judaism_and_rome 2026-05-30T15:40:13+02:00 1 246 Inscription https://heurist.huma-num.fr/heurist/?recID=246&db=judaism_and_rome 2022-08-16 23:18:41 2025-07-22 16:56:40 public Titus responds to a right of appeal from the city of Munigua (Spain) (CIL II, *456) Rectangular plaque with inscribed text. Four holes, one in each corner, from where it was originally affixed to a wall. 0079 0079 3589 Latin 2897 2925 2942 2896 2895 2893 2892 2891 3888 2890 5009 2889 3905 2888 <p>On 7 September 79 CE, the emperor Titus responded to an appeal made by the magistrates of the town of Munigua, in Baetica, Spain (50 km north of modern Seville). The bronze tablet under discussion here was made to record that response and was placed in a public setting, most likely attached to the wall of a temple or civic structure in the heart of the town, as attested by the four holes which survive in its corners. The inscription was copied from an imperial letter sent by Titus, and reveals important details for the legal right to appeal in the provinces, the role of the emperor as <em>princeps iudex</em> (‘First Judge’) and the importance of imperial generosity in the canon of virtues or qualities that a ‘good’ emperor was supposed to display. Although many such versions of these imperial responses survive in the Greek East (e.g. the archive wall of Aphrodisias), this is a rare surviving example in Latin, which serves to illustrate how legal and fiscal issues were dealt with by the second Flavian emperor.</p><p>Titus’s letter was sent in response to an appeal made by the ‘four-man board’ (the <em>quattuorviri</em>, the most important magistrates) of Munigua and the town councillors (<em>decuriones</em>) in a dispute concerning a debt of local taxes (<em>vectigalia</em>) that the town owed to a tax-collector named Servilius Pollio (Hurlet, <em>Le proconsul</em>, p. 270). The town refused to pay and Pollio appealed to the proconsul, Gallicanus, who ruled in his favour. An embassy was then sent on behalf of the <em>municipium</em> to Rome, to appeal directly to the emperor. Although appeals were only initially permissible for criminal cases (see Borkowski, <em>Textbook on Roman Law</em>, p. 63-78), under Augustus a system of <em>cognitio</em> (‘investigation’) emerged, which included an appeals procedure. In the capital cities of the empire, appeals were made to the city prefect and the head of the praetorian-guard; in the provinces they were heard by governors and their subordinates. The emperor might be consulted as a last means of appeal, but he was more commonly – as in this case – asked to provide written rulings in the cases where the local magistrate was unsure how to proceed, with the emperor’s decision providing the final verdict (Borkowski, <em>Textbook on Roman Law</em>, p. 81-82).</p><p>In the case of the <em>municipium </em>of Munigua, Titus rejected their appeal as ‘unjustified’ (<em>iniustae</em>) and stated that a penalty should be exacted from them for having brought it (<em>poenam…exsigi a vobis oportebat</em>). However, Titus does not punish the town unfairly; he recognises their claim to poverty and grants a remittance of 50,000 sesterces to the town (<em>vestra…et sester/tia quinquaginta millia(!) nummorum tenuitati publicae/quam praetexitis remisi)</em>. He also states that he has written to his friend (<em>amicus</em>) the proconsul Gallicanus, to request that the town is not burdened with interest on the debt (<em>ex die sententiae dictae usurarum vos conputa/tionem(!) liberaret</em>) (For Gallicanus and his relationship with Titus, see D’Ors, “Epistula Titi,” p. 209-210). Finally, Titus indicates that the income Pollio derived from the indirect taxes of the town should also be taken into account, and deducted from the sum due (<em>reditus vectigaliorum vestrorum quae conducta habuisse Pol/lionem indicatis in rationem</em>). Although Titus rejected the appeal of Munigua, his overall verdict on the dispute was favourable to the town; as well as dismissing the penalty, he reduced their debt in three different ways in order to prevent the town from suffering from undue hardship, and it was likely for this reason that the letter was copied and inscribed in bronze and displayed in public. As Fergus Millar has stated, “in practical terms, therefore, the appeal was largely successful” (<em>Emperor in the Roman World</em>, p. 442).