“heirs” rather than “descendants”?
Augustus had several children by his two marriages, but none of his sons survived. The throne, therefore, passed to his stepson, Tiberius, who was the first man to call himself emperor. In his youth, Tiberius had been an active and courageous military leader, fighting the German tribes, but in late middle age he was weary. He paid little attention either to military or political affairs, and imperial governance suffered accordingly. It is worth noting, however, that the military situation stayed very much in control and that there were few, if any, revolts during Tiberius’ reign.
One of the few civil disturbances was a minor matter in the Province of Judaea. Rome had been in Judaea—which equates to modern-day Israel—for almost a century, but it was during Tiberius’ reign that many Jews expressed their discontent. Some gathered together behind a popular preacher named Jesus of Nazareth, and the Roman authorities found the situation dangerous enough that they had Jesus crucified. This event seemed insignificant at the time, but it led to the birth of a whole new religion, and the Christians—or “Christ followers”—would provide the Roman Empire with many headaches.
Who was truly the worst of all Roman emperors?
Beyond doubt this was Caligula (ruled 37–41 C.E.). Named by Tiberius shortly before his death, Caligula was about thirty-two when he became emperor. A psycho pathic individual with a heart that seemed incapable of empathy, Caligula may have suffered brain damage in youth; then again, he may simply have never experienced true human kindness. In either case, he was a terrible emperor, tending entirely to his own caprice and whim, bending all the rules in order to create pleasure or amusement. Surely one of the greatest set of laughs—as well as sighs—came when Caligula brought his favorite horse into the Roman Senate and nominated it for consul (high executive) for the coming year.
Emperor Caligula is regarded by many historians as the worst ruler of Rome, abusing his power to extremes that would have been considered absurd had they not been matched by his cold-hearted ruthlessness.
Again, it is worth noting that the external boundaries of the empire did not suffer during Caligula’s reign. The imperial system was young and fresh, and there were many highly skilled and devoted leaders of the Roman provinces as well as the legions. As a result, the empire seemed to do quite well during Caligula’s depraved rule, but had he lived another decade, things might have broken down. As it was, everyone expressed relief when Caligula was killed by a member of the Praetorian Guard and the throne passed to his uncle, Claudius.
Who conquered Britain and made it Roman?
The Emperor Claudius (reigned 41–54 B.C.E.) came to the throne at the age of sixty, but he knew it was necessary to establish a military reputation; no emperor could call his reign complete if he lacked a major conquest. Claudius, therefore, led the invasion of Britain that commenced around the year 60 B.C.E.
The Britons fought just as fiercely as their great-grandparents had in the time of Julius Caesar, but the Roman military was now so formidable that it could prevail even when not led by a military genius. Claudius was a bit of a plodder, so far as military matters went, but he engineered the crossing of the Channel and watched as his generals won the battles on British (or English) soil. By about 63 C.E., the conquest of lower England was complete.
What was the Praetorian Guard?
Established during the reign of Augustus, the Guard was a special legion unto itself, composed of about 4,000 highly skilled soldiers. Augustus created it as the imperial bodyguard, but he did not foresee the many troubles it would later cause. The assassination of Caligula was the first of many instances when the Guard took matters into its own hands and its leaders believed that they had to preserve the imperial dignity: without an emperor, they had no jobs.
Which one emperor nearly brought down the imperial system?
The Emperor Nero (ruled 54–68 C.E.) was almost as great a disaster as the Emperor Caligula. During his short time on the throne, Nero focused all his attention to affairs in Italy and Greece—including entering himself in the chariot races of the Olympic Games—and far too little on the external parts of the empire.
No major threat from outside the empire emerged; rather, it was the threat posed by ambitious generals from within. Since the death of Augustus, they had never seen a truly effective emperor, and Nero was so weak—and personally conflicted—that it seemed a god-sent opportunity for revolt. When Nero died by his own hand in 69 C.E., a series of revolts and counter-revolts were set off, with the potential to destroy the center of the empire.
How did the Romans found a new dynasty?
All of Augustus’ relatives—collateral or direct—were now deceased, and a struggle for the Roman throne ensued between prominent Roman noblemen. Whoever commanded or had the allegiance of the Praetorian Guard had a major advantage in this power struggle, which resulted in no fewer than four emperors over the period of eighteen months. Nero was followed by Galba, who was overcome by Otho, who lost to Vitellius, who was then overthrown by Vespasian. Things finally began to settle down when Vespasian won battles in Italy and ascended the throne. He had no special mandate or familial connection to Augustus, but the people of Rome were desperate for peace and they soon settled down under Vespasian’s rule.
Were life and death as intricately connected in the Coliseum as we suppose?
It was a place of tremendous danger for those who provided entertainment for the imperial elite. When the Coliseum opened in the year 80 C.E., the event was commemorated by festivities that resulted in the death of 5,000 animals, many of them from North Africa. This was but the beginning, however, of the Coliseum’s long rule as the place for blood, death, and imperial circuses.
What did the Mediterranean world look like between about 100 and 160 C.E.?
Many historians have followed the lead of Edward Gibbon—author of the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire—in declaring that this half century was the most prosperous and secure period of recorded Roman history. In some ways this is true: there were no major wars in this period. The Roman legions were so powerful that any revolts were quickly stamped out. One can, however, discover the roots of future weakness even in this time of great success.
By 160 C.E., the legions were mostly composed of non-Italians; very few natives of the Italian soil wished to serve in the provinces. The leaders of those legions, too, were increasingly foreign. This was not a terrible thing, but Roman patriotism—based on allegiance to the city-state and Italian peninsula—began to wither and was replaced by a much broader loyalty to the empire as a whole, represented by the emperor. As long as the emperor was a good and practical leader, the legions would accomplish their tasks; if he was a weakling, things could go downhill quite rapidly. As it turned out, there was to be one more truly great emperor, followed by a long series of mediocre or poor ones.
How do we know so much about the Emperor Marcus Aurelius?
We know a great deal, both from what was written about him at the time and because he was a true philosopher-emperor who composed the Meditations. A lesser known fact, however, is that Aurelius—who was a secondary character in the 2000 film Gladiator—was a true warrior-emperor. From the start of his reign, the empire was attacked on its eastern and northeastern frontiers. The Parthians attacked Syria while various Germanic tribes attacked in the Danube River Basin.
Aurelius spent most of the last ten years of his reign in the Danube Basin, responding to one crisis after another. On one occasion, in a battle against the Quadi tribe, he was nearly defeated, but a thunderstorm—which all observers treated as a miracle—rescued his parched men, who rebounded to win the day. By the time of Aurelius’ death in 180 C.E., the empire was largely victorious, but it required the constant attention of a vigorous emperor.