ilitary, administrative, and judicial. He was in command of the Roman
troops stationed in the province for the maintenance of order and the
protection of the frontiers; he supervised the relations between the
communities of his province and their internal administration, as well as
the collection of the tribute; he presided over the trial of the more
serious cases arising among provincials, over all cases between
provincials and Romans, or between Roman citizens. Upon entering his
province the governor published an edict, usually modelled upon that of
his predecessors or the praetor's edict at Rome, stating what legal
principles he would enforce during his term of office. The province was
divided into judicial circuits (_conventus_), and cases arising in each of
these were tried in designated places at fixed times.

*The governor's staff.* The governor was accompanied by a quaestor, who
acted as his treasurer and received the provincial revenue from the tax
collectors. His staff also comprised three _legati_ or lieutenants,
senators appointed by the senate, but usually nominated by himself, whose
function it was to assist him with their counsel and act as his deputies
when necessary. He also took with him a number of companions (_comites_),
usually young men from the families of his friends, who were given this
opportunity of gaining a knowledge of provincial government and who could
be used in any official capacity. In addition, the governor brought his
own retinue, comprising clerks and household servants.

*The provincial taxes.* The taxes levied upon the provinces were at first
designed to pay the expenses of occupation and defence. Hence they bore
the name _stipendium_, or soldiers' pay. At a later date the provinces
were looked upon as the estates of the Roman people and the taxes as a
form of rental. The term _tributum_ (tribute), used of the property tax
imposed on Roman citizens did not come into general use for the provincial
revenues until a later epoch. As a rule the Romans accepted the tax system
already in vogue in each district before their occupancy, and exacted
either a fixed annual sum from the province as in Spain, Africa and
Macedonia or one tenth (_decuma_) of the annual produce of the soil, as in
Sicily and Asia. The tribute imposed by the Romans was not higher, but
usually lower than what had been exacted by the previous rulers. The
public lands, mines, and forests, of the conquered state were inco