</p><p>The inscribed letter from the emperor demonstrates an important aspect of the imperial administration; the right of a community to speak directly to the emperor. This ‘connection’ was crucial for maintaining the interest and loyalty of the provincial towns, but the epistolary tradition of these letters also masked a more pragmatic context for the emperor’s response: whatever was contained in a response to a petition or appeal had the force of law, although responses to individual cases were not necessarily intended to be applicable everywhere (Bruun, “Roman Government and Administration,” p. 287-288). However, the letters also provided the emperor with an opportunity to disseminate a version of himself that was not based on official titles or institutions (Hurlet, “The Roman Emperor,” p. 194). In this response, Titus states that he has remitted the penalty fine on account of his own ‘<em>indulgentia</em>’ (leniency, indulgence), using the term in a fiscal sense to describe his remission of taxes rather than in its more familiar ‘moral’ context (Hurlet, “The Roman Emperor,” p. 194). There was precedent for attributing generous acts to the inherent generosity of the emperor: in the <em>Res Gestae </em>Augustus repeatedly states his generosity to the state and the people, such as his donations to the people of Rome and veteran soldiers in chapters 15-18; Claudius had extended citizenship to three Alpine tribes as a <em>beneficium</em> (benefit) and the <em>municipium</em> of Igabrum erected a statue and base to Augustan Apollo in thanks for the citizenship awarded to them also by the <em>beneficium</em> of Vespasian. In the case of Titus, this display of generosity was a very necessary public expression, particularly at the beginning of his reign when he was reputed rather for <em>crudelitas</em> than <em>clementia</em> on account of his military success (Suetonius, <em>Titus</em>, 7); however, once he acceded to the throne his behaviour changed and attempted to follow the virtues laid out by Augustus, endeavouring to win the support of the masses through dignity, justice and moderation (Suetonius, <em>Titus</em>, 7-8). Included in these new behaviours was the <em>indulgentia</em> – generosity – expressed in the letter to the town of Munigua. Rather than seeking to punish local communities and exact financial penalties from them in order to increase state revenue, Titus preferred to practice liberality in his granting of benefits. Although Brian Jones has rather sceptically noted that this liberality was possible because of his more efficient collection of taxes from Egypt and state acquisition of the properties of those who died without heirs, there can be no doubt that acts of municipal generosity won the previous emperor enormous support in communities such as a Munigua (Jones, <em>The Emperor Titus</em>, p. 145-146). </p><p>The bronze copy of the letter to Munigua is, therefore, a rare and useful example of how direct communication with the emperor could positively serve both the community he spoke to and the imperial administration. The letter was recorded in bronze for perpetuity by the town council of Munigua because it recorded the favourable acts bestowed upon the community by the emperor. The emperor was equally favourably rewarded by the decision to make his verdict a permanent monument; it was testimony to his moderate and just nature and exhibited his generous treatment of communities far from Rome. </p> Titus imperial generosity Munigua Hispania province local elite tax tax collector loan interest appeal imperial letter Roman legal order magistrate Sevilla - Museo Arqueológico Provincial. Bronze Height: 20.5 cm Width: 