PDF hosted at the Radboud Repository of the Radboud University Nijmegen The following full text is a publisher's version. For additional information about this publication click this link. http://hdl.handle.net/2066/43356 Please be advised that this information was generated on 2021-09-30 and may be subject to change. 19. The Roman Empire Olivier Hekster The beginning of the Roman imperial period is consulship made Augustus’ position in the city of usually dated to the battle of Actium in 31 b c , when Rome weaker, though his tribunicia potestas still Octavian (later Augustus) defeated Antony and gave him much power. However, in 19 b c the Cleopatra. Its end is less clear, though the deposi­ Senate gave him consular power in Rome itself, tion of the last emperor, Romulus Augustulus, in though Augustus preferred to stress his tribunicia ad 476 is conventionally used (see also chapter 20). potestas, emphasising his protection of the people Before then, however, major reforms by Diocletian of Rome. He also held various priesthoods, fur­ (ad 284—305) had already transformed the empire ther strengthening his moral authority (auctori- beyond recognition. tas). He controlled the legions and was immune from trial. Thus, Augustus had complete control of the Roman Empire. The reality of power, how­ Outline of events ever, was given shape through standard repub­ The early Roman Empire is, ironically enough, lican offices. In Augustus’ own words: ‘I excelled characterised by emperors pretending not to be all in auctoritas, though I possessed no more in sole control. The assassination of Julius Caesar official power {potestas) than others who were my (44 b c ) had shown that suspicion of tyranny could colleagues in the several magistracies’ (Res Gestae be fatal. Augustus’ sole reign, therefore, had a 34.3). This made it easier for the traditional elite Republican façade, in which he was princeps or to accept Augustus’ position: he paid them proper ‘first citizen’. A few years after gaining absolute respect. This amalgamation of traditional powers control at Actium, Octavian returned power to the and magistracies formed the basis of imperial Senate (28-27 b c ). In return, the Senate gave power for the duration of the empire. Octavian the name Augustus’ (‘consecrated one’), There had been a real sense of gratitude towards and imperium (sacrally imbued executive power) in the first princeps, who had restored order after years those provinces where most of the legions were of civil war. Augustus ruled for forty-one years and based. Augustus was also elected consul every year outlived his opponents. His immediate successors, until 23 b c . This, however, restricted career collectively known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty, opportunities for senators, and he accepted instead who continuously emphasised their link to the powers of tribune of the plebs (tribunicia potes­ Augustus, were not so lucky. Like him, they were tas) and supreme imperium in the provinces over given key powers by the Senate, but they lacked his which the Senate had not yet delegated authority auctoritas, for which they compensated in different to him. ways. Tiberius (ad 14-37) hid behind Augustus’ It was important to keep senators happy. Not example. His successor Gaius (Caligula) was only only did they occupy key political and adminis­ 25 when he came to power. He presented himself as trative positions, the Senate as a whole bestowed all-powerful, disregarded Rome’s traditional elite powers and honours on the emperor. This was and was murdered within four years. Ancient liter­ crucial for appearing a legitimate ruler. Losing the ary sources, all written by the elite, portray him as 108 19. The Roman Empire 109 insane. The accession of Claudius (a d 41-54) was memoriae), the Senate chose their own favourite, a result of support from the emperors’ guard, the the elderly Nerva. He lasted just over a year in sole Praetorians, who had been concentrated in bar­ control. By then his position was so weak that he racks on the outskirts of Rome in ad 22. This had had to adopt Trajan, governor of Upper Germany, increased their importance to the extent that they the general whose armies could reach Rome could ignore the Senate and decide that Claudius, most rapidly. Under Trajan, the empire reached Caligula’s uncle, was the true heir. its largest size. Serious campaigns against the Claudius’ accession shows the importance of Dacians and Parthians led to the creation of new dynastic considerations. He had a limp and a provinces, and ensured Trajan’s reputation as speech defect, and Tiberius had refused him a ‘the best ruler’ (optimus princeps). The empire had magistracy twice. But he was a member of probably overstretched itself: Trajan’s successor Augustus’ dynasty, and soldiers liked that. He took Hadrian (a d 117-38) gave up some of the newly possession of the enormous wealth and status