vii. 344. Britain.[309] Aemilius Crispinus natus in provincia Africa de Tusdro (dated 242).
viii. 2766. Britain. P. Furius Rusticus. Lambaesis. Severus or later. Britannia Inferior is mentioned.
xiii. 6658. Germania Superior. Sentius Gemellus. Berytus. Date probably 249.
xiii. 7441. Germania Superior. Flavius Antiochanus. Caesarea. Date 191 or 211.
I. G. R. R. i. 10. Raetia. T. Porcius Porcianus. Massilia. 3rd century.
iii. 1193. Dacia. C. Julius Corinthianus. Theveste. circa 200.
C. I. Gr. 3497. Dacia. T. Claudius Alfenus. Asia. circa 200-210.
These men cannot fairly be called barbarians. Massilia of course speaks for itself, but in Theveste, Thysdrus, and Lambaesis Roman culture was no new thing at the beginning of the third century. The same may be said of Caesarea, if the capital of Mauretania be meant. Berytus, too, was a colony famous for its Roman character, and Asia was not a province notorious for its barbarism. The increased oriental element, which is certainly noticeable among the auxilia of this period, although not to the same extent as in other branches of the service, is a more significant fact. But however undesirable one may consider the influence of oriental religions and ideals to have been, the conflict cannot be called one between civilization and barbarism. The real matter at issue is the wisdom of the imperial government in utilizing the material which the spread of culture and prosperity provided, and substituting for the old hegemony of Italy a governing class drawn from all parts of the Empire. It is true that this policy was a failure, and that the Empire organized on this basis did not succeed in erecting defences strong enough to resist the external pressure brought to bear upon them in the third and fourth centuries. But if it was a failure it was not necessarily a mistake.[310] It is more than doubtful whether a narrower policy which rigidly maintained the supremacy of the Italians and denied to the majority of the provincials all share in the administration would have been more successful: it is certain that, had the progress of civilization lacked the stimulus which the hope of political power supplied, the after-effects of the Roman Empire in Europe would have been less.