Principate

First period of the Roman Empire (27 BC – AD 284)

Not to be confused with Principality.

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The Principate was the form of imperial government of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the Dominate.[1][2] The principate was characterized by the reign of a single emperor (princeps) and an effort on the part of the early emperors, at least, to preserve the illusion of the formal continuance, in some aspects, of the Roman Republic.[3][4][5]

## Etymology and anticipations

[edit]

'Principate' is etymologically derived from the Latin word princeps, meaning chief or first, and therefore represents the political regime dominated by such a political leader, whether or not he is formally head of state or head of government. This reflects the principate emperors' assertion that they were merely "first among equals" among the citizens of Rome.

Under the Republic, the princeps senatus, traditionally the oldest or most honored member of the Senate, had the right to be heard first on any debate.[6] Scipio Aemilianus and his circle had fostered the (quasi-Platonic) idea that authority should be invested in the worthiest citizen (princeps), who would beneficently guide his peers, an ideal of the patriot statesman later taken up by Cicero.[7]

## Duration

[edit]

In a more limited and precise chronological sense, the term Principate is applied either to the entire Empire (in the sense of the post-Republican Roman state), or specifically to the earlier of the two phases of Imperial government in the ancient Roman Empire before Rome's military collapse in the West (fall of Rome) in 476 left the Byzantine Empire as sole heir. This early Principate phase began when Augustus claimed auctoritas for himself as princeps, and continued (depending on the source) up to the rule of Commodus, of Maximinus Thrax, or of Diocletian.[8]

## History

[edit]

The title, in full, of princeps senatus / princeps civitatis ("first amongst the senators" / "first amongst the citizens") was first adopted by Octavian Caesar Augustus (27 BC–AD 14), the first Roman "emperor," who chose not to reintroduce a legal monarchy. Augustus likely intended to establish political stability desperately needed after the exhausting civil wars by a de facto dictatorial regime within the constitutional framework of the Roman Republic – what Gibbon called "an absolute monarchy disguised by the forms of a commonwealth"[9] – as a more acceptable alternative to, for example, the early Roman Kingdom.

Although dynastic pretenses crept in from the start, formalizing this in a monarchic style remained politically perilous;[10] and Octavian was undoubtedly correct to work through established Republican forms to consolidate his power.[11] He began with the powers of a Roman consul, combined with those of a Tribune of the plebs; later added the role of the censor and finally became pontifex maximus as well.[12][13]

In addition to these legal powers, the principate was also characterized by the emperor being the "ultimate source of patronage".[14] This was due in part to their immense wealth, being named Pater Patriae or "father of the country"[15], and by having a monopoly on political power. To this, emperors would satisfy the senatorial class with appointments to the high offices and to the provinces, effectively removing threats to their power in Rome. As such, emperors went to great lengths to control and satisfy the needs of the army (their ultimate source of power) by proving gracious donatives to the troops upon their ascension and for special events; limiting senatorial control over the legions by way of controlling military provinces through "extraordinary military commands"; and using oaths to bind the military to the emperor personally.[16][17]

Tiberius, like Augustus, also acquired his powers piecemeal, and was proud to emphasize his place as first citizen: "a good and healthful princeps, whom you have invested with such great discretionary power, ought to be the servant of the Senate, and often of the whole citizen body".[18] Thereafter, however, the role of princeps became more institutionalized: as Dio Cassius puts it, Caligula "took in one day all the honours which Augustus had with difficulty been induced to accept".[19]

Principate under Augustus[20]

Nevertheless, under this "Principate stricto sensu", the political reality of autocratic rule by the Emperor was still scrupulously masked by forms and conventions of oligarchic self-rule inherited from the political period of the 'uncrowned' Roman Republic (509 BC–27 BC) under the motto Senatus Populusque Romanus ("The Senate and people of Rome") or SPQR. Initially, the theory implied the 'first citizen' had to earn his extraordinary position (de facto evolving to nearly absolute monarchy) by merit in the style that Augustus himself had gained the position of auctoritas.

Imperial propaganda developed a paternalistic ideology, presenting the princeps as the very incarnation of all virtues attributed to the ideal ruler (much like a Greek tyrannos earlier), such as clemency and justice, and military leadership,[21] obliging the princeps to play this designated role within Roman society, as his political insurance as well as a moral duty. What specifically was expected of the princeps seems to have varied according to the times, and the observers:[22] Tiberius, who amassed a huge surplus for the city of Rome, was criticized as a miser,[23] while his successor Caligula was criticized for his lavish spending on games and spectacles.[24]

Generally speaking, it was expected of the Emperor to be generous but not frivolous, not just as a good ruler but also with his personal fortune (as in the proverbial "bread and circuses" – panem et circenses) providing occasional public games, gladiators, chariot races and artistic shows. Large distributions of food for the public and charitable institutions also served as popularity boosters, while the construction of public works provided paid employment for the poor.

