Rileggendo Paul Veyne, Clientèle et corruption au service de l’État : “un racket que l’État employait pour administrer l’Empire”

Abstract

The article constitutes a reading of P. Veyne's essay "Clientèle et corruption au service de l'État : la vénalité des offices dans le Bas-Empire romain", published in the journal "Annales. Economies, sociétés, civilisations" 36, 1981, in the light of the scholar's production and in the context of the debate on late antiquity and, in particular, on the concept of corruption and clientelae in the late Roman Empire.