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180-478: Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( / t aɪ ˈ b ɪər i ə s / ty- BEER -ee-əs ; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus , the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Claudius Nero and his wife, Livia Drusilla . In 38 BC, Tiberius's mother divorced his father and married Augustus. Following

360-458: A patrician when he was adopted into the gens Julia . By adopting the role of a tribune, Augustus was presenting himself as the representative of the common man and the protector of democracy. As always, this was not a sudden grant of power; Augustus had been receiving several powers related to the tribunes, such as sacrosanctity , since 36 BC. With this powers, he could veto any act or proposal of any magistrate, propose laws and convoke

540-608: A theocracy . According to George Ostrogorsky , "the absolute power of the Roman emperor was further increased with the advent of Christian ideas". This became more evident after the Muslim conquests of the 7th century, which gave Byzantine imperialism a new sense of purpose. The emperor was the subject of a series of rites and ceremonies, including a formal coronation performed by the Patriarch of Constantinople . The Byzantine state

720-628: A "public enemy", and did influence in the succession of emperors. Following the murder of Domitian in AD 96, the Senate declared Nerva , one of their own, as the new emperor. His "dynasty", the Antonine , continued the adoptive system until the reign of Marcus Aurelius (r. 161–180). Marcus was the first emperor to rule alongside other emperors, first with his adoptive brother Lucius Verus , who succeeded jointly with him, and later with his son Commodus , who

900-466: A 50-year period that almost saw the end of the Roman Empire. The last vestiges of Republicanism were lost in the ensuing anarchy. In 238, the Senate attempted to regain power by proclaiming Pupienus and Balbinus as their own emperors (the first time since Nerva ). They managed to usurp power from Maximinus Thrax , but they were killed within two months. With the rise of the "soldier emperors",

1080-475: A Roman client state and end the threat it posed on the Roman- Parthian border. Augustus was able to reach a compromise whereby the standards were returned, and Armenia remained a neutral territory between the two powers. Tiberius married Vipsania Agrippina , the daughter of Augustus's close friend and most famed general, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa . He was appointed to the position of praetor , and

1260-421: A boar with a javelin to open soldiers' games, which severely limited his mobility in his final days. Since the 20th century, much scholarship has been dedicated to Tiberius's psychological profile. Modern assessments tend to agree that he likely suffered from lifelong major depressive disorder . Additionally, while wine consumption was a regular part of Roman life, contemporary sources note he consumed more than

1440-506: A book-length psychological assessment of the Emperor, which further argued he suffered from some kind of anxiety disorder . Had he died before AD 23, he might have been hailed as an exemplary ruler. Despite the overwhelmingly negative characterisation left by Roman historians, Tiberius left the imperial treasury with nearly 3 billion sesterces upon his death. Rather than embark on costly campaigns of conquest, he chose to strengthen

1620-546: A court title bestowed to prominent figures of the government, and lost even more relevance after the creation of the title sebastokrator by Alexios I Komnenos . Despite this, its regular use by earlier emperors led to the name becoming synonym with "emperor" in certain regions. Several countries use Caesar as the origin of their word for "emperor", like Kaiser in Germany and Tsar in Bulgaria and Russia . After

1800-562: A difficult, resentful relationship with the Senate and suspected many plots against him. Nevertheless, he proved to be an effective and efficient administrator. After the deaths of his nephew Germanicus in AD 19 and his son Drusus in 23, Tiberius became reclusive and aloof. In 26 he removed himself from Rome and left administration largely in the hands of his ambitious praetorian prefect Sejanus , whom he later had executed for treason, and then Sejanus's replacement, Macro . When Tiberius died, he

1980-544: A family name ( nomen ), styling himself as Imp. Caesar instead of Imp. Julius Caesar . However, the nomen was still inherited by women (such as Julia the Younger ) and appear in some inscriptions. After the death of Caligula , Augustus' great-grandson, his uncle Claudius was proclaimed emperor. He was not an official member of the Julia gens , but he was the grandson of Octavia , Augustus' sister, and thus still part of

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2160-630: A herald read them to the crowd from the Rostra. At the culmination of the process, the tribes were each called up to the templum on the Rostra to deliver their votes. After about 145 BC, the voting population of Rome grew too large for the Comitium, and tribal assemblies were then held at the opposite end of the Forum around the Temple of Castor, the steps of which served as an informal Rostra. The Rostra

2340-556: A monarch. For the first three hundred years of Roman emperors, efforts were made to portray the emperors as leaders of the Republic, fearing any association with the kings who ruled Rome prior to the Republic. From Diocletian , whose reformed tetrarchy divided the position into one emperor in the West and one in the East , emperors ruled in an openly monarchic style. Although succession

2520-473: A new caesar . Each pair ruled over a half of the Empire, which led to the creation of a Western and Eastern Roman Empire , a division that eventually became permanent. This division had already a precedent in the joint rule of Valerian / Gallienus and Carus / Carinus . Diocletian justified his rule not by military power, but by claiming divine right . He imitated Oriental divine kingship and encouraged

