La nuova articolazione del potere tardoimperiale: lo strumento amministrativo civile e il dispositivo militare

The civil administration of the later Roman Empire (3rd-6th Century AD) was created by Diocletian and Constantine. It was structured in two different careers. A career of the highranking officials (dignitates, honores), dealing with the civil, provincial, diocesan, palatine administrative posts; they were aristocratic senators and trusted emerging bureaucrats. A lower administrative career in the various offices. This large sector of employees was the real militia that they call inermis here. The civil militia had the following characteristics: 1) recruitment officially sanctioned by means of imperial document, which entailed rights and duties; 2) a hierarchical organization of the career, with promotions for seniority and merit; 3) regular receipt of fixed emoluments in kind and in money and of extraordinary performance fees; 4) a series of privileges during the service and after leave. The officiales wore uniforms (vestis, fibulae, cingulum). The civil administration consisted of at least 35,000 high dignitaries and employees (officiales). Both were paid in kind and in money. The officiales in the imperial residence and in the peripheral offices had very different tasks and advanced in their career within their office. They were recruited in the cities. The system of delegating power by the emperors to high ranking senators, and the system of selecting and advancing employees in a so huge empire prevented the birth and the development of an independent bureaucratic class.