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History and Evolution:
By William E. Steinman:
Part 32, Early Empire:
November 3, 2003:
One problem that confounded Augustus was that of succession. He had no son and thus no heir apparent. He had the task of selecting his successor and was frustrated in that by the untimely deaths of several candidates. Reluctantly, he finally chose a nobleman, his stepson Tiberius. He moved to adopt him and in 13 conferred most of his powers to the heir. It is well that he did for Augustus died the following year at which time Tiberius became emperor.
Upon his death the senate pronounced Augustus divus, the deified one. They listed his credits, all true, as having restored peace, created a standing army, extending the frontiers, promoted standards of behavior, integrated Rome and Italy, embellished Rome, reconciled the provinces and expedited Romanization. And, if that were not enough, he maintained law and order while respecting republican traditions. He had achieved his goals. He had built a lasting constitutional government, the principate. We could hardly call it a democracy but it was constitutionally based and, for the most part, did depend on the rule of law.
Tiberius was not really up to the task set him by succession. As an emperor he was inept. His reign lasted 23 years, during which time he did nothing and managed to alienate almost everyone in the Roman Empire. He also had the rather dubious honor of reigning while Christ was crucified. He died in AD - 37 and was succeeded by Gaius usually called by his nickname Caligula.
Gaius was even less effective than his predecessor. He held the helm for about 4 years from 37 to 41. He was overbearing and careless. He spent money like a drunken sailor, murdered his detractors and humiliated the senate. He was inept in the extreme. He provoked rebellions in the territories and he was finally assassinated.
We can hardly blame the senate when they considered restoring the old republic. However, the Praetorian Guard had another plan and the senate capitulate. This Praetorian Guard was really the household guard of the emperors and had acquired considerable power under Augustus. They were not to be trifled with. At that time Claudius ascended to power.
Claudius I who ruled for some 13 years, from 41–54, was a much better emperor. He continued the overseas expansions begun by Augustus. He brought in the so called client kingdoms of Mauretania, Lycia, and Thrace. The idea behind client kingdoms was that they would eventually be annexed and become provinces without the necessity of military conquest. The annexation of Brittan was another matter. It required and invasion and considerable fighting.
Claudius also took direct control of government administration and finances, by bringing them into the imperial household. In the provinces he granted Roman citizenship and founded colonies and he brought provincials into the senate. He also improved Italy by improving roads and harbors. Even so, he was not popular. While he did much for Italy and the empire there were excesses. he murdered a few senators and his administrators were somewhat overbearing. The rumor was that he was finally murdered by his fourth wife at which time the infamous Nero succeeded him.
Nero who ran the show from 54 to 68 can only be described as a madman. His administration was marked by the brutal murders of his relatives and others who opposed him. He also presided over the great fire of Rome and the first recorded persecution of the Christians which he instigated. Under his rule, his provincial officials got out of hand and provoked uprisings in Brittan, Armenia, and Judaea. Then some of his provincial governors rebelled against him and his household guard, the Praetorians renounced him. That was too much even for a madman and he pulled his own cork, committing suicide in 68. Thus ended the so called Julio-Claudian dynasty. For his behavior the senate ordered that Nero's reign be stricken from the record.
The period from 27 BC and the rule of Augustus up to AD 192
marks what is called the early Roman Empire. In that time 17 Emperors
ruled with varying degrees of effectiveness. It is clear that
the first emperor Augustus was by far the most effective. Perhaps
the least effective would be the madman Nero. For what it is worth,
here is the list of Rome's rulers during that time.
27 BC Augustus
(Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus)
14 Tiberius
I
37 Gaius
Caesar (Caligula)
41 Claudius
I
54 Nero
68 Galba
69 Galba;
Otho, Vitellius
69 Vespasianus
79 Titus
81 Domitianus
96 Nerva
98 Trajanus
117 Hadrianus
138 Antoninus
Pius
161 Marcus
Aurelius and Lucius Verus
169 Marcus
Aurelius (alone)
180 Commodus
With the demise of Nero there came a power struggle and several men took the throne for a short time. This was the first time Rome had an Emperor who was not a nobleman. War broke out in Germany and struggle continued in Judaea. The situation stabilized under Vespasianus who was not only not a nobleman, he was not a Roman. With his two sons succeeding him their rule constituted the so called Flavian dynasty, with some good and some bad. The last of these, Domitanius was assassinated after a ten year reign of terror. His reign too was stricken from the record and damned. Messy, messy, messy!
After Domitaniuas, an elderly senator, Nerva, was raised to power. So began the reign of the so-called Antonine emperors or the five good emperors. The princeps was becoming less and less Roman. Trajanus was the first true provincial to ascend to power after Nerva died. He was a Spaniard.
Under the Antonine emperors, stability of government was reestablished. They were careful administrators and relations in Rome became genial. The atmosphere of mistrust and fear gave way. the senate was again respected and consulted. The empire was consolidated and the provinces receive better attention and less interference. Rome became cosmopolitan.
With the co-rule of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus however, cracks were beginning to appear in the Roman edifice. There were barbarian attacks on many fronts. Although they were repelled, they were harbingers of what was to come. When Lucius died Markus continued on alone. His reign was marked by continuous struggle to maintain the frontiers of empire. He died in 180 and his son Commodus came to power.
Commodus was too young and the empire went to hell again under
his rule. He did many of the same things Gaius and Nero did before
him and, of course, he was assassinated in 192. He was damned
and stricken like the other fools before him.
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