Neither Julius Caesar nor Augustus wanted to be called a king, and Romans did not call their new form of government a monarchy. Romans still had bad memories of their last experience with monarchs (see page 16).
Still, the first two caesars had clearly established a strong central state under the ultimate command of one person, despite Augustus’s attempts to preserve the Republic’s traditional political bodies.
Under a monarchy, a relative-typically the oldest son-takes over when the ruler dies. Power is automatically passed on within the same family, creating what is called a dynasty. Augustus claimed his powers under Rome’s constitution-the written laws and accepted traditions that described the form and process of government. Those powers came from the vote of the people, in their various assemblies. Still, Augustus could choose who would take over as emperor when he died, and he preferred to keep the power within his family. The Senate, however, would have to approve the choice. No Roman emperor could guarantee that he could create a family dynasty.
Augustus did not have any sons, so at first he considered passing on his authority to one of his grand-
Names of an Emperor
At birth, Octavian was called Gaius Octavius. After his uncle's death he changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavanius, although modern historians refer to him as Octavian during this time of his life. Shortly after he became emperor, Octavian was given the title Augustus, which in Latin means something blessed or approved of by the augurs. He was the first Roman person to receive that title. Augustus also had a month named for him, which in English became August. In English, the word august also refers to something that is majestic or royal and deserves respect.
Augustus's title of princeps civitatis was often shortened to princeps. The form of government created by Augustus was called a principate (which means rule by an imperial emperor, while still retaining some institutions from the Republic, such as the Senate). The English word prince comes from princeps, as does principality, the land ruled by a prince.
Sons. He eventually named his stepson, Tiberius (42 B. C.E.-37 C. E.), as his choice to succeed him. He indicated his preference for the first time in 4 C. E. by asking that Tiberius be voted the same constitutional powers for a 10-year period as Augustus himself held. The vote was repeated in 14 c. E., just before Augustus’ death.
On the whole, Tiberius followed Augustus’s example and concentrated on strengthening Rome’s control over the lands it already ruled, ending revolts in Gaul, Thrace (a province in the Balkans), and North Africa. Once again, to aid the mobility of its troops, Rome built new roads. This time the government focused on some of the outer edges of the empire. The new roads also helped local farmers and merchants, boosting the economy in those regions.
Tiberius was good at overseeing the daily workings of the government, or choosing skilled people to do it for him. As a ruler, however, he was not popular. By nature, Tiberius was somewhat shy, a loner who sometimes slipped into bouts of depression. He did not spend lavishly on buildings and public festivals, as Augustus had. Tiberius also tried to weaken the Senate’s power and limit free speech in Rome. People accused of spreading rumors about the emperor faced trial. If convicted, they were executed for treason.
An Unofficial Dynasty
Augustus belonged to the gens, or clan, known as Julian. Tiberius's gens was the Claudian. The next three emperors after him had ties to both clans. Together, the first four emperors after Augustus are often called the Julio-Claudian Dynasty, even though imperial power was not automatically passed on within the family, as in a monarchy.
Some future emperors were also able to create dynasties.
In 26, Tiberius moved to the island of Capri, off the western coast of the Italian peninsula. He still made major decisions, but officials in Rome carried out day-to-day affairs. One of Tiberius’s most important aides in Rome was Sejanus (d. 31), the head of the Praetorian Guard, a special branch of the military that protected the emperor. Sejanus first tried to eliminate anyone who might be a threat to Tiberius, having them killed or sent into exile. By 31, Tiberius realized that Sejanus hoped to take over the government himself, and the emperor ordered soldiers in Rome to execute Sejanus and his family. The emperor also killed Romans who had supported Sejanus in his quest for power.
Tiberius died in 37, and members of the Praetorian Guard then declared Caligula (12-41) the next emperor. He was the great-grandson of Augustus and the son of Germanicus (15 B. C.E.-19 C. E.), who had been a popular general and a member of the royal family, and who was poisoned by a political enemy.
Caligula’s real name was Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus. Caligula, Latin for “little boots,” was a nickname he earned as a boy. He spent time with his father’s troops in Germany, and his mother often dressed him as a Roman soldier. The uniform included replicas of the leather boots the soldiers wore, which were called caligae.
At first, Caligula offered hope for ending the worst of Tiberius’s changes. The new emperor restored some constitutional practices that Tiberius had abolished-for example, he restored the right of the assemblies to elect some magistrates-and he tried to improve relations with the Senate. Caligula also spent money on grand public games and festivals, which were very popular with the common people.
