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Family In The Livian Dynasty

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In this essay I will argue that the members of an emperor's family were very important to the image and governance of the Principate as they dictated the right of succession, the Augustan image of morality, the stability of an emperor's reign and the legitimacy of a certain emperor's right to rule. The intention of this essay is not to focus solely on succession as a dynastic aspect within the Julio-Claudian period, but to give an in-depth analysis of the power that certain imperial family members held. In this way, the Julio-Claudian dynasty shall be covered exclusively, although I still recognise the importance of family within the Flavian period, so that I can focus more on imperial family members/ characters that appear in the ancient sources. I shall refer mainly to the works of Tacitus and Suetonius, whilst also referring to modern scholarship where it is applicable. Rutland refers to the idea that the history of the Principate is concerned with the succession of its members and that this power, which lay with the princeps, was being usurped via the …show more content…

Hence, Livia’s alleged power-play was mirrored by that of Agrippina the Younger in her zeal to have Nero as successor to the deceased Claudius. Suetonius provides yet more evidence of the way in which imperial women (as mothers or empresses?) jostled for power in the form of Messalina sending assassins to kill Nero so that Britannicus would inherit the Principate from his father, Claudius. Even if Suetonius’ account is fictitious, it was still considered plausible enough to be spread around as gossip as this may have reflected a very real fear that members of the imperial family were using their authority and esteem to secure positions of power for

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Agrippina the Younger’s role during the Claudius’ principate was quite simple, she was to establish a familial connection between Claudius and both the Julian and Claudian linage. The commonalities between Claudius and Agrippina resulted in a beneficial relationship that allowed her influence to increase. By being the great granddaughter of Augustus, Agrippina held a powerful position which helped legitimise the reign of Claudius, hence she was given the title Augusta with her official name on coins and inscriptions as Iulia Augusta, which conveyed the notion of being an empress. Consequently, this enforced his position as princeps, especially persuading the senate which doubted his ascension to emperor. Because of her power and influence, Agrippina had a positive relationship with the senate which brought stability between them and Claudius, thus she was given the right to use the carpentum at festivals, as well as to sit in the senate itself and discuss various matters--

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In 218 B.C.E in Rome women were in protest about a law that was passed. During the second Punic war with carthage in North Africa, Rome went through desperate circumstances. During this time the law that was passed that unsettled all the woman was the Oppian laws. This law restricted women’s use of luxury goods so to preserve resources for the war efforts. In the document 5.3, History of Rome, written by Livy , talks about the thoughts of repealing the law and how the woman felt about this.

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Nero was just sixteen when the emperor Claudius died and was named as princeps after he bribed the Praetorian guards to secure his succession. Wary of any rival to his power, he ordered the execution of Britannicus, Claudius’ son with Messalina, as well as the exile Agrippina, his own mother. Nero’s first five years of reign were generally peaceful but he would soon sink to madness after this. He had his own mother killed, became increasingly corrupt, and wasted Rome’s tax money for his vices.

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1009 Words | 5 Pages

As a result, the Julio-Claudians employed marriage-alliances and adoption with other noble families in order to secure a suitable heir. To be considered for the role of emperor, a man had to have significant managerial and manipulative abilities. It was also preferable for them to be on the Julian family side. However, Augustus did not bear a son, but instead a daughter, Julia. Augustus used Julia to secure an heir by arranging her marriages.

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In this paper I will argue that the text was intended for Christians instead of the Romans based on the way Perpetua is praised in the text and how Perpetua’s disobedience towards her father who was the paterfamilias was most shocking to the Romans. Essentially this autobiography was written for Christian’s, particularly for those who were or later

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As the family returned to power, he was dismissed and wrote what he was best known for, The Prince. The book is examined the imperfect conduct of

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In her chapter on the historiography of Roman exemplarity, Christina Shuttleworth Kraus examines this loss of power through the transition of exempla as the res gestae populi Romani to the res gestae divi Augusti (Kraus, 2). In early Roman history, exemplarity rested in the hands of popular consciousness; the citizens of Rome had the sole power of deciding which events or people to raise up to the status of exempla. This system of exemplarity that is explained in detail by Matthew Roller’s four stage model of the creation of exempla by public discourse (Roller, 216-217). However, Roller’s framework begins to collapse when Augustus intentionally influences exemplary power through his coercive Res Gestae. Rather than looking to the past for the great deeds of common people like the Sabine women or Lucretia, Roman citizens of the Augustan period had their attention directed towards the persona of one man, an exemplar in the form of an emperor.

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Essay 1 Appearances of leaders mark the end of non-hierarchical primitive society and demonstrate how different social classes form as the timeline moves forward. Once the leader realizes his superiority over the rest of population, he need something to emphasize his unique status. The initial change is his house and it gradually converts into majestic buildings that we usually call palaces now. Emperors construct and design these palaces in different purposes. They are not only beautiful architecture but also the heart of politics or economics in their countries.

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The marriage of Regilla and Herodes epitomized wealth, social class, prestige and status in Ancient Rome. Regilla was born into a wealthy family with high social connections, while her husband was a man of letter, who acquired a fortune upon the passing of his father, and well-connected in the imperial courts. Regilla’s lineage went back to prominent figures of Rome and Herodes traced his origin from “legendary kings, heroes and mythological figures of Athens.” By the time Herodes wedded Regilla he had already reached the pinnacle of his career, having served in the city of government and received an appointment from the imperial court. The arrangement of the marriage that bought these individuals together was unusual in ancient Rome given the status of Regilla’s family and having a daughter marry a foreigner from a conquered land.

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Claudius schemes and manipulates many people for many different reasons whether for his personal protection, sparing someone’s feelings, or to carry out a crime. This motives affect other characters causing them to do things that

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During the Roman Republic and Roman Empire, women were restricted to domestic life in a male-dominated society. Egypt’s capital, Alexandria, formally passed into Roman rule in 80BC , and was the greatest of the Roman provincial capitals, with a population of 300,000. In comparison, the Italian city of Pompeii had a population of only 20,000. To examine the role of women in Roman society, I will need to investigate the literature that survived from the period. This essay will compare and contrast the role of women in Alexandria and Pompeii.

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“Everyone dies, it’s just that some need a little help.” –Samuel Imlig. Although this quote is true, this quote does not apply to the situation with Caesar’s death. Caesar was murdered. He was stabbed repeatedly in the back by his former friends and allies until he drew his last shaking breath.

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