The following are Roman provinces mentioned in the NT :—
Senatorial — Macedonia, enrolled B.C. 146
(Imperial from Tiberiuf
to Claudius). (Imperial B.O. 15-A.D. 14X
Achaia, B.c, 146 .
Asia, B.C. 133.
Bithynia (with part of Pontus), | ss„^f„ritLl to A.D. HI.
OiT^rus, B.C. 27 ... . (Imperial n.c. 27-22, the>
Senatorial). Crete and Cyrenaica, B.C. 74. Imperial — Syria, B.C. 64 . . . . Of the First Claaa.
Galatia B.C. 25 . . 1 Of the Second Cl«».
PamphyUa and Lycia, B.o. 25 / ^* ** = "'^"^ " wi«oo. Egypt, B.C. 30.
r.™fw.,.,io \ « ;» ■ ■ } UnderProouratcm. Cappadocia, A.D. 17 . . >
The position of Egypt demands a slight refer- ence. Its great wealth, and the importance of its com trade, made Augustus give it special treat- ment. The country was the emperor's private property (patrimonium Cmsaris), and w as governed by a prte/ectus of equestrian rank. No senator was allowed to enter the province.
Certain small provinces (Judaja and Cappadocia, for example) were governed by imperial PROCUR- ATORS. They were generallj- districts which had been only recently added to the empire, and were not thoroughlj- romanized. Judjea was so treated during the intervals when it was not governed by native kings ; ultimately it was definitely incorpor- ated in the province of Syria.
One further form of provincia may be mentioned. In cases of great and serious emergency a special command might be given to some distinguished oificer, embracing more than one province, or per- haps superior to tlie governors of several provinces : such was the position of Corbulo in the East, of Gerraanicus and possibly Quirinius in SjTia.
If we pass to the internal government of the provinces, we notice first the concentration of power in the hands of the governor. He was the principal military, judicial, and administrative authority. Except in the case of Africa, he commanded all the troops, whether legions or auxiliary : he went from place to place to hold courts, the province being divided into conventus for that purpose (cf. Ac 19^). The finances, however, were not directly in his hands. The proconsuls in senatorial provinces
PROVOKE, PROVOCATION
PSALMS, BOOK OF
145
were assisted by a qua?stor, while a procurntur appointed by tlie emperor collected all tuxes be- on^'iny to the fiscus or emperor's purse ; in iinjierial provinces all the finance was in the liiinds of the procurator. The provinces were variously di\ ided : in Macedonia, for example, there were four divisions apparentlycalledlocally/«pi6<5(Ac 16'-),but the unit of administration within the province was, at any rate in all the settled Greek districts such as Asia and Achaia, the city. A city implied not only the actual to>\Ti, but also all the land which bclonj;ed to it and was its territory. The cities were of two main classes — Roman cities or ' colonies,' the in- habitants of which had either full civic or Latin rif;hts. These in the East were garrisons of the Romans, often inhabited by veteran soldiers. Such were Corinth, Philippi (Ac 16'-), Lyslra, Antioch in Pisidia. The second chiss of cities were non- Roman; they were either civitatcs fiederatce et immunes or civitates stipend iurUe. The former were cities like Alliens, which were 8U|)posed to be independent allies. No proconsul might enter Athens with h\s fasces, or any symbol of his power. The Greek cities seem generally to have preserved their old constitution. Outside the limits of the cities were the imperial estates, administered by imperial freedmen and slaves ; and in less advanced districts, peoples whose organization was tribal, administered from some common religious centre or market, round which they were grouped. For religious and social iiuriio-es, for the worship of the emperor and the celebration of games, tliere existed representative bodies, the council of the province (t6 Koii<4>' t^s 'Atrias, etc.), with their prin- cipal officer the high priest, the Asiardi, Galatarch, etc. (.Vc 19"). These bodies had considerable social bat little or no political influence.
The general condition of the provinces, at any rate during the 1st cent, of the eiu]iire, was good. Order was preserved. The taxation was definite and fixed. The governors were paid, and redress was comparatively easy if they were guilty of ex- actions. The country was prosperous, even if the taxation was heavy ; and it was not until a later period that attacks from without and decrease of prosjierity within broke down the economic pro- sperity of the empire.
LrrERATTRB. — W. T. Arnold, The Roman St/sft^n of Provijicial Administration I Monimsen and .Mannirxrdt, liOniijiche titnatS' verwaitunn und Staatgverfa^tntiu/; Furiieau.\, A iinats o/ Tacitwi; Schurer, GJV^L 878, 379 [HJPi. i. 327 fl., ii. 4,'>t.).
A. C. Headlam.
PROVOKE, PROVOCATION.— To provoke {pro- vornn-), lit. to 'call forth,' is in AV to excite any emotion or activitj', good or bad. Hence we find 2 Co O'' ' Your zeal hath jirovoked very many,' and Col 3^' ' Fathers, provoke not your children ' (both ^Mffifu). For the orig. meaning of ' stir up,' cf. Jer 43' Cov. ' Baruch the souiio of Ncrias pro- voketh the agaynst us.' Cf. al.so Erasmus, Crede, p. 15, ' It is .a great spoore to prycke and provoke a man to profyght and go foreward in ony scyence or crafte : the love of the teacher'; and p. 99 — ' .Saynte Paule i)rovok3ng the Galathians from vengeance to humanite and jjentj'lnesse.' Provo- rnlion is always used in AV in a bad sense. In Ps 95' the Heb. is Meribah, which see.