The Vehiculatio in Roman Imperial Regulation
Category: World History
As the Roman Empire pushed its frontiers beyond the Mediterranean world, imperial authorities from Augustus onward faced a serious challenge: information transfer. The government of the early Roman Empire was famously lean in its bureaucracy and relied on small teams of imperial specialists (hated as spies) and military officers selected by governors to carry official documents great distances. These individuals traveled using an ad hoc system designed to take advantage of whatever hospitality existed along the Roman roadways. Messengers commandeered food, buildings, animals, and even guides for most legs of their journey. Official travel passes issued with imperial and gubernatorial authority granted the messengers the power to conduct these impromptu seizures of valuable resources, but this led to a problem: forged travel documents and abuses of the system.
Such abuses placed onerous burdens on the citizens living under Roman rule, whose only recourse was to appeal to the emperors and governors for recompense. Literary sources from the Roman Empire lay out basic information about the imperial transport system, known as the vehiculatio, and other primary documents, including regulatory inscriptions and papyri, provide glimpses into how this system functioned (or failed) on the ground. The pleas of Roman provincials seeking restitution for excessive and unlawful vehiculatio requisitions continued throughout the early Roman Empire, as attested by fifteen documents selected for this analysis.
A look at these primary documents reveals two serious flaws in the imperial government of the ancient vehiculatio: 1) Roman emperors found fault with morally corrupt individuals and sought to punish these persons rather than investigate problems with the ad hoc transportation itself; 2) Roman emperors issued orders and proscribed punishments without properly considering the provincial governors’ practical ability to deal with problems on the ground. The mistake of the emperors was to adopt particular solutions to what was a systematic problem—a failure of leadership with broader implications about systematic problems in government throughout world history.
Cover Page Footnote
James and Connie Gentry (Parents); Professor S. Thomas Parker (Academic Mentor)
Gentry, Russell S.
"The Vehiculatio in Roman Imperial Regulation: Particular Solutions to a Systematic Problem,"
Madison Historical Review: Vol. 12, Article 6.
Available at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/mhr/vol12/iss1/6
"Kama vile ""Vehiculatio"" ilivyokuwa ikitumiwa na Warumi wakati wa utawala wa Augusto, wakati huo huo, ""Vehikulatio"" ilikuwa ikitumiwa na Warumi wakati wa utawala wa Augusto, wakati huo huo, wakati wa utawala wa Augusto." Serikali ya Milki ya Roma ya mapema ilikuwa na ubunifu mkubwa na ilitegemea vikundi vidogo vya wataalamu wa kifalme (waliochukiwa kama wapelelezi) na maofisa wa kijeshi waliochaguliwa na magavana kubeba hati rasmi umbali mrefu. Watu hao walisafiri kwa kutumia mfumo wa ad hoc uliokusudiwa kutumia kwa faida ukaribishaji-wageni wowote uliokuwapo kando ya barabara za Waroma. Wajumbe walichukua chakula, majengo, wanyama, na hata viongozi kwa sehemu nyingi za safari yao. Vipokezi vya kusafiri vilivyotolewa na mamlaka ya kifalme na ya gavana vilitoa mamlaka kwa wajumbe kufanya uvamizi huo wa haraka wa rasilimali zenye thamani, lakini hii ilisababisha tatizo: hati za kusafiri bandia na matumizi mabaya ya mfumo. Uhalifu huo ulileta mzigo mzito kwa raia walioishi chini ya utawala wa Roma, ambao walikuwa na njia pekee ya kuomba fidia kutoka kwa maliki na magavana. Vyanzo vya fasihi kutoka Milki ya Roma vinasema habari za msingi kuhusu mfumo wa usafiri wa kifalme, unaojulikana kama Vehiculatio, na nyaraka nyingine za msingi, ikiwa ni pamoja na maandishi ya udhibiti na papyrus, hutoa ufahamu wa jinsi mfumo huu ulivyofanya kazi (au kushindwa) ardhini. Maombi ya maofisa wa wilaya ya Roma kutafuta fidia kwa ajili ya matumizi ya kupita kiasi na haramu ya vehiculatio yaliendelea katika Milki ya Roma ya mapema, kama inavyoonyeshwa na hati kumi na tano zilizochaguliwa kwa uchambuzi huu. "Mambo mawili ya msingi ya utawala wa kifalme ya Vigilatio ya kale: (1) Maliki wa Roma walipata makosa na watu walioharibika kiadili na walitafuta kuwaadhibu watu hawa badala ya kuchunguza matatizo na usafirishaji wa ad hoc yenyewe; (2) Maliki wa Roma walituma amri na kuamuru adhabu bila kuzingatia vizuri uwezo wa vitendo wa magavana wa mkoa wa kushughulikia matatizo ya ardhi.""" Kosa la maliki lilikuwa kupitisha suluhisho maalum kwa kile kilichokuwa tatizo la utaratibu - kushindwa kwa uongozi na athari pana juu ya matatizo ya utaratibu katika serikali katika historia ya ulimwengu. "James na Connie Gentry (Wazazi), Profesa S. Thomas Parker (Mwalimu wa Chuo Kikuu), Russell S. Gentry, ""The Vehiculatio in Roman Imperial Regulation: Particular Solutions to a Systematic Problem,"" Madison Historical Review: Vol." Makala ya 12 na 6. "Kama ilivyoelezwa katika ukurasa wa ""Commons.com."""