Bronze portrait statue, perhaps of Gaius or Lucius Caesar (Augustus' grandsons)

PAX ET PRINCEPS:

 

THE JULIO-CLAUDIANS,

 

Rulers of the early Roman Empire

 

44BCE-68CE

 

 

The Big Picture

For our purposes, Roman history falls into 3 periods:

  • 753-509 BCE KINGS
  • 509 - 27 BCE REPUBLIC
  • 27 BCE - 476 (West) or 1453 (East) CE EMPIRE

AUGUSTUS 44 BCE - 14 CE

  • 31 BCE, Battle of Actium: Augustus defeats Antony and Cleopatra and thereby brings an end to the civil wars;
  • 27 BCE, Augustus 'restores the constitution' to the people of Rome, meaning that he restores/ renovates the trappings of the Republic while consolidating power in his own hands;
  • The next serious issue is what to do when Augustus dies; how does one succeed a "princeps" whose power is pieced together from offices, titles, and honors in many political and religious spheres? Augustus failed to produce a male heir and, moreover, kept outliving his appointed heirs.

TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS 14-37 CE

  • Stepson of Augustus and pretty far down the line of Augustus' choices of heirs;
  • He was forced to divorce his own wife and marry Augustus' daughter, Julia; neither, apparently, were 'happy campers';
  • 26 CE Tiberius left Rome for voluntary exile on the island of Capri, leaving the commander of the praetorian guard, Sejanus, in charge (who, as it turned out, was conspiring against him); Tiberius' life on Capri was represented by ancient writers as a 'palace of sexual varieties',;
  • Tiberius not only killed Sejanus and his family, but also many others whom he suspected of conspiracy.
  • He also failed to produce a male heir, and was succeeded by his nephew.

GAIUS CAESAR (CALIGULA) 37-41 CE.

  • Commenced his reign with basically rational conduct, but fell ill and, according to ancient reports, subsequently became totally irrational: delusions of divinity, heavy taxation, countless executions (some just for diaplay), incest, and so forth;
  • finally his own imperial guard assassinated him;
  • He also left no male heir.

TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS 41-54 CE

  • Members of the imperial guard, sacking the palace after the assassination of Caligula, found Caligula's uncle, Claudius (a brother of Tiberius above), hiding behind the curtains;
  • He agreed to let them present him as their candidate for emperor;
  • Claudius, as depicted by ancient historians, was absent-minded, hesitant, and somewhat inept as a leader, but he did appoint freedmen to run administrative affairs, which they managed competently;
  • Claudius' only male offspring was born of his third wife who was reportedly caught in flagrante delicto so many times that she was put to death;
  • Claudius' fourth wife was his own niece, Agrippina, who persuaded him to adopt her teenage son, Nero, after which she promptly poisoned Claudius and her son succeeded him.

NERO CLAUDIUS (54-68)

  • Was described as artistic, sporting, brutal, weak, sensual, erratic, extravagant, sadistic, deranged, inclined to excess, and a matricide;
  • during the early years of his reign, Nero seems to have been restrained somewhat by the guiding hand of his tutor Seneca;
  • The senate finally declared Nero a public enemy and sentenced him to death by flogging; he however killed himself with the help of his secretary.

Note Tacitus' phrase: Pax et princeps.

IMAGES helpful for IMAGINING "Dinner with Trimalchio"

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