
B. also challenges( 49-60) theconventionalwisdomthatby 200 theold legal distinctionbetweencitizen
and alien in Roman law had been supersededby the new one betweenhonestioresand humiliores,citing
in particular(I55-7) the tellingdetails in the account by Eusebius of the martyrdomin I77 of the
PergameneAttalus,a Roman citizen; indeed, the need to give legal privilegeto provincialdecurionsin
the second centurycould have arisenpreciselybecause theprotectionofferedby Roman citizenshipwas
spread among themso unevenly.Secondly, the papyrusfragment(P. Giss. 40 I) of a Greek versionof
the originaltextof the edict preservestraces (the passage in question is heavilyrestoredbut the gistis
clear) ofa neglectedrationaleforthemeasure,one whichtakesus farfromfiscality:Caracalla claimedto
be offering thanksto Rome's gods by seekingto enlargethe pool oftheirRoman worshippers.
B.'s largercontextfortheedictis thelevellingideologywhichhe imputesto the Severan emperors,
who sought- on his view- to promotegreaterequalitybetweendifferent subject-groups(including
thosewithand withoutcitizenship); B. sees the backgroundto thisideologyin the need of the African
Severusto legitimatehis rule(by creatinga broaderstratumofprovincialsupport),in his own provincial
outlook,and in thereligiousand philosophicalZeitgeist.Since littleor no directsupportfortheexistence
of such an ideologycan be foundin the two chiefsources forthe period (Dio and Herodian), B. has to
reconstructit (25-Iio) by tryingto imparta coherence to an otherwisedisparate body of indirect
evidence concerningall four Severan emperors. B. is carefuland judicious in his exercise of this
methodology(one with which many ancient historianswill be familiar),and in the end makes out a
persuasive case, althoughsome of his argumentation,inevitably,will be controversial(e.g., 50, his
dating of the Alexander-historian Q. Curtius Rufus to the Severan age; and this reviewerhas slight
qualms about the extentoftheideologicalhomogeneitywhichwe can ascribeto the Severan 'dynasty'as
a whole).
If Caracalla's edict is indeed his 'chief claim to fame' (so OCD2 s.v. Aurelius (2)), B. offersa
refreshingbasis for a reappraisalof his reign. All serious studentsof Caracalla, and of the Severan
monarchyin general,will have to pay heed to thisexcellentstudy,whichwould merittranslationintoa
- dare one say it - more accessible language.

UniversityofNewcastle-upon-Tyne A. J. S. SPAWFORTH

D. RATHBONE, ECONOMIC RATIONALISM AND RURAL SOCIETY IN THIRD-CENTURYA.D. EGYPT. THE

HERONINOS ARCHIVE AND THE APPIANUS ESTATE (Cambridgeclassicalstudies). Cambridge:Cambridge
University
Press,I99I. Pp. xix + 489, I map. ISBN 0-52I-40I49-6. ?45.00.

This ambitiousbook may reasonablybe describedas the mostimportantworkpublishedso faron

theeconomyofRoman Egypt. Its value depends noton itsbreadth- itis limitedto agriculture,to large
estates,and to the thirdcentury- but on the depth of the documentationon which it is based (the

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