After a few years, however, it became clear that Caligula suffered from a mental illness. He spent all the money Tiberius left him on lavish public festivals and personal excesses, and had to raise taxes. He insulted the Senate and began to see himself as a king. Caligula tried to eliminate any rivals to himself and his family by falsely accusing them of treason and
Having them executed. Some of the people he considered enemies he forced to commit suicide.
Caligula also demanded that Romans worship him as a living god.
By 41, leading Roman citizens decided they had to end Caligula’s rule, and they assassinated him. The assassins also killed the emperor’s wife and daughter, to make sure they would never play a role in imperial politics.
Once again the Praetorian Guard selected the next emperor. They made an unlikely choice, picking Caligula’s uncle, Claudius. Brother of the popular Germanicus, Claudius had struggled with physical problems his whole life and had difficulty speaking clearly. These defects convinced some Romans that Claudius was mentally ill as well. The new emperor, however, actually had a sharp mind. He also had good political skills, and promised the guards money if they supported him as emperor.
Notorious Emperor
This 1596 anonymous Italian engraving shows Caligula.
The emperor began his reign with promising reforms, but it ended when he was assassinated after it became clear he had gone mad.
Like Tiberius and Caligula, Claudius sometimes had bad relations with the Senate. But he was popular with average Romans, as he spent money on public buildings and lowered some taxes.
Claudius also made the first major expansion of Roman territory since Augustus. In the east Rome took complete control of Thrace, and the empire began to play a role in nearby Dacia, in what is now Romania. Roman activity spread all along the Black Sea and reached as far as the Don River, in what is now Russia. In North Africa Claudius strengthened Roman rule over Mauretania, modern-day Morocco and part of Algeria. In the Middle East, Rome annexed a former client kingdom, Judaea.
The main expansion of the empire under Claudius came in Britain. Some Roman culture had spread to the British Isles after Julius Caesar invaded Britain about 100 years before. Rome, however, did not have direct control of Britain, and some of the native kings posed a threat to Rome’s allies there. In 43 Roman troops defeated the main opposition king, then won the loyalty of 11 other local kings. Over the next several years Claudius created a province in Britain, which continued to grow after his death.
Claudius died in 51. Ancient sources say he was poisoned by his wife, but modern historians are not so sure. In any event, his stepson Nero (37-68) took over as emperor, once again with the support of the Praetorian Guard. As Nero came to power, Rome faced trouble in the east, as it competed with the distant kingdom of Parthia (in what is now Iran) to control Armenia. From 55 to 61, Nero also had to confront a bloody rebellion in Britain. At home the em-
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A Holy Province
The Roman province of Judaea was at the center of what had been the ancient Jewish state of Israel. Under Roman rule, Judaea started as client state, was annexed by Augustus in the year 6, then was made a client state again until Claudius reannexed it in 44.
The Jewish population of Judaea rebelled in 66, and again in 132, during Hadrian's reign. In one of their bloodiest campaigns in the region, the Romans killed perhaps 500,000 people in the process of restoring order. The Romans then forced all the Jews out of Jerusalem, their former capital, and the province's name was changed to Syria Palestina. Palestina is Latin for "land of the Philistines." In the Old Testament of the Bible, the Philistines were enemies of the ancient Israelites, the first Jewish people in the region. Today Palestinians are Arabs who live primarily in Israel and Jordan. Many want to create an independent nation of Palestine in the Middle East.
Today, to the world's Christians, Judaea is best known as the homeland of Jesus Christ, who was born during the reign of Augustus and died during Tiberius's rule. Muslims also trace the roots of their faith, Islam, to the region, and Judea is the location of the modern Jewish state of Israel. Because of its importance to Christians, Jews, and Muslims, what was once Judaea is sometimes called the Holy Land.
Peror sometimes battled with the patricians and the Senate.
In 64 a huge fire spread through Rome, destroying half of the city. Nero was away from Rome when the blaze began, but he quickly returned and to the city and tried to ease the suffering caused by the fire. He set up shelters for the homeless and brought extra food into the city. Rumors soon spread, however, that he had ordered the fire set so he would have an excuse to rebuild the city in a grand style. Nero did spend huge sums to rebuild, especially his own palace. To raise money, he took away lands from some wealthy provincial citizens and raised some taxes.
In Judaea, Nero’s actions, as well as many local issues (for example, Roman officials did not punish some Greeks who had attacked a group of Jews in a nearby city), led to a rebellion in 66. Two years later another revolt broke out in Gaul, and some of Nero’s provincial governors had begun to turn against him. By 68 Nero was forced out of power. He ordered a servant to kill him before his foes could murder him. Nero could not bring himself
To commit suicide, something patrician Romans did to keep their honor in the face of personal defeats.
World History