### Redefinition under Vespasian

[edit]

With the fall of the Julio-Claudian dynasty in AD 68, the principate became more formalized under the Emperor Vespasian from AD 69 onwards.[25] The position of princeps became a distinct entity within the broader – formally still republican – Roman constitution. While many of the same cultural and political expectations remained, the civilian aspect of the Augustan ideal of the princeps gradually gave way to the military role of the imperator.[26] Rule was no longer a position (even notionally) extended on the basis of merit, or auctoritas, but on a firmer basis, allowing Vespasian and future emperors to designate their own heir without those heirs having to earn the position through years of success and public favor.

### Under the Antonines

[edit]

Under the Antonine dynasty, it was standard for the Emperor to appoint a successful and politically promising individual as his successor. Though later scholars would often cite this as an ideal system in which succession to the position of princeps was determined on the basis of ability rather than heredity, that this was the intention of the emperors themselves has generally been rejected by modern scholarship.[27][28]

This period saw several firsts for the imperial office, including the first recognised period of rule by two emperors during the co-rule of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus from their accession in 161 AD until the latter's death in 169 AD, and the succession of Commodus marking the first transfer of power to a son born to a sitting emperor. Often ranked amongst the worst Roman emperors, Commodus's 12-year reign was followed by a civil war between rival generals and the final dynasty of the Principate, the Severan dynasty.

### Tetrarchy

[edit]

The autocratic elements in the Principate tended to increase over time.[29]

It was after the Crisis of the Third Century, which almost resulted in the Roman Empire's political collapse, that Diocletian firmly consolidated the trend to autocracy.[30] He replaced the one-headed principate with the Tetrarchy (c. AD 300, two Augusti ranking above two Caesares),[31] in which the vestigial pretense of the old republican forms was largely abandoned. The title of princeps disappeared, together with the concept of only one emperor. New forms of pomp and awe were deliberately used in an attempt to insulate the emperor(s) and the civil authority from the unbridled and mutinous soldiery of the mid-century.[32]

The political role of the Senate went into final eclipse,[33] no more being heard of the division by the Augustan Principate of the provinces between imperial provinces and senatorial provinces.[34] Lawyers developed a theory of the total delegation of authority into the hands of the emperor.[35]

## See also

[edit]

* Constitution of the late Roman Empire
* Constitutional reforms of Augustus
* How Rome Fell by Adrian Goldsworthy
* Roman emperor

