ipl-logo

The Principate: History Of Military Dictatorship

1432 Words6 Pages

In this essay I will argue that the Principate is a history of military dictatorships insofar as certain emperors seize power via military means or emphasise a connexion to the army. I have chosen to define military dictatorship as a form of governance which relies on the usurpation of power by means of war, assassination and the consolidation of that power by the founding of dynasties which are, in essence, based around the current princeps’ choice of electing their own successors. Furthermore, I shall analyse emperors via the themes, bread and circuses, the army and Praetorian Guard, and accession: defeat and adoption.
The first theme I shall look at is the army and Praetorian Guard. Augustus’ Res Gestae says that he had around 500,000 Roman …show more content…

Suetonius also mentions that the plebs pelted Claudius with stale bread during a particular grain shortage. However, I question both the veracity and logicality of throwing any form of food; after all, stale bread must surely still be edible? Thus, I am of the opinion that Suetonius has rather embellished this tale without actually analysing the reality of the plebs’ situation. Rickman mentions that when grain was lacking in Commodus’ reign, there was a special ‘Classis Africana’ which would convey the grain to Rome. Indeed, this strongly suggests that failure to provide the corn dole in Rome was something that would have really harmed an emperor’s image; it was better to form an entire fleet simply to ship corn than it was to lose the people’s …show more content…

This would have been an important part of Septimius’ approach to governance as a beneficent image would aide in legitimising the Severan Dynasty. In contrast, the story of Tiberius and the architect of unbreakable glass is recounted by both Pliny and Petronius who state that the architect was killed because Tiberius feared unbreakable glass would somehow put the common craftsmen out of work. Thus, one can see that principes maintained order by making sure that the people were content, any innovation that threatened that content needed to be removed. In this way, an emperor could win the favour of the populace by providing amenities which made him appear as the ultimate patron of the roman

Show More
Related

Roman Government Dbq Analysis

111 Words | 1 Pages

Roman citizens had come to consideration that they, indeed, did have a poor government. The Roman government gave an unjust life to people based on their social rank (Document E). This led to the citizens not appreciating the government as well as the Empire. Most of the emperors in Rome were assassinated so it gives the citizens the intention that if you did not like the emperor you can just kill them (Document A).This tells the reader that it was hard to govern Rome because they constantly kept replacing emperors. Considering that Rome did not have a stable ruling system, citizens of Rome began to doubt and not depend on their government.

Read More

Roman Empire Dbq Essay

598 Words | 3 Pages

This shows that one of the main reasons that led to the fall of the Roman empire was because of their financial strains. Because of this, they weren’t able to recruit people to fight for them in wars, which overtime caused them to lose wars.

Read More

How Far Did Tiberius Gracachus Influence The Government

1226 Words | 5 Pages

Sallust, a highly regarded Roman historian, commented that “…fear of its enemies preserved the food morals of the state, but when the people were relived of this fear, the favourite vices of prosperity-licence and pride-appeared as a natural consequence”. This is corroborated by Florus, a criticized Roman historian and poet “The next hundred years were unhappy and deplorable because of internal calamities. The resources and wealth gained in our conquests spoiled the morals of the age and ruined the state, which was engulfed in its own vices as in a common sewer”. Both Sallust and Florus explain how Tiberius’ death caused the senate to resort to violence in order to keep their power. Consequently, the peace in Rome was disturbed and eventually led to the fall of Rome.

Read More

Fall Of Rome Dbq Essay

617 Words | 3 Pages

In this essay the reason for Rome’s fall will be identified and why they caused Rome’s downfall. The primary reasons for the fall of Rome are military problems, untrustworthy government/injustice, and natural disasters/diseases. One of the reasons Rome fell is due to the fact Rome had multiple Military problems. According to Document B “because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned, the customary armor began to seem heavy since the soldiers rarely ever wore it” (Doc B). Also according to Document B, “soldiers fought the Goths without any protection for chest and head and were often beaten by archers” (Doc B).

Read More

Analysis Of Liberty Exists In Proportion To Wholesome Restraint By Daniel Webster

441 Words | 2 Pages

God’s people were warned again and again by the prophets to stop sinning – to restrain their greed and lusts – or the Lord would send them into captivity. This dramatic result of the total loss of liberty occurred as a result of a total lack of restraint vividly explicates the truth. Tacitus confirms the wisdom of Daniel Webster when he writes The Annals of Imperial Rome, Chapter 6, “Corruption reached its climax, and legislation

Read More

Otto Von Bismarck Dbq

662 Words | 3 Pages

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

Read More

Exemplarity In Roman Literature

1631 Words | 7 Pages

The first stage in the formation of exempla according to Roller is the performance of an action in the presence of others, yet Augustus’ good deeds in the Res Gestae blatantly fall outside of this criterion. Rather than allow the public to directly view his actions, Augustus decided for himself which sections of his history he would reveal to Romans. Augustus’ selective whitewashing of the accomplishments that he chose to display in the Res Gestae represents the first step in his exploitation of exemplarity to exercise his concealed authority. In order to translate these deeds into exempla, Roller sets forth that the public must judge an action either good or bad in terms of a shared set of values (Roller, 216). Again, Augustus’ writing of the Res Gestae breaks from the application of this framework.

