ABSTRACT
The Roman emperors exercised an extraordinarily effective form of military autocracy through which their subjects were held in subjection to their rule for centuries. This is not to assert that the sources reveal a society in which the agents of the state were all-pervasive, or the movement and thoughts of individuals closely controlled. On the contrary, emperors had little interest in imposing ideology – social, political or religious – and had no means to impose surveillance on the whereabouts of all the inhabitants of the empire. But in their concern to ensure their own safety, comfort, power and prestige, emperors employed a huge military force whose main but unstated purpose was the suppression of dissent. 1
