roman empire handout

8/9/2019 Roman Empire Handout

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Camille Papa

The roman empire

Age of Augustus (31B.C. 14 A.D.)

In 27B.C., Octavian proclaimed the restoration of the Republic. He understood the

need to appease the senatorial ruling class and realized from the experience of Julius

Caesar that he could not exercise power to openly. Only traditional republican formswould satisfy the senatorial aristocracy. At the same time, Octavian was aware that the

Republic could not fully restored and managed to arrive at a compromise that worked, at

least during his lifetime.

In 27 B.C., the senate awarded him the title of Augustus the revered one. He preferred

the titleprinceps meaning chief citizen or first among equals. The system of rule that

Augustus established is sometimes called the principate, conveying the idea of a

constitutional monarch as co-ruler with the senate. But while Augustus worked tomaintain this appearance, in reality, power was heavily weighted in favor of the princes.

After the devastating political chaos of the late Republic, it should come as no surprisethat the position of princeps eventually became that of an absolute monarch.

New Order

In the new constitutional order that Augustus created, the basic government structure

consisted of a princes (Augustus) and an aristocratic senate. Augustus retained the senate

as the chief deliberative body of the Roman state. Its decrees, screened in advance by theprinceps, now had the effect of law. The senate officially controlled disbursements from

the public treasury and serves as a high court of justice. Despite its powers, however, thesenate was not a full and equal partner with the princes.

The title of princes first citizen of the state carried no power in itself, but each year

until 23 B.C. Augustus held the office of consul, which gave him imperium, or the rightto command. When Augustus gave up the consulshipin 23 B.C., he was granted a

proconsular or maius imperiem a greater imperium than all others. The consulship was

now unnecessary. Moreover, very probably in 23 B.C. Augustus was given the power of

a tribune, without actually holding the office itself, a power that enabled him to proposelaws and veto any item of public business. In 12 B.C., Augustus was also electedpontifex

maximus or chief pontiff, head of the official state religion. While the officials continued

to be elected, Augustuss authority ensured that his candidates for offices usually won.This situation caused participation in elections to decline. Consequently, the popular

assemblies, shorn of any real role in elections and increasingly overshadowed by the

senates decrees, gradually declined in importance

By observing proper legal forms for his power, Augustus proved to be highly popular. As

the Roman historian Tacitus commented, Indeed, he attracted everybodys goodwill by

the enjoyable gift of peace. . . Opposition did not exist. No doubt, the ending of the civil


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wars had greatly bolstered Augustuss popularity. At the same time, his continuing

control of the army, while making possible the Roman peace, was a crucial source of his

power.

The achievements of Augustus

This except is taken from a written text by Augustus and inscribed on a bronze tablet at

Rome. This is called the most famous ancient inscription, the Res Gestae of Augustus

summarizes his accomplishments in three major areas:a. his offices

b. his private expenditures on behalf of the state

c. hid exploits in war and peace

Augustus Res Gestae

1. at the age of 19, on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army

by means of which I liberated the Republic, which was oppressed by the

tyranny of a faction [Mark Anthony and his supporters]2. Those who assassinated my father [Julius Caesar, his adoptive father] I drove

into exile, avenging their crime by due process of law; and afterwards whenthey waged wars against the state, I conquered them twice on the battlefield.

3. I waged many wars throughout the whole world by land and by sea, both civil

and foreign, and when victorious I spared all citizens who sought pardon. . .

5. The dictatorship offered to me. . . by the people and the senate, both in myabsence and in my presence, I refused to accept

9. The senate decreed that the vows for my health should be offered up every fifth

year by the consuls and priests. In fulfillment of these vows, games were oftencelebrated during my lifetime, sometimes by the four most distinguished

colleges of priests, sometimes by the consuls. Moreover, the whole citizen body,

with one accord, both individually and as members of municipalities, prayedcontinuously for my health at all the shrines

17. Four times I cam to he assistance of the treasury with my own money,

transferring to those in charge of the treasury 150,000,000 sesterces. And in theconsulship of Marcus Lepidus and Lucius Arruntius I transferred out of my own

patrimony 170,000,000 sesterces to the soldiers bonus fund, which was

established on my advice for the purpose of providing bonuses for soldiers who

had completed twenty or more years of service20. I repaired the Capitol and the theater of Pompey with enormous expenditures on

both works, without having my name inscribed on them. I repaired the conduits

of the aqueducts which were falling into ruin in many places because of age22. I gave a gladiatorial show three times in my own name, and five times in the

names of my sons or grandsons; at these about 10,000 fought

25. I brought peace to the sea by suppressing the pirates. In that war I turned over totheir masters for punishments nearly 30,000 slaves who had run away from their

owners and taken up arms against the state

26. I extended frontiers of all the provinces of the Roman people on whose

boundaries were people not subject to our empire


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27. I added Egypt to the empire of the Roman people

