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The Principate of Augustus Caesar

p Unlike Caesar his adopted father, Octavian strove to minimise the monarchic aspects of his power. He was a man of extreme caution and thrift, and referred to himself simply as "the first among equals" (primus inter pares) or “Princeps”, since his name stood first on the list of senators. The political structure of the Roman state which took shape during Augustus Caesar’s reign and which lasted throughout the early period of the Empire was called the Principate.

p The Principate can be defined as a monarchy with the appearance of a republic. The Senate and all the republican state offices were preserved. Furthermore, Octavian demonstrated particular respect for the senators and had himself elected consul thirteen times. His approach to the pro-consuls and tribunes was similar and he took upon himself the office of high priest and adopted the honorary title of "Father of the Fatherland”. Thus this restoration of the republican state structure was strictly formal since all state offices were concentrated in one man’s hands. In addition to all this Augustus Caesar was declared commanderin-chief of the armed forces, and the traditional military title of imperator (Emperor) was included in his list of titles and names.

Under Augustus the Popular Assembly was gradually deprived of its significance. Augustus Caesar’s policy with regard to the plebs can be summed up in the words "bread and circuses"—in other words, free bread was frequently distributed and lavish games and entertainments laid on as sops to the populace, while every effort was made to prevent them from participating in political life. Augustus drew his main support from the great landowners, not only of Rome but of the whole of Italy and from the Roman army.

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p Augustus Caesar introduced a number of measures to consolidate the system of slavery. A law was passed decreeing that in the event of a slave-owner’s murder all the slaves of his household would be executed. Augustus also limited the number of slaves which could be granted their freedom and forbade the admission of freed slaves to the higher estates of society. As for the army, after the civil wars had come to an end Augustus cut down the number of legions considerably and set up the so-called Praetorian Guard, troops with special privileges who made up the Princeps’ utterly reliable personal bodyguard.

p Augustus Caesar’s foreign policy was highly cautious. He preferred to extend Rome’s power by means of diplomatic negotiations rather than by war. In this way he succeeded in gaining control of Armenia and the Kingdom of the Bosporus. Roman penetration into Germany was at first fairly successful, until an uprising of the Germanic tribes took place. In the year 9 A.D. the insurgent tribes dealt a crushing blow to the Roman troops at the battle of Teutoburger Wald.

Augustus Caesar was supreme ruler of the Roman Empire for 45 years. He ordained that imperial power should be made hereditary, and when he died in the year 14 A.D. he was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius.

The Golden Age of Roman Literature

p Augustus’ reign coincided with the Golden Age of Roman literature. In this context mention should first be made of Virgil (Publius Virgilius Maro, 70-19 B.C.), who wrote the Bucolics—a cycle of ten poems which laud the beauties of nature and the merits of country life, the Georgics, a poem of agricultural precepts and a work still more famous than the aforementioned, the Aeneid, an epic poem in 12 books modelled on Homer. The Aeneid tells the story of the legendary ancestor of the Julian line from which Julius Caesar and Augustus were descended. Virgil’s poem represents an artificial epos since it is based on myths and legends; its true significance is to be found in the thinly masked eulogy of Augustus Caesar as a man and ruler.

p Another outstanding poet of this era was Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus, 65-8 B.C.), author of Satires, Epodes, Odes and Epistles. Horace was essentially a lyric poet, although in a number of his works a marked polemical strain is to be observed and like Virgil he sang the praises of Augustus. His famous poem Exegi monumentum (The Monument) has given rise to a whole crop of imitations even in modern times.

p The third great poet of this period was Ovid (Publius Ovidius 114 115 Naso, 43 B.C.-17 A.D.). His early works consisted mainly of love poetry. The most famous of his poems are Metamorphoses a poetic rendering of various myths, and Fasti in which ancient legends are arranged in the form of a Roman calendar including all the national holidays and festivals. In the year SAD. for reasons which have not come down to us Ovid was exiled to a distant part of the empire where he ended his days. The works Instia and Epistulae ex Ponto date from this period of his life.

p In Roman scholarship of this period one of the most noteworthy figures was the historian Livy (Titus Livius, 59 B.C.-17 AD.), author of a voluminous history of Rome in 142 books entitled Ab urbe condita libri, which eulogised the city’s heroic past. Another outstanding figure was the scholar Pliny the Elder (first century A.D.) whose writings included the celebrated Historia Natuialis, in which he touched on various fields of the natural sciencescosmography, botany, zoology, mineralogy, etc.

During the reign of Augustus architecture and the fine arts also flowered. The Roman forum (the central square) was icbuilt and a number of civic buildings and temples, including the famous Ara Facis Augustae (Altar of Peace), were erected. Augustus himself was to point out on several occasions that he began his reign m a city of brick and left behind him a city of marble. Indeed, during his reign Rome grew considerably and gradually began to look more and more like the capital of a great empire.

