Magistrates, patrons and benefactors of voluntary associations: status building and Romanisation in the Spanish, Gallic and German Provinces of the Roman Empire

摘要

Social historians are becoming increasingly aware that voluntary associations provide the ‘missing link’ between the civic elites and the ‘lower classes’. This raises an important question: how did the Roman collegia contribute to the Romanisation of the (Western) provinces ? Romanisation is the outcome of a confrontation between cultures. There are major differences between provinces in how Romanisation took place. I will argue that status-achievement through collegia was markedly more significant in the Gallic and German provinces than in the Spanish provinces. The associations in the Gallic and German provinces were a major factor in the integration of local elites and business men into the ‘New Roman Order’. They do not seem to have had this prime importance in the Spanish provinces.