Special Requests. The Republican government was not a particularly proactive one. Its weak systems of informationgathering and administration and short terms of office made planning and anticipation difficult. Still, individuals might sometimes try to adopt farseeing policies to increase their own domestic patronage or military glory. The incentives for such individual innovations dropped under the Empire, without much growth in the state apparatus. The emperor could make new laws by various devices including direct decree. Yet, most imperial decrees came in the form of decisions on appeals or other such petitions. It has been argued that this situation illustrates the basic operation of the imperial government in general: the emperor (and his staff) received requests, from both subordinates and private citizens, and responded to them. Sometimes the decisions were broader than absolutely necessary to settle the issue presented...