28. I established colonies of soldiers in Africa, Sicily, Macedonia, in both Spanish

provinces, in Acheas, Asia, Syria, Narbonese Gaul, and Pisidia. Italy, moreover,has twenty-eight colonies established by me, which in my lifetime have grown

to be famous and populous.

35. When I held my 13th

consulship, the senate, the equestrian order, and the entireRoman people gave me the title of father of the country and decreed that this

title should be inscribed in the vestibule of my house, in the Julian senate house,

and in the Augustan Forum on the pedestal of the chariot which was set up inmy honor by decree of the senate. At the time I wrote this document I was in my

76th year.

The Army

The peace of the Roman Empire depended on the army and so did the security of the

princeps. Though primarily responsible for guarding the frontiers of the empire, the army

was also used to maintain domestic order within the provinces. Moreover, the army,played an important social role. It was an agent of upward mobility for both officers and

recruits and provided impetus for Romanization wherever the legions were stationed. Thecolonies of veterans established by Augustus throughout the empire proved especially

valuable in Romanizing the provinces

After the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C., Augustus reduced the size of the army. Heconsider it larger than the empire needed as well as too expensive to maintain. He

established a standing army of twenty-eight legions. Since each legion at full strength

numbered 5.400 soldiers the roman empire had an army of about 150,000 men, certainlynot large either by modern standards or in terms of the size of the empire itself (the

population of the empire was probably close to 50 million). Roman legionaries served 20

years and were recruited only from the citizenry and, under Augustus, largely from Italy.Augustus also maintained a large contingent of auxiliary forces enlisted from the subject

peoples. They served as both light-armed troops and cavalry and were commanded a

cohort of German tribesmen as Roman auxiliaries. During the principate of Augustus, theauxiliaries numbered around 130,000. they were recruited only from non citizens, served

for 24 years, and along with families received citizenship after their terms of service.

Augustus was responsible for establishing the praetorian guard. These 9 cohorts of elitetroops, roughly 9,000 men, had the important task of guarding the person of the princes.

They were recruited from Roman citizens in Italy and served for 16 years. Eventually, the

praetorian guard would play an important role in making and deposing emperors.

The role of the princes as military commander gave rise to a title by which this ruler

eventually came to be known. When victorious, a military commander was acclaimed byhis troops as imperator. Augustus was so acclaimed on a number of occasions. Imperator

is our word for emperor. Although such a title was applied to Augustus and his

successors, Augustus still preferred to use the title princes. Not until the reign of

Vespasian 969-79) did emperor become common title for the roman ruler.


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Roman Provinces and Frontiers

During the Republic, as we have seen, the Romans had established control over a number

of overseas possessions, which we called provinces. Two praetors were chosen in 227

B.C. to govern the first provinces of Sicily and Sardinia, and two more beginning in 197for the two Spanish provinces. Eventually, a new system developed in which ex-consuls

and ex-praetors had their imperium extended as (proconsuls and propraetors) and were

then sent out as governors. Under the Republic, the senate appointed the provincialgovernors.

Augustus inaugurated a new system for governing the provinces. Certain provinces were

allotted to the princes, who assigned deputies known as legates to govern them. Theselegates were from the senatorial class and held the office as long as the emperor chose.

The remaining provinces were designated as senatorial provinces. They continued to be

ruled by proconsuls and propraetors as governors who are appointed annually by lot for

one year and reported directly to the senate. Although dual system of provincialadministration seemed to have been created, in reality the greater proconsular imperium

that had been granted to Augustus gave him the power to overrule the senatorialgovernors and hence to establish a unified imperial policy. Egypt was treated differently

from the other provinces in that the emperor considered it a personal possession ang

governed it through as equestrian prefect. Because all provincial governors, whether

imperial or senatorial provinces, now received regular salaries, there was less need for thekind of extortion that had characterized provincial administration in the late Republic. In

general, although there were still abuses, especially in the area of tax collection,

provincial administration under Augustus was more efficient than under the Republic,and provincials were better protected against abuses of power.

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