The Roman Empire in the First Century A.D.

p During the first century A.D. Rome was ruled over by emperors of the Julio-Claudian line, the most famous of whom was Nero (54-68 A.D.), a perverted, cruel character, responsible for the murder of his own brother and mother. Nero had no time for the Senate, and had many of the senators executed, making no effort to hide his despotic leanings. During his reign enormous sums were spent on the upkeep of the imperial court and he and his favourites lived in unprecedented luxury. Nero had a great love for music and singing, used to appear on the stage and even made a tour of Greece giving musical performances. In the year 64, an enormous fire broke out in Rome which lasted a whole week and laid waste 10 of the city’s 14 districts. Rumours ciiculated among the populace to the effect that Nero himself had set the city^on fire so as to be able to enjoy a rare spectacle. The emperor’s cruelty and his macabre whims eventually provoked a revolt. The Praetorian Guard betrayed him and Nero was obliged to commit suicide. Before his death he is reputed to have exclaimed: "What an artist dies with me!”

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p With the support of his legions, Vespasian took power after Nero and founded the Flavian dynasty. Vespasian, who reigned from 69 to 79 A.D. had first made a name for himself as a military leader during the suppression of the revolt in Judaea which had broken out during the reign of Nero and lasted from 66 to 70 A.D. Vespasian was followed by his two sons, Titus and Domitian. During Titus’ reign Mount Vesuvius erupted submerging the two towns of Pompey and Herculaneum in lava. These towns have since been excavated and have enabled us to gain a fairly clear picture of the life and customs of small towns of the Roman Empire.

Under the Flavian dynasty important changes began to take place in the Roman state. The emperors came to rely more and more on the provincial nobility and make room for an increasing number of its representatives in the Senate. In this way the major landowners not only of Rome and Italy but of the empire as a whole came to constitute the main bastion of imperial power.

The Roman Empire in the Second Century A.D.

p In the second century A.D. the Roman Empire was ruled over by the Antonine dynasty. The most celebrated members of this dynasty were Trajan (98-117), in whose reign Rome made her last territorial acquisitions (the provinces of Dacia, Arabia, Armenia and Mesopotamia), Hadrian (117-138), who instead of seeking new conquests concentrated his attention on developing the administrative and bureaucratic apparatus necessary for the control of such an enormous empire, and finally Marcus Aurelius (161-180), famous for his philosophical writings. During the latter’s reign the first signs of crisis appeared in the empire along •with pressure from the barbarian peoples on the borders.

p The second century is regarded as the Golden Age of the Roman Empire. It was the period of the empire’s maximum territorial expansion. Its frontiers stretched from Scotland in the North to the Nile cataracts in the South, and from the shores of the Atlantic in the West to the Persian Gulf in the East.

p However, the nature of the Roman state was not determined by these external factors alone. The society based on slave-holding had reached the peak of its development by this time. Most of the landed estates and craft industries were geared to a market economy and internal and external trade flourished. As a result, the slave-owners strove to squeeze all the profit they could out of their slaves, and did not refrain from using the most bestial forms of exploitation. The lot of the slaves was exceedingly cruel. For the tiniest misdemeanour they were incarcerated in 117 special prisons which existed on every estate, were made to work in fetters, beaten and put to death. The slaves were held in subjection by means of overt terror. On one occasion a noble Roman was killed by his slave: in accordance with the law introduced, as noted above, during the reign of Augustus, all his town slaves —in this case there were 400 of them—were liable for the death penalty. Although there was a likelihood that the people of Rome, indignant at this cruel measure, might rise up in protest, the sentence was nevertheless carried out and all 400 of the slaves were put to death.

p The heyday of the Roman Empire was also marked by economic advances in the provinces and particularly in urban life there. In the towns of the western provinces (Gaul, Spain, etc.) there appeared numerous traders and artisans, united in collegiae, which served not only local trading centres but the most far-flung parts of the empire. In the East, trading also made important strides forward in Asia Minor and Syria. Furthermore, regular trade links were established with Arabia and India, and later even with China. From these sources came spices, perfumes, ivory and silk.

p As a result of the new and expanding trade routes, many new towns were set up in places where detachments of the Roman army were stationed for lengthy periods. Various old towns also began to flourish at this time as well. As a rule, the town centres in the provinces enjoyed a limited degree of autonomy, having their own senates and officials.

However, the common people in the provinces chafed under the hardships of Roman rule. Land was taken away from the local peasants and given to the Roman settlers, while the former were more often than not thrown into debt slavery. The population in the provinces was subject to heavy taxation; military requisitioning was also a frequent practice. These factors combined lay behind the major uprisings which took place in some of the provinces, such as Gaul, Britain, and Africa in the first century, and Palestine in the second century. However, the Roman Empire at that time was still sufficiently strong to quell these movements, which did not represent a serious threat to its centralised power.