Octavian
became the first Roman emperor (Caesar Augustus 27 BC – 14 AD), founder of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty (27 BC – 68 AD)
JULIO-CLAUDIAN
DYNASTY 27 BC - 68 AD
AUGUSTUS
(27 BC – 14 AD) = LIVIA
TIBERIUS
(14 – 37 AD) = Vipsania, Julia
CALIGULA
(37 – 41 AD)
CLAUDIUS
(41-54 AD) = Drusilla, Agrippina the Younger
NERO
(54-68 AD)
YEAR
OF THE 4 EMPERORS (68-69 AD)
Ancient
sources: Suetonius Life of Augustus; Tacitus Annals; Velleius Paterculus;
Cassius Dio, Histories; Appian, Histories of the Wars, Nicholas of Damascus,
Livy
R.
Syme, The Roman Revolution (
(Useful
read: Robert
Graves, I, Claudius (1934))
C.
Octavius, praetor 61 BC = Atia (niece of Julius Caesar by his sister) => C.
Octavius, adopted ex testamento by C. Julius Caesar at age 18 to become:
C.
Julius C.f. C.n. Caesar Octavianus => Octavian => Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD)
Octavian’s mother Atia, was
the daughter of Caesar’s younger of two sisters (Julia Minor) and L. Aetius
Balbus, praetor 62 BC, who was a cousin of Cn. Pompey. Through her daughter Octavia, she was also the great-grandmother of Germanicus and his brother, emperor Claudius.
Nov. 43 BC, M. Antony, Octavian, and M. Aemilius
Lepidus were elected Tresviri rei publicae constituendae (5 years), embarked on proscriptions
Octavian’s
nomenclature changed:
IMPERATOR
JULIUS DIVI FILIUS CAESAR
His
enemies’ opinion of him:
Peto Octavia(e) Culum (CIL 12.6721.13)
His
general: M. Vipsanius Agrippa
27
BC- 14 AD - pax Romana - 200 years of peace and prosperity throughout
the Roman Mediterranean world
THE AUGUSTAN SETTLEMENT
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
·
V. Garthausen, Augustus und Seiner Zeit;
·
T. Rice Holmes, The architect of
the Roman empire. Oxford, The Clarendon
press, 1928-31
·
Mason Hammond, The Augustan principate in theory and
practice during the Julio-Claudian period.
·
A.H. M. Jones, Augustus, NY 1971
·
R. Syme, The Roman Revolution, Oxford 1939
·
David Shotter, Augustus Caesar, London ; New York :
Routledge, 1991
Power
sharing relationship 27 BC -14 AD
Augustus,
Princeps first citizen of Rome; ten year grants of proconsular imperium;
5 year grants of tribunician power, sacrosanctitas
PRINCIPATE
(princeps – first citizen of
Princeps, first citizen
Ø
tribunician power for life (assumed in 23
BC, revealed and legalized his position as unique)
Ø
10 year grants of proconsular imperium,
for all military provinces.
Augustus = well augured
Consulship 28-23 BC (assassination plot,
Octavian abstains from holding consulships); suffect consuls, 4 consuls elected
annually to enter a pool of senators eligible for military commands; must wait
5 years before eligible for appointments;
It was agreed by the Senate that Augustus’
imperium would not lapse when he entered the city. And that he retained
consular privileges, including seating between the active consuls, lictors, and
authority to convene the senate.
Pompey the Great commanded the provinces
of
Provinces 14 AD, legati pro
praetore, indefinite appointments; the Princeps enjoyed proconsular imperium,
with maius imperium when required.
Consular provinces (multiple
legions, governed by legati pro praetore), Dalmatia, Lower Germany, Upper Germany , Moesia, Pannonia, Syria,
Spain Tarraconensis
Praetorian Provs (generally
one legion, governed by legati legionis):
Aquitania, Belgica, Galatia, Gallia Lugdunensis, Lusitania, Pamphylia
Equestrian provinces
(prefects), the Maritime Alps,
SENATORIAL PROVINCES: Achaea, Africa, Asia, Baetica, Bithynia,
Crete-Cyrene, Cyrpus, Gallia Narbonensis, Macedona, Sicily
Imperial procurators KEPT
TABS ON GOVERNORS– rise of imperial freedmen,
Italy (including Cisalpine
Gaul) had a population of ca. 10 million, 474 municipalities
Estimated 300,000 soldiers (60
legions) in 30 BC, he reduced this to 28 legions and settled 100,000 veterans
in colonies in Spain, Carthage, Parium, Beirut with full bonuses, paid for by
funding from Egypt.