Read More

Explain Why Did Niccolo Machiavelli Believe Princedoms

268 Words | 2 Pages

Principalities are territories or states ruled over by a prince that constitute some of the strongest and weakest kingdoms through the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. All of which, Machiavelli states, need the prince to reside among his people and trust in his own wit and strength to maintain power. However, hereditary, civic, and ecclesiastical principalities differ in how the prince rose to power and have separate secondary methods of sustaining power. Hereditary principalities have been ruled by one family for several generations and are much easier to manage than

Read More

The Myth Of Metals-The Noble Lie By Socrates

1674 Words | 7 Pages

Within Book III, the question of how to choose their rulers is brought to the attention of both Socrates and our interlocutor – Glaucon. They discuss the best methods for this selection and what a good ruler should and should not be. This dialogue opens the discussion of finding a falsehood that can persuade even rulers and possibly create a better city, leading to the usage of the Myth of Metals – the Noble Lie. Glaucon at first immediately agrees with Socrates’ point that guardians must believe they will always have to do and discern what is good for the city and never try to do the opposite.

Read More

Palaces In The Forbidden City: Versailles And Forbidden City

814 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More

Power In The French Revolution

1032 Words | 5 Pages

Power, and the way it is distributed, has changed over the years. The democratic system seen today in most 1st world countries which embodies the motif of the common man having power over his own destiny is a stark contrast to the despotisms, empires, and monarchies of the past. The greatest upheaval of this old system happened in the waning years of the 18th century, with the French peasantry throwing off their heavy yokes burdened upon them by their greedy and unqualified royal masters and becoming the masters of their own destiny (by appointing for themselves an emperor instead of a king). What happened in those years long past still echoes today as the model method for overthrowing oppression and taking ownership of one’s own destiny from the selfish clutches that they first had been stricken to.

Read More

Ambition In Julius Caesar

896 Words | 4 Pages

Ineligible citizens were taking from grain stocks intended for poorer citizens and to address this fraud, Caesar issued a census. To spread Rome’s influence, Caesar sent, according to Suetonius (The Lives of Caesars XLII.89) “eighty thousand citizens” to establish colonies abroad and to combat the subsequent depopulation of Rome, a decree was issued by Caesar that men between twenty and forty were not allowed to travel for longer than three years unless serving in the army (Freeman 2008:336-8). Caesar also made strides in internationalising Rome by extending citizenship to professionals who had settled in Rome thus expanding Rome’s middle class. By dismissing members of the senatorial order found guilty of extortion, Caesar undertook to reorganise the senate and as such “…enrolled additional patricians, and increased the number of praetors, aediles, and quaestors, as well as of the minor officials…” (Suetonius The Lives of Caesars

Read More

Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire Analysis

1187 Words | 5 Pages

Once again, it can be seen, that this explanatory approach was drawn from Montesquieu's model, which encouraged Gibbon to speculate about sociological and political-scientific contexts. Nevertheless, his style in this chapter remains narrative and even if he makes excurses on the topics mentioned, he returns to his focus. He illuminates the named characters, by individual, which means they begin with an exposition, after which the character of each emperor and his rivals is presented. This is followed by a description of the most important events, an evaluation of the Emperor and of his opponents, which is rounded off by a final assessment.

Read More

Fall Of The Roman Republic Essay

1512 Words | 7 Pages

It seems that the fall of the Roman Republic was not a singular event that occurred instantaneously, but rather a long process that saw the increasing use of methods outside of Republican institutions to settle conflicts between members of the aristocracy over political power. Even as the Roman government transitioned form Kingdom to Republic and then to Empire, the competition between aristocratic families remained a relative constant in across the centuries. So too has the desire to mythologize the past. The romans attributed both the fall of the Kingdom of Rome and the fall of the Roman Republic to moral rot, while a more reasonable assessment might place the blame on a dissatisfied and competitive elite class and an inefficient and unresponsive governmental system that was unwilling or unable to address their concerns. In much the same way, modern observers of the Roman Republic have tended to mythologize the fall of the Republic in the service of creating a moral narrative about the unconscionable tyranny of Cesar and the righteousness of the Senate, or whatever alternative narrative is befitting of the historical moment and audience.

Read More

Domus Aurea Vs Colosseum

1047 Words | 5 Pages

Rome was destroyed by the Great Fire to construct the Domus Aurea, while that was then destroyed to construct other places including the Colosseum, which in turn, took out many animal and human populations. Both emperors wanted to show power but just in different ways, just like Nero, the Colosseum took advantage of slaves. The Domus Aurea was a way for Nero to hold his power, keep it to himself and live how he wanted while draining government money and ignoring the poor community. While, “the Colosseum was a monument extolling the traditional male virtues of courage (virtus), discipline (disciplina) and skill at arms (ars militaris)… Vespasian was trying to re-instill into the ruling classes of Rome the traditional military virtues and traditions which had made Rome triumphant…while the Colosseum was not a monument to deprave, it was a testimony to the power and stability of the social order of Roman society and position if military virtues within that.”

Read More

More about The Principate: History Of Military Dictatorship

Related Topics

Open Document