=Defencelessness of the Provincials.=--The provincials had no redress
against all these tyrants. The governor sustained the publicans, and
the Roman army and people sustained the governor. Admit that a Roman
citizen could enter suit against the plunderers of the provinces: a
governor was inviolable and could not be accused until he had given up
his office; while he held his office there was nothing to do but to
watch him plunder. If he were accused on his return to Rome, he
appeared before a tribunal of nobles and of publicans who were more
interested to support him than to render justice to the provincials.
If, perchance, the tribunal condemned him, exile exempted him from all
further penalty and he betook himself to a city of Italy to enjoy his
plunder. This punishment was nothing to him and was not even a loss to
him. And so the provincials preferred to appease their governor by
submission. They treated him like a king, flattered him, sent
presents, and raised statues to him. Often, indeed, in Asia they
raised altars to him,[129] built temples to him, and adored him as a
god.
SLAVERY
=The Sale of Slaves.
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