30 cm Depth: 0.4 cm Letter height: 0.8-0.5 1st CE 40 The Forum of Mulva (ancient Munigua), Andalucia, Spain. IMP TITVS CAESAR VESPASIANVS AVG PONTIF MAX             TRIB POTEST VIIII IMPERATOR XIIII COS VII P P SALVTEM             DICIT IIIIVIR ET DECVRIONIBVS MVNIGVENS             CVM IDEO APPELLAVERITIS NE PECVNIAM QVAM DEBEBATIS SERVILIO 5          POLLIONI EX SENTENTIA SEMPRONI FVSCI SOLVERETIS POENAM INIVSTAE             APPELLATIONIS EXSIGI A VOBIS OPORTEBAT SED EGO MALVI CVM IN             DVLGENTIA MEA QVAM CVM TEMERITATI VESTRA LOQVI ET SESTER             TIA QVINQVAGINTA MILLIA NVMMORVM TENVITATI PVBLICAE             QVAM PRAETEXITIS REMISI SCRIPSI AVTEM GALLICANO AMICO 10        MEO PROCOS PECVNIAM QVAE ADIVDICATA EST POLLIONI NVME             RASSETIS EX DIE SENTENTIAE DICTAE VSVRARVM VOS CONPVTA             TIONEM LIBERARET             REDITVS VECTIGALIORVM VESTRORVM QVAE CONDVCTA HABVISSE POL             LIONEM INDICATIS IN RATIONEM VENIRE AEQVOM EST NE QVID 15        HOC NOMINE REI PVBLICAE APSIT VALE             DAT VII IDVS SEPTEMBR 162 164 Roman CIL II, *456 (AE 1962, 288) EDH: HD016933 Yes <div>            Imp(erator) Titus Caesar Vespasianus Aug(ustus) pontif(ex) max(imus)</div> <div>            trib(unicia) potest(ate) VIIII imperator XIIII co(n)s(ul) VII p(ater) p(atriae) salutem</div> <div>            dicit IIIIvir(is) et decurionibus Muniguens(ibus)</div> <div>            cum ideo appellaveritis ne pecuniam quam debebatis Servilio</div> <div>5          Pollioni ex sententia Semproni Fusci solveretis poenam iniustae</div> <div>            appellationis exsigi(!) a vobis oportebat sed ego malui cum in-</div> <div>            dulgentia mea quam cum temeritati(!) vestra loqui et sester-</div> <div>            tia quinquaginta millia(!) nummorum tenuitati publicae</div> <div>            quam praetexitis remisi scripsi autem Gallicano amico</div> <div>10        meo proco(n)s(uli) pecuniam quae adiudicata est Pollioni nume-</div> <div>            rassetis ex die sententiae dictae usurarum vos conputa-</div> <div>            tionem(!) liberaret</div> <div>            reditus vectigaliorum vestrorum quae conducta habuisse Pol-</div> <div>            lionem indicatis in rationem venire aequom(!) est ne quid</div> <div>15        hoc nomine rei publicae apsit(!) vale</div> <div>            dat(um) VII Idus Septembr(es)</div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Taken from Cooley, Melvin G.L. (ed.) <em>The Flavians</em> (London: London Association of Classical teachers, 2015), p. 265-6, M37. Reproduced with kind permission from the London Association of Classical Teachers.<br /><br /></div> <div style="text-align: justify;">Emperor Titus Caesar Vespasian Augustus, <em>pontifex maximus</em>, in his 9^th year of tribunician power, hailed imperator 14 times, 7 times consul, father of the fatherland gives greetings to the four-man board and councillors of Munigua. Since, then, you have appealed against paying the money that you owe to Servilius Pollio according to the judgement of Sempronius Fuscus, it was appropriate that the penalty for making an unjustified appeal should be exacted from you. But I have put what I say on the basis of my own forbearance rather than on your lack of prudence, and I have remitted the HS 50,000 to your treasury, given its fragile state, which you have offered in your own defence. I have written, moreover, to my friend Gallicanus, the proconsul, that the money that has been adjudged due to Pollio you shall pay, but that he should free you from payment of the interest from the day the judgement was delivered. It is fair that the income from your indirect taxes, which you indicate that Pollio had, should be taken into account, to prevent anything being lost to the community on this head. Farewell. Issued on 7 September.</div> Yes Titus decurio Munigua appello pecunia debeo iniustia indulgentia sestertium praetextus usura libero reditus vectigalia res publica Caroline Barron English Imperial letter Yes 140 145 270 272 160 1