402 CALLIA RULMU A rescript of Septimius Severus (emperor from 193 to 211 CE) made clear that the law was valid also in the provinces 40. The excursus above shows how Rome and Roman statesmen were deeply concerned by the activities and proliferation of collegia — a concern they surely exported to their jurisdictions. As a matter of fact, Roman and Italian voluntary associations were not the only ones to feel the need to dissipate any distrust and suspiciousness by underscoring their legitimacy and allegiance. Foreign and Greek speaking thiasoi showed the same effort. An inscription found in Rome dedicated to a society of musicians does not fail to mention that “the senate has given permission to hold meetings, to be called to assembly, and to be mustered in accordance with the Julian law by authority of Augustus for the sake of the games” (ILS 4966, ln. 5-8) 41. The marble tablet found in Lanuvium (Italy) dating from 136 CE quotes verbatim (ln. 11-13) the decree of the Senate which allows voluntary association to purportedly meet on a monthly basis with the (alleged) purpose of providing funerals to its members, and then (ln. 15-18) profusely incenses not only the emperor, but the whole imperial house 42. The scarcity of documents, especially in the East, regarding the enforcement of Roman decrees on collegia is striking, especially when compared to the evident distrust and reiterated attempts to exert a reassuring control over them. Since the laws were clear e n o u g h , we can only imagine that voluntary associations proliferated almost out of control. Many of them, though de iure outlawed, were in practice tolerated with much suspicion. Two elements may have assured the survival of non-official associations: (i) promulgated laws seem to appear as answers to local problems and definite situations, rather than widespread political concern; an d (ii) the associations would seek protection by linking themselves to local high status patrons. Nevertheless, wherever Roman imperial administrators were present, guilds were looked down upon, and were obliged to strive to show their allegiance to the State and the Emperor. An important and visible way to prove R.K. SHERK, The Roman Empire. Augustus to Hadrian (Translated 40 Documents from Greece and Rome 6; Cambridge – New York – New Rochelle – Melbourne – Sydney 1988) 177. Translated by SHERK, The Roman Empire, 177. 41 CIL XIV 2112. 42