From Republic to Principate

MEDITERRANEAN PEOPLES HIST 1301 | History From Republic to Principate Although Octavian was barely eighteen at the time of Caesar's assassination, he benefited from the political backing and allegiance of Caesar's seasoned soldiers as his adopted son and successor. Two seasoned generals and statesmen, Marc Antony and Lepidus, who had both been devoted followers of Caesar, allied with Octavian in 43 BCE. The fact that Caesar placed his legions under Marc Antony's leadership in his will shows how close the two had become. Together, these three formed the Second Triumvirate, a governmental structure that gave them joint dictatorship over Rome. The Senate publicly recognised the Second Triumvirate, in contrast to the First Triumvirate, which was really a conspiracy. At the Battle of Philippi in northern Greece in 42 BCE, the army of the Second Triumvirate, led by Antony, overcame the armies of Julius Caesar's killers, Brutus and Cassius. Thousands of their political opponents were also put to death by orders issued by the Second Triumvirate. Following their destruction of the optimates, the three men split up the Roman Empire: Antony took Macedon, Greece, and Asia Minor; Lepidus took Africa; and Octavian took Italy, Hispania, and Gaul. However, they soon fell out, and civil war broke out once more. With the backing of Caesar's army more than that of his two rivals, Octavian drove Lepidus into retirement in 36 BCE. In response, Antony formed a coalition and wed Egypt's Cleopatra VII, a Macedonian queen. At that time, Cleopatra was coruler with her son Ptolemy XV, who was born to Julius Caesar. She gave Antony financial backing to build an army and navy. Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra's army at the naval Battle of Actium, which took place off the coast of northern Greece, in 31 BCE. The two committed suicide when Octavian entered Egypt later, and he slew Ptolemy XV to establish himself as the next Egyptian king. Octavian financed his reform of the Roman state with the riches of his Egyptian realm. After 31 BCE, one of Octavian's main responsibilities was to solidify his position in order to maintain the harmony and order he had established. He skillfully maintained a façade that the Roman Republic was alive and thriving, acquiring titles and powers customarily associated with it, in order to escape the fate of his adopted father. Octavian formally resigned as dictator in 27 BCE and "restored" the Republic after packing the Senate with his allies. He was virtually made leader of the whole Roman army when the Senate named him proconsul, or ruler, of the Roman frontier provinces. He was also acknowledged by the Senate as the Princeps Senatus, or "leader of the Senate," which denotes the senator with the greatest stature and power as a result of his loyalty to the Republic. (This title is the source of the name of this governmental system, the principate.) In the end, the Senate decided to bestow upon Octavian the honorific Augustus, which is used to refer to gods and legendary figures from antiquity. Octavian, known as Augustus from 27 BCE, had a great deal of power, as these titles and honours imply. Though he claimed to have restored the Republic, in reality he had established the Empire, and as such, he possessed virtually divine authority. Augustus became one of the two consuls after 27 BCE, which allowed him to sit in the Senate, manage the judiciary, and present bills to the Centuriate Assembly. However, the senators did not like this arrangement since it prevented one of them from becoming the next in line for this esteemed position. Consequently, the Senate granted Augustus many tribune-like powers in 23 BCE. He may now bring laws into the Plebian Assembly and veto any action done by the Senate, the assemblies, or government officials. The Republic's conventional constitution gave him the ability to use both military and political authority. As emperor, Augustus effectively addressed issues that had dogged Rome for a century or more. He cut the size of the standing army from 600,000 to 200,000 soldiers and gave thousands of freshly freed veterans land in newly captured regions like Gaul and Hispania. In order to pay for land and monetary bonuses for upcoming veterans, he also enacted additional taxes. After twenty-five years in the army, he gave citizenship to aboriginal peoples living in the provinces, with the intention of encouraging them to embrace Roman culture. Roman citizenship was granted to all elected officials in indigenous cities that were constructed in the Roman architectural style and embraced its political structure, known as municipia. Augustus propagated Roman culture across the empire by means of these "Romanization" measures. Rome also saw a last restoration of wealth and order under Augustus. He allegedly bragged that he had turned Rome from a brick city to a marble metropolis and launched an extensive building programme that gave impoverished Romans work in the capital. He also gave free entertainment (gladiator fights and chariot races) and free grain (thanks to his rule over fertile Egypt) to appease the populace, making Rome known for its abundance of “bread and circuses.” Additionally, he enlisted members of the Roman soldiers to become the Praetorian Guard, the city's permanent police force. He even established the fire service. Rich Romans outside the Senate were given fresh prospects for growth by Augustus through important posts he set aside for them, such as prefect of Egypt and prefect (commander/governor) of the Praetorian Guard. These officials have the potential to become elite senators by entering the Senate. As a result, Augustus established a new, efficient bureaucracy to run the Roman Empire. The emperors that succeeded him carried on similar customs. Augustus dreaded what would occur when he passed away since he was well aware that the peace and prosperity he had brought about were mostly based on his reputation and authority. Consequently, he devoted the next several decades of his life on setting up a political successor. Since there was no formal emperor position or republican history of hereditary authority, this was a complex situation. Augustus never had a son of his own, and his attempts to groom others to succeed him were frequently thwarted by the deaths of those he nominated. Augustus made arrangements for his stepson Tiberius to obtain the authority of a proconsul and tribune from the Senate prior to his own demise in 14 CE. Tiberius was a capable military leader with senate backing, albeit he was not his first choice. Issues with imperial inheritance persisted in 14 CE, even after the seamless transfer to Tiberius. A hereditary monarch may always turn out to be inept. Towards the end of his rule, Tiberius himself developed a severe paranoia. And Gaius, also known as Caligula, his adopted son and grandnephew, succeeded him. However, following a serious illness, Gaius went crazy. Following Caligula's assassination in 40 CE, his uncle Claudius took over as the prefect of the Praetorian Guard (40–54 CE). Only due to their dread of the soldiers did the Roman Senate consent to this action. Nonetheless, Claudius was a successful emperor, and the province of Britain (present-day England and Wales) was annexed by the empire under his rule. As long as Nero's mother Agrippina remained in charge, the rule of Claudius's grandson Nero (54–68 CE) was superb. But Nero turned out to be a cruel tyrant who utilised the Praetorian Guard to threaten and kill his opponents in the Senate after ordering her assassination. Roman legions in Gaul and Hispania were mutinying at the end of his reign. He committed suicide when the Senate labelled him an enemy of state. The year after his demise, 68–69 CE, was dubbed the “Year of the Four Emperors” because four distinct generals came to power during that time. Among the four, Vespasian (69–79 CE) lived to see out the civil war and took on the titles Caesar and Augustus despite having no connection to the Augustus family or their offspring (the Julio-Claudian dynasty). At the time of his death, Nero was in charge of Roman forces quelling the Judean uprising, which the Romans ultimately put down and devastated Jerusalem in 70 CE. During his rule, Vespasian adhered to the models set by Augustus. For instance, he prepared for his two sons, Titus (79–81 CE) and Domitian (81–96 CE), to succeed him as emperor and ordered the Colosseum to be built as a venue for the gladiator performances he presented for the amusement of the Roman populace. Similar to Nero, Domitian was an uneasy dictator who had great mistrust for the Senate. He used the Praetorian Guard to apprehend and put to death his opponents inside the body. His spouse Domitia collaborated with Senate members in order to set up his murder in 96 CE. Thus, even after the founding father of the Roman state passed away, the principate's shortcomings persisted.