Qui in consilio estis: the governor and his advisers in the Early Empire (original) (raw)
2017, Istoricheskij vestnik
n the middle of the second century AD, 1 Lucius Apuleius, standing trial before the proconsul of Africa Claudius Maximus on the charge of sorcery, began his defense speech by an address to «Claudius Maximus and members of the council». 2 Who were these members of the council and what was their role in his trial? It is the conventional view in modern historiography (and one that will not be challenged here) that the Roman governor, as well as the emperor and other persons of authority, including the paterfamilias in the domestic matters, pronounced decisions, judicial or otherwise, mainly in the presence of his con-1 Presumably in AD 158/9 (for the date, see Syme R. Proconsuls d'Afrique sous Antonin le Pieux // Revue des études anciennes. T. 61. 1959. P. 316 ff.; Thomasson B.E. Laterculi Praesidum. Göteborg, 1984. Vol. 1. P. 384 Africa 88). 2 Maxime Cl(audi) quique in consilio estis (Apul. Apol. 1.1). For parallel places with this common forensic expression in Cicero and in Apuleius himself, cf. Callebat L. La prose d'Apulée dans le De Magia: Eléments d'interprétation // Wiener Studien. Bd. 97. 1994. P. 150; Hunink V. Apuleius of Madauros: Pro se de magia (Apologia) / Ed. with a commentary. Amsterdam, 1997. Vol. 2. P. 10 ad loc. I am passing no judgement here on the relation between Apuleius' published speech (obviously a highly literary production) and the speech he delivered, if any: what matters for us here is the courtroom conventions.
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.