Pragmatism, Tolerance and Compromise: Values behind Governing an Ancient Megaorganization

Abstract

"The language of theories of governance and administration is not often applied to organizations of ancient times. There is, however, no doubt that the Roman Empire was a challenging example of megaorganization. There were two basic models of governing it: decentralized and bureaucratic. The latter is obvious for the super power of antiquity which kept under control people of various origins and an extended territory. The former seems more instructive as it involved less officials but broader groups of town citizens throughout the empire. The tiny central imperial chancellery and provincial governors cared only for some of the most important issues: peace, defense of borders, maintenance of order and observance of the law, collection of taxes. The rest remained in the hands of the cities. All the efforts were based on common values of Roman administration: pragmatism, tolerance and compromise. They guaranteed the success of the empire for centuries as the decentralized approach proved effective and creative, and helped to form an imperial identity of its citizens. Public and private Roman law and its jurisprudential framework was an important factor for the identity."