augustus and the early empire. assassination of j. caesar suetonius, the twelve caesars (excerpt)
TRANSCRIPT
Augustus and the Early
Empire
Assassination of J. Caesar
Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars (excerpt)
Who will rule after Julius Caesar?
• Marc Antony• A brilliant soldier; J.
Caesar’s top lieutenant; popular w/ Roman populace.
• Octavian• Grandnephew & adopted
son of J. Caesar• Strengths = determination,
Caesar’s name & $$, timing, shrewdness
• Weaknesses =Unhealthy, inexperienced, young
How will Augustus avoid Caesar’s fate?
• He is clearly the dominant figure in Rome by 31 BC; and he knows Rome is close to more civil war.
• Yet he does not want to be “king” or “dictator”
• Solution: • Renovate > Innovate• Find traditional ways to cloak his power
Octavian’s solution: the Principate
• Imperator: supreme military commander• Princeps: First citizen• Pater patriae: “Father of the fatherland”• Pontifex maximus: chief priest• Tribune-for-life• Control of provincial appointments• Control of state finances• Praetorian Guard• Adoption of the name Augustus
What’s in a statue?
Cuirass = military authority
Ad locutio gesture = rhetorical authority
Cupid = familial authority (Aeneas)
Pose = pseudo-Greek
What role is Augustus assuming in each pose?
How did Augustus control Rome?
• Appearance of deferring to the Senate• Colonies of foreign soldiers and Romanization of
provinces• Traditional Roman family values/virtues (e.g., Julia)
• Religion• Deification, “Rome and Augustus”
• Sponsored poets, playwrights• Virgil, Horace (but not Ovid)
• “Bread and Circuses” (public amusement)• Gladiators, horse races, public baths
Primary Sources about Augustus
• Augustus himself
• Suetonius
• Tacitus
• DioCassius
• Archaelogical artifacts
• Law codes
• Art/Architecture
Roman Empire under Augustus
Noble, p. 176
The problem of the succession
• The problems:• the princeps was not a specific office, but a
combination of prestige, military authority, religious aura.
• Augustus outlives his adopted son Marcellus, his son-in-law Agrippa, his grandsons Lucius and Gaius, leaving him with only his stepson Tiberius.
• Romans are still opposed to hereditary monarchy.
• Solution: adopt another man as son….
Julio-Claudian Dynasty (14-68 AD)
• 14-37 CE: Tiberius (murdered by)
• 37-41: Caligula (murdered)
• 41-54: Claudius (murdered by the mother of)
• 54-68: Nero (murdered)
Pax Romana/Roman Peace(1st & 2nd c. AD)
• Five Good Emperors (96-180)
• Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius
• Silver and Golden Ages of literature
• Economic growth• Sturdy border defense
and peace• Mass citizenship• Romanization
• Language, army service, architecture, names
Roman Culture
• Sport• Gladiators, chariot racing
• Literature/History• Virgil, Horace, Tacitus, Livy
• Religion• Paganism, Imperial Religion & Deification of
Emperors, Christianity, Mystery Religions
Gladiators in RomeWhat do you already know?
Types of Gladiators
Secutor
Retiarius, & Lanista
Types of Gladiators
Bestiarus (low relief)
Thracian (mosaic)
History & Purpose of Gladiatorial Games
• Originated as funeral games (264 BC) to honor ancestors
• J. Caesar offered 320 pairs in silver armor, in 65 BC
• Held in amphitheatres, arenas, and even the Circus Maximus to allow for crowds
• “gladius” = sword• Gladiators = mix of criminals, POWs, slaves,
mercenaries. Infamis.• Oaths:
– “uri, vinciri, verberari, ferroque necari (I will endure to be burned, to be bound, to be beaten, and to be killed by the sword)
– Ave Caesar! Mortuturi te salutamus! (Hail, Caesar! We who are about to die salute you!)
Gladiators today