ABSTRACT
The more abundantly the sources flow for the administration, the scarcer they are for history. And this should come as no surprise: history is made in the Cabinet and information about what goes on there does not pass to the contemporary as it really happens. Those accounts we do possess stem from outsiders who in fact know nothing. Generally speaking, we are not much better informed about the earlier Emperors either, but the rapport with the Senate did allow certain information to filter through to the public, even though the Senate did not have much of a say in government, [MH.III, 58] particularly on crucial matters. Now this was no longer the case; there was no further need to justify decisions in the eyes of the public. The fragile remnants of something reminiscent of the public opinion which had still existed in the early principate had long since evaporated, and the Emperor was as little accountable to the people as the master of a house feels it necessary to keep his servants informed about his activities. The relationship was identical.
