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 secretaryships became, in fact though not in law, great offices of state. They required more highly trained ability than most of the procuratorships, and, as they brought their holders into close relations with the Princeps, the influence and the power of patronage which they conferred must have been enormous.

The official ab epistulis put into shape all the decisions of the Princeps which took the form of letters, so far as these were not written personally by the Princeps himself. The answers to the consultationes of officials, to the despatches of generals and provincial governors, or to deputations from foreign communities, together with the nomination of officials and officers and the conferment of privileges, passed through his hands.

The official a libellis drew up the answers to petitions (preces, libelli) made by private individuals to the Emperor. The answer was generally given in a short subscriptio appended to the document. The framing of such replies required considerable legal knowledge; hence it is not surprising to find that jurists like Papinian and Ulpian held this post.

The official a cognitionibus was the adviser of the Emperor on legal points, which were settled by imperial decree. The points on which advice was given were perhaps wholly those of civil jurisdiction, and were probably such as did not need to come before the imperial consilium. The office was in existence at the beginning of the third century, but is thought to have been subsequently merged in that a libellis.

The official a memoria is first mentioned about the time of the Emperor Caracalla. His function was probably to put into form and reduce to writing (often by dictation to a secretary) such

libellis et epistulis libertos."].]
 * [Footnote: Torquatum, tanquam disponeret jam imperii curas praeficeretque rationibus et