of conquered territory and focused on fixed fron­ the imperial household. In return, he gave large tiers. Notwithstanding this policy, Hadrian, like donatives to soldiers and strengthened his military all emperors, had to present himself as a capable reputation by conquering Britain. He was much warrior. less openly monarchical than Caligula. The last Trajan did not establish a dynasty as such. Like Julio-Claudian was Claudius’ adopted son Nero his predecessor and his two immediate succes­ (ad 54-68). He started by showing respect for the sors, Hadrian and Antoninus Pius (ad 138-61), he senatorial elite, adhering to the advice of his tutor had no son (in all cases coincidence not choice). Seneca. Later he became very autocratic and paid These emperors therefore adopted male relatives more attention to the plebs than to the Senate. and made them heirs. Dynastic considerations Rebellion in the provinces allowed the Senate to always ruled supreme. The last of these ‘adoptive declare him an enemy of the state. Nero has been emperors’, Marcus Aurelius (ad 161-80), did have blamed for all kinds of evil behaviour, including the a son, Commodus, who, inevitably, succeeded him. Great Fire of Rome ( ad 64). He was not even in Lack of respect for the Senate, conspiracy, Rome at the time, but senatorial authors blamed assassination (ad 192) and an unenviable posthu­ him all the same. Emperors who showed disrespect mous reputation followed the established pattern. for the Senate were not remembered fondly. The Senate then chose the elderly Pertinax, who Nero’s suicide was followed by civil war and, was killed by the Praetorians, and in the ensuing after a year of fierce fighting, the establishment of a civil war the legions from the Rhine and Danube new dynasty; a pattern repeated several times in the provinces, led by Septimius Severus (ad 193-211), next centuries. Some generations into a dynasty, a were victorious. young emperor would come to the throne who dis­ When the Severan dynasty, including some odd regarded the Senate and based his power on the emperors even by Roman standards, ended (ad soldiers and/or plebs. Eventually he was assassin­ 235), no new dynasty replaced it, although not for ated and the dynasty brought to an end. The end of want of aspirants. Rather, different legions continu­ a dynasty brought instability that only the use of ally put forward their own generals. Military pref­ legions would end. Provincial governors in control erence for dynastic succession, a tradition reaching of legions (mainly based near the Rhine, Danube back to Augustus, also led to the appointment of and in the Eastern provinces) were in those cir­ child-emperors, hardly ever lasting long. Gordian cumstances instant contenders for the throne. In III (ad 238-244), for instance, was only 13 when he a d 69 Flavius Vespasianus (Vespasian), who had came to power and was only chosen because his been fighting a war in Judea, was victorious. When grandfather and father (Gordian I and II) had been the Flavian dynasty that he started fell through joint emperors for a year (ad 238). He lasted just the anti-senatorial behaviour of his younger son over five years, followed by twenty-two more or Domitian, with the inevitable conspiracy (a d 96) less acknowledged soldier-emperors in fifty years. and ensuing eradication of his name and image The crisis ended with the accession of Diocletian, from official records and buildings (damnatio another general-turned-emperor. His twenty-one- 110 Classics and the Classical World year reign saw many administrative, economic and gained disproportionate influence in a province. army reforms. His government, more than that of But Roman bureaucracy was limited in size, which any previous emperor, constituted military despot­ constrained its day-to-day impact on society. ism. He appointed a co-emperor and two depu­ Local elites in provincial communities remained ties, who were to succeed and appoint deputies in crucial for administration. Villages and towns turn. The power to appoint successors lay with retained much autonomy through councils and the emperors alone. This system (the ‘tetrarchy’) magistrates, for instance in constructing and man­ marked the end of the ‘principate’, in which the aging public buildings, associations for trade and emperor nominally was ‘first citizen’, and the intro­ cult, and the food supply. They also did much of duction of the ‘dominate’ - rule through unam­ the tax-collecting. Essentially, Rome governed its biguous direct control (see also chapter 20). The provinces in order to receive taxes and manpower, position of emperor had travelled a long way from and to avoid rebellions. These local magistrates - Augustus’ civitis princeps (polite first citizen) to the old aristocracy in much of the East of the Diocletian’s dux (leader), though the voyage had empire, a newly created upper class in substan­ been a gradual one.