Imperium sine fine – in general
life in the provinces improved. There was a more orderly administration, especially
under Tibeerius. The standards of governors improved, due to the prolonged
cursus honorum. Staffs and assistants improved and evolved into a regular civil
service.
Census of 86 BC – 480,000; 70 BC –
900,000; 23 BC – 5,000,000
SENATE |
CONSILIUM |
PRINCEPS |
FISCUS |
AMICI |
Tribunal, Senatorial elections, |
Imperial legates dispatched to Imperial provinces (legati propraetore) |
Prefects (equestrian offices appointed by the princes) |
Private “estate” of the imperial family, including |
Kitchen cabinet, private council consulted by the Princeps at his leisure |
Senatorial Provinces (proconsuls) |
Curators: Public works Waterworks Annonae Roads |
Urban Prefect Praetorian Pref. Praef. Annonae Pref. of the Fleet Pref. of Traffic Military prefects |
Administered by procurators (imperial freedmen) |
(Maecenas) |
Aerarium Saturni (State Treasury) |
Treasury: Aerarium Saturni (2 praetors) Aerarium militare (3 ex praetors) |
|
|
|
Consilium, standing committee
of Senators to prepare business for the entire house, one from each board of
magistrates, 15 senators in all, chosen by lot, 6 mo. Rotation.
Treasury, Aerarium Saturni,
revenues of all provinces, 2 praetors in charge, Little money actually came to
Rome, most remained in the fisci of the individual
provinces. Few provinces produced surpluses over local expenses. In fact, the
Aerarium often fell into financial difficulty, requiring Augustus to expend
funds from his private patrimony or fiscus (literally basket in which bankers
kept their money, but came to mean
treasury)
Aerarium militare, 3 ex
praetors, 1% sales tax, 5% inheritance tax
Imperial fiscus, Egypt,
procurators, freedmen. The fiscus was the Emperor’s private accounts. Under Claudius this was
centralized into one fiscus managed by imperial freedmen. Funds arose from
conquest (spoils of war), the Emperor’s private income (property, including
Egypt) and inherited estates, known as the patrimonium Caesaris. Had to be kept
separate from public accounts. Apart from war and diplomacy the Roman
government’s basic concern was to supply and
finance the military, the bureaucracy, and the court. Beyond feeding the Roman people (city
of Rome, panem et circensis), which was a regular commitment, the government
committed itself to expendigure on public buildings and amenities for the
capital city and the periodic furnishing of material aid to communities in
times of crisis. These limited financial
ends were achieved without recourse to financial exactions. The state did not
seek to exercise control over the production and distribution of goods.
Libertus ab epistulis, a
rationibus, a libellis, a cognitionibus, a studiis
Conversion of the
Equestrian Order into a formal Civil Service
Equites of the Republic,
relatives of Roman senators, 400,000 HS, 10 years of military service, good
character. Commands would extend from prefect of the auxilia or military
tribunes, then to procurators (who were governors of less important provinces
(Pontius Pilate in Judea), then to Prefects – of the fleet, the Vigiles, the
Annona, Egypt, or the Praetorian Guard.
1800 Knights in the 18
centuries,
Vigiles Stationes
Tribunician power enabled
Emperor to hear cases on appeal
Roman Law: Corpus Iuris Civilis, Digest, A. Watson
Imperial Succession made
easier by conferment of tribunician potestas to his successor. This would
clearly designate someone as his successor, far better than marriage
arrangements or premature magisterial appointments. When Augustus died in 14 AD
he was 13 times consul, 21 times imperator, and had enjoyed 37 years of tribunician
potestas.