Imperial Inquisitions

Delatores (political informants) and accusatores (malicious prosecutors) were a major part of life in imperial Rome. Contemporary sources depict them as cruel and heartless mercenaries, who bore the main responsibility for institutionalising and enforcing the 'tyranny' of the infamous rulers of the early empire, such as Nero, Caligula and Domitian. Stephen Rutledge's study examines the evidence to ask if this is a fair portrayal. Beginning with a detailed examination of the social and political status of known informants and prosecutors, he goes on to investigate their activities - as well as the rewards they could expect. These activities included checking government corruption and enforcing certain classes of legislation in both the city and the provinces; blocking opposition and resistance to the emperor in the Senate; acting as a partisan player in factional strife in the imperial family; and protecting the emperor against conspiracy. The inclusion of an illuminating appraisal on just how 'bad' or 'tyrannical' the early principate really was provides historical and ethical context. Rutledge argues for a more balanced view, which makes the despised activities of the delatores and accusatores appear in a different light. The book ends with a comprehensive guide to every known political informant under the early empire, with their name, all the relevant primary and secondary sources, and an individual biography.