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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