Transcript The Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor
The Roman Empire
SASH39
Lovisa Brännstedt
The Roman Emperor
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The development of the Empire
The principate
The Emperor as imperator
How did the Emperor rule?
The Imperial family
The Imperial succession
The Emperor and the city of Rome
The Emperor and the Roman cities
The Imperial cult
Res Gestae Divi Augusti
Terminology
• Caesar
• Imperator
• Augustus
• There was no single term, the word Emperor is
a modern construction.
From Republic to Empire
• Military campaigns and social stress
• Maintenance of conquered lands
• Burden of military service
• Crumbling farms
• Unequal wealth distribution
• The Roman army turning into a professional
one
The Marian reforms 107 B.C.
• All male citizens, regardless of their wealth or
social class, were made eligible for entry into
the Roman army.
• The army was no longer fighting on a seasonal
basis to protect their land.
• Soldiers received standard pay.
• Military duty began to appeal to whom a
salaried pay was attractive.
The First Triumvirate
The First Triumvirate
• A political alliance of Gaius Julius Caesar, Marcus Licinius
Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus with no official
status.
• The alliance combined:
o Caesar's enormous popularity and reputation
o Crassus' spectacular wealth and influence within the
Equestrian order
o Pompey's equally spectacular wealth and military
reputation.
• Pompey married Caesar’s daughter Julia
• When Crassus died at Cannae and Pompey was murdered
in Egypt, Caesar was the sole master of the Roman world.
Julius Caesar
The Gallic wars 58-51 B.C. granted Caesar:
•Unmatched military power
•Wealth
•Loyal soldiers
Caesar assassinated March 15 44 BC
• Dictator perpetuo
• King?
• Kai su, teknon – Et tu, Brute!
The republican institutions could not cope
with the struggles for power between overmighty generals, nor could they meet the
demands of the growing empire.
Caesar had layed bare the weakness of Rome,
Augustus tried to solve the problem which
ultimately led to the establishment of the
permanent Roman Empire.
The Second Triumvirate 43 BC – 33 BC
• M. Aemilius Lepidus – consul, pontifex
maximus (high priest) and among Caeasar’s
greatest supporters.
• Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius) – popular
general and close to Caesar.
• C. Iulius Octavianus – Caesar’s adopted son
and sole hair. He was only 19 by the time of
his grand uncle’s dead, but Octavian had
the loyal support of Caesar’s soldiers.
• Unlike the earlier First Triumvirate, the
Second Triumvirate was official and legally
established. It’s power outranked that of all
other magistrates, including the consuls.
The only limit of the Triumvirate was the
five-year term set by law.
• By proscriptions they could eliminate
political enemies, replenish the treasury
and gain wealt. The proscribed were always
stripped of their property, and often killed.
• In 42 BC, Octavian and Antony set out to
war and defeated Brutus and Cassius in a
battle fought at Philippi northern Greece.
War between Antony and Octavian
• The Second Triumvirate could not withstand internal
jealousies and ambitions.
• Antony lived in Alexandria with Cleopatra VII of
Egypt, and had children with her.
• Octavian stayed in Rome. He (illegally) obtained
Antony's will in Rome, in July 32 BC.
• Octavian used his propaganda to turn the public
opinion and the senate against his former colleague
Antony. In 32 B.C the Senate declared war, and the
next year Antony and Cleopatra were defeted at
Actium.
The principate
• Princeps primum caput (lat.) - the first head
• Octavian restored the Roman Republic, with
the traditional governmental power of the
Senate, but in practice he retained his
autocratic power.
• It took Octavian several years to work out
the frame work.
• Octavian held, by law, a collection of powers
granted to him for life by the Senate,
including those of tribune of the plebs and
censor.
• He was consul until 23 BC. Later emperors
could pick and choose whether they wished
to be consul, or allow their supporters that
honour instead.
• The Emperor had no specific office, except of
the republican ones.
• The model for all later imperial government.
Augustus
• The revered one
• A honorific name given by the Senate in 27
B.C.
• Octavian’s power stemmed from:
o financial resources gained in conquest
o the building of patronage relationships
o the loyalty of many military soldiers and
veterans
o the authority of the many honors granted
by the Senate
o the respect of (some of) the people.
The Emperor as Imperator
• The Emperor had to handle the administration
of the Empire, but was also expected to be a
military man.
• The Emperor needed the loyalty of the Roman
army.
• In moments of crisis, and when the succession
was unclear, was the underlying power of the
military laid bare.
• The praetorian guard.
How did a did an Emperor rule?
• Senate
• Magistrates
• Clientela
• Imperial slaves and freedmen.
The Roman patron-client system
• A relationship between the and his client. The
relationship was hierarchical, but the obligations were
mutual.
• The patronus was the protector, sponsor, and benefactor
of the client.
• Benefits a patron might confer include legal
representation in court, loans of money, influencing
business deals or marriages, and supporting a client's
candidacy for political office or priesthood.
• In return, the client was expected to offer his services to
his patron as needed.
• A freedman became the client of his former master.
