ABSTRACT
It is already clear that the imperium Romanum was founded on the polis. Cities provided Rome with a convenient channel for her commands and her demands for resources through taxation. The Romans themselves had neither the manpower nor the funds to staff the lower levels of provincial administration. The comparatively limited duties of the governor, described in Chapter 3, only made sense when they were the superstructure on a strong foundation of local autonomy, whether the communities in question had the privilege of freedom or not. Moreover, because of the ancient belief in the cultural superiority of urban life, the creation or maintenance of cities conferred prestige on the leaders of an empire individually and collectively.