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Loewenstein, K. (1973). The Governance of Rome (p. 370), ISBN 9789024714582. Springer Science & Business Media.
2. ^ Goldsworthy, A. (2010). How Rome Fell Death of a Superpower. (p. 443). Yale Univ Pr. "From Diocleitan onwards, emperors prefered [sic?] to be called dominus, which meant lord or master"
3. ^ "Principate – government". britannica.com. Archived from the original on 2016-10-11.
4. ^ A history of Rome, M. Cary & H.H. Scullard, ISBN 0333278305[page needed]
5. ^ SPQR; Mary Beard, ISBN 9781846683800[page needed]
6. ^ O Seyffeert, A Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (London 1891) p. 516
7. ^ H J Rose, A Handbook of Latin Literature (Methuen 1967) pp. 99, 235
8. ^ Goldsworthy, A. (2010). How Rome Fell Death of a Superpower. (pp. 157–173). Yale Univ Pr. See for a general overview of Diocletian reforms at the provincial, political, and economic levels, which differed from the principate
9. ^ D Wormersley ed, Abridged Decline and Fall (Penguin 2005) p. 73
10. ^ J Burrow, A History of Histories (Penguin 2007) pp. 124–125
11. ^ J Boardman ed. The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) p. 538
12. ^ D Wormersley ed, Abridged Decline and Fall (Penguin 2005) pp. 70–71
13. ^ Cassius, D. (1987). The Roman history : the reign of Augustus (I. Scott-Kilvert, Trans.; pp. 140–142). Penguin Books.
14. ^ Goldsworthy, A. (2010). How Rome Fell Death of a Superpower. (pp. 45–46). Yale Univ Pr.
15. ^ Adrian Keith Goldsworthy. (2014). Augustus : first emperor of Rome (pp. 395–396). Yale University Press.
16. ^ Bleicken, J. (2015). Augustus (A. Bell, Trans.; pp. 496–503). Penguin UK. See for emperors monopoly on military power
17. ^ Bleicken, J. (2015). Augustus (A. Bell, Trans.; pp. 286- 290). Penguin UK. See for emperors justification for holding "extraordinary military command was still needed" and relationship between imperial and senatorial provinces.
18. ^ Gaius Tranquillus Suetonius. (2006). The Twelve Caesars (p. 121). Penguin
19. ^ Cassius Dio, Cary, E., & Herbert Baldwin Foster. (1924). Dio’s Roman History (p. 268). Harvard University Press; London.
20. ^ Digital Reproduction of diagram found in The Anchor Atlas of World History, Vol. 1 (From the Stone Age to the Eve of the French Revolution) Paperback – December 17, 1974 by Werner Hilgemann, Hermann Kinder, Ernest A. Menze (Translator), Harald Bukor (Cartographer), Ruth Bukor (Cartographer)
21. ^ C Edwards Intro, Lives of the Caesars (OUP 2000) p. xxi
22. ^ C Edwards Intro, Lives of the Caesars (OUP 2000) pp. xxiii–xxv
23. ^ Gaius Tranquillus Suetonius, Graves, R., & Grant, M. (2006). The Twelve Caesars (pp. 129–130). Penguin.
24. ^ Gaius Tranquillus Suetonius, Graves, R., & Grant, M. (2006). The Twelve Caesars (pp. 165–167). Penguin.
25. ^ J Boardman ed, The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) p. 561
26. ^ J Boardman ed, The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) pp. 561, 573
27. ^ Geer, Russel Mortimer (1936). "Second Thoughts on the Imperial Succession from Nerva to Commodus". Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association. 67: 47–54\. doi:10.2307/283226. ISSN 0065-9711. JSTOR 283226. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
28. ^ Grainger, John D. (30 June 2020). The Roman Imperial Succession. Pen and Sword History. ISBN 978-1-5267-6605-2. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
29. ^ H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 25
30. ^ H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 25
31. ^ H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 27
32. ^ H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 25
33. ^ J Boardman ed. The Oxford History of the Classical World (1991) p. 808
34. ^ H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 29
35. ^ H M Gwatkin ed., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol I (1924) p. 28

## Sources

[edit]

* Alston, Richard. 1998. Aspects of Roman History. AD 14–117. London: Routledge.
* Aparicio Pérez, Antonio. 2009. “Taxation in Times of the Principate.” Gerión 27:1: 207–217.
* Bleicken, J. (2015). Augustus (A. Bell, Trans.; pp. 496–503). Penguin UK.
* Cassius Dio, Cary, E., & Herbert Baldwin Foster. (1924). Dio’s Roman History. Harvard University Press; London.
* Flaig, Egon. 2011. “The Transition from Republic to Principate: Loss of Legitimacy, Revolution, and Acceptance.” In The Roman Empire in Context: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, Edited by Jóhann Páll Arnason and Kurt A. Raaflaub. Ancient World, 67–84. Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell.
* Gallia, Andrew B. 2012. Remembering the Roman Republic: Culture, Politics and History under the Principate. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press.
* Gibson, A. G. G., ed. 2013. The Julio-Claudian Succession: Reality and Perception of the Augustan model. Mnemosyne. Supplements; 349. Leiden: Brill.
* Goldsworthy, A. (2014). Augustus : first emperor of Rome. Yale University Press.
* Goldsworthy, A. (2010). How Rome Fell Death of a Superpower. Yale Univ Pr.
* Harlow, Mary and Laurence, Ray. 2017. “Augustus Senex: Old Age and the Remaking of the Principate.” Greece and Rome 64.2: 115–131.
* Kousser, Rachel Meredith. 2005. “From Conquest to Civilization: The Rhetoric of Imperialism in the Early Principate.” In A Tall Order: Writing the Social History of the Ancient World: Essays in Honor of William V. Harris, Edited by Jean-Jacques Aubert and Zsuzsanna Várhelyi. Beiträge zur Altertumskunde; 216, 185–202. München: Saur.
* Melounová, Markéta. 2012. “Trials with Religious and Political Charges from the Principate to the Dominate.” Series archaeologica et classica 17.2: 117–130.
* Raaflaub, Kurt A, Mark Toher, and G. W Bowersock. 1990. Between Republic and Empire: Interpretations of Augustus and His Principate. Berkeley: University of California Press.
* Gaius Tranquillus Suetonius, Graves, R., & Grant, M. (2006). The Twelve Caesars. Penguin.
* Williams, Kathryn Frances. 2009. “Tacitus' Germanicus and the Principate.” Latomus 68.1: 117–130.

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