• The Emperor could be a patron for a legion, a city etc.
The Imperial Family
• Livia Drusilla
• Femina Princeps – a paradox
• The faithful wife and mother, keeping old
decorum
• Livia had her own circle of clients
• She ruled her own finances
• After the death of Augustus, she became
Augusta and high priestess of his cult.
The Imperial succession
• Augustus died in year 14 AD, 76 years old. He
had been emperor for over 40 years. He was
succeeded by Tiberius.
• The Julio-Claudian emperors (Augustus,
Tiberius, Caligula and Nero) were all related,
but none was succeeded by his own son.
• The ability of specific individuals might be
challenged, but not the figure of the Emperor
as the holder of political authority.
Augustus and the city of Rome
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He found it in bricks and left it in marble…
The Emperor as patronus
Administration: vici
Dynastic monuments, such as his mausoleum.
Public buildings
The involvement of his family
Ara Pacis
• The altar of (Augustan) peace.
• Consecrated on 30 January 9 BC by the Senate to
celebrate the return of Augustus from the Western
provinces and that peace was established in the Empire
after his victories.
• Ara Pacis portray the peace and fertile prosperity
enjoyed as a result of the Pax Augusta. The peace was
brought about by the military power of Rome.
• Ara Pacis also acted as a visual reminder of Augustus
and his dynasty.
Solarium Augusti
• The largest sundial in the ancient world, erected
by Augustus.
• The gnomon was a 30-metre Egyptian obelisk,
acting as a triumphant demonstration of Egypt's
subordination to Roman power.
• The shadow of the gnomon fell across the center
of the marble altar on 23 September, the
birthday of Augustus himself. Augustus was
natus ad pacem, born to bring peace.
• Once again, peace was linked with military
authority and imperial expansion.
The Emperor and the Roman cities
• Some towns enjoyed a privileged relationship.
• The importans of visual representation.
• The Emperor as magistrate, as priest, as a
commander, as a heric nude. The portraits of
empresses incorporates both elements of
matronly virtue and divinity.
Imperial cult
• The unequal relationship between the Emperor and his
subject must seem to be natural and unchallengeable.
• The Emperor and his family was both political leaders
and gods. They could be approached through leters
and embassies, or prayers and sacrifices.
• A deceased Emperor held worthy of the honour could
be voted a state divinity by the Senate.
• Cult of a living person was never a part of the Roman
state cult, but common in the provinces.
• A patron-client relationship.
To sum up…
• The people thanks the Emperor for what he did
to them (victories, building projects, games) by
different honours. Important occurrences in
the imperial family (accessions to the throne,
marriages, births of new femily members,
deaths) provided occasions for the bestowal of
honours.
• This is it not propaganda in the modern sense,
as there never was any central propaganda
agency or institution. Anyone who wanted to
express his gratitude and loyalty to the
Imperial family could either use the visual
formulae that had been developed in Rome or
create his own images, as long as they fit the
catalogue of traditional themes.
• A competition between members of the elite.
To praise the imperial family, and to have
access to it, became the most important
medium for self-representation.
An example from Forum Clodii:
Under the third consulship of Tiberius Caesar and the
second of Germanicus Caesar and under the
duumvirate of Gnaeus Acceius Rufus Lutatius, son of
Gnaeus, of the tribus Arnensis, and Titus Petillius, son
of Publius, of the tribus Qurina, this decree (have been
issued):
This temple and these statues, a sacrificial animal for
the dedication (thereof). The two victims, who has
always used to be sacrificed, shall be sacrificed on
Augustus’ birthday, 24 September, on the altar
dedicated to the numen of Augustus, on 23 and 24
September.
Furthermore, on the birthday of Tiberius Caesar,
the decuriones, under the obligation to always
do so, and the people shall banquet. Quintus
Cascellus promise to cover the cost forever so
that he should be thanked for his munificence,
and that on this birthday shall annually a bullcalf be scarified, and that on the birthdays of the
emperors Augustus and Tiberius, before the
decuriones go to dine, shall their genii be
invited, with incense and wine, to dine at the
altar of the Augustan numen.
The altar to the Augustan numen is erected at our
own expense. We have organized games for six
days, at our own expense. On birthday of Augusta,
we have, at our own expense, passed out mulsum
and crustlum at the statue of Bona Dea to the
women living in the village. Furthermore, at the
dedication of the statues to the Caesars and
Augusta, we have passed out mulsum and crustlum
to the decuriones and the people, at our own
expense, and we have sworn to do this on the day
of this dedication, in eternity, so that this day may
annually be more frequent celebrated on 10 Match,
the date on which Tiberius Caesar, most
auspiciously, was elected pontifex maximus.
Res Gestae Divi Augusti
• The queen of inscriptions
• In his will, Augustus requested that RGDA
should be displayed in bronze in front of his
Mausoleum.
• Copies from Asia Minor (Turkey)
• What is the message of the text?
• What does the text have to say about the role
of the Emperor? What should he do?
• On what was his power based?
• What does he not say?
• Why do you think copies of the text were put
up around the empire?