2700-405: A parapet; the access to it being by two flights of steps, one on each side. It fronted towards the Comitium, but later speakers often faced in the opposite direction to address larger audiences in the Forum. The Rostra Vetera's form has been in all the main points preserved in the ambones, or circular pulpits, of the most ancient churches, which also had two flights of steps leading up to them, one on

2880-594: A part. Tacitus understood this to be Tiberius's innermost reason for moving to Rhodes, a reflection of his hatred of Julia and his longing for Vipsania. Tiberius, forbidden to see the woman he loved, found himself married to a woman he loathed, and publicly humiliated by her nighttime escapades in the Roman Forum . Whatever Tiberius's motives, his withdrawal was almost disastrous for Augustus's succession plans. Gaius and Lucius were still in their early teens, and Augustus, now 57 years old, had no immediate successor. There

3060-493: A picture of how Tiberius was perceived by the Roman senatorial class, and what his impact on the Principate was during his 23 years of rule. The affair of Sejanus and the final years of treason trials permanently damaged Tiberius's image and reputation. After Sejanus's fall, Tiberius's withdrawal from Rome was complete; the empire continued to run under the inertia of the bureaucracy established by Augustus, rather than through

3240-457: A pillow. Seneca the Elder also reports Tiberius having died a natural death. According to Cassius Dio , Caligula, fearing that the emperor would recover, refused Tiberius's requests for food, insisting that he needed warmth, not food; then, assisted by Macro, he smothered the emperor in his bedclothes. Neither Josephus, Pliny, nor Philo relate the story of Tiberius's suffocation, stating simply

3420-590: A podium for a speaker is directly derived from the use of the term "Rostra". One stands in front of a Rostrum and one stands upon the Rostra . While, eventually, there were many rostra within the city of Rome and its republic and empire, then, as now, "Rostra" alone refers to a specific structure. Before the Forum Romanum , the Comitium was the first designated spot for all political and judicial activity and

3600-548: A replacement. In AD 26, Tiberius moved to an imperial villa-complex he had inherited from Augustus, on the island of Capri . It was just off the coast of Campania, which was a traditional holiday retreat for Rome's upper classes, particularly those who valued cultured leisure ( otium ) and a Hellenised lifestyle. Lucius Aelius Sejanus had served the imperial family for almost twenty years when he became Praetorian Prefect in AD ;15. As Tiberius became more embittered with

3780-757: A rival lineage of Roman emperors in western Europe, the Holy Roman Emperors , which ruled the Holy Roman Empire for most of the period between 800 and 1806. These emperors were never recognized in Constantinople and their coronations resulted in the medieval problem of two emperors . The last Eastern emperor was Constantine XI Palaiologos , who died during the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. After conquering

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3960-406: A series of purge trials of Senators and wealthy equestrians in the city of Rome, removing those capable of opposing his power as well as extending the imperial (and his own) treasury. Germanicus's widow Agrippina the Elder and two of her sons, Nero Julius Caesar and Drusus Caesar were arrested and exiled in AD 30 and later all died in suspicious circumstances. In Sejanus's purge of Agrippina

4140-431: A single, abstract position that was symbolized by his sacred title of augustus . The legal authority of the emperor derived from an extraordinary concentration of individual powers and offices that were extant in the Republic and developed under Augustus and later rulers, rather than from a new political office. Under the Republic, these powers would have been split between several people, who would each exercise them with

4320-514: A symbolic date, as the Republic had essentially disappeared many years earlier. Ancient writers often ignore the legal implications of Augustus' reforms and simply write that he "ruled" Rome following the murder of Caesar, or that he "ruled alone" after the death of Mark Antony. Most Romans thus simply saw the "emperor" as the individual that ruled the state, with no specific title or office attached to him. Augustus actively prepared his adopted son Tiberius to be his successor and pleaded his case to

4500-409: A tenure of ten years. This limitation was only superficial, as he could renew his powers indefinitely. In addition, the Senate awarded him the appellation of augustus ("elevated"). The honorific itself held no legal meaning, but it denoted that Octavian (henceforth Augustus ) now approached divinity, and its adoption by his successors made it the de facto main title of the emperor. He also received

4680-477: A young man, he was considered attractive by Roman beauty standards. Even in adulthood, he was prone to severe acne outbreaks. He wore his hair cut short at the front and sides but long in the back so it covered the nape of his neck in a style similar to the mullet , which Suetonius claims was a family tradition of the Claudian gens. This assertion is confirmed by busts of other Claudian men, who were depicted with

4860-482: Is "not bound by laws", and that any previous act was retroactively considered legitimate. There is no mention of imperium nor tribunicia potestas , although these powers were probably given in the earlier clauses. There is also no mention of any "imperial office", and the title of "emperor" is never used. The imperial titles are treated as inseparable of the person, which is reflected in the name Imperator Caesar Vespasianus Augustus . This Lex sometimes related to

5040-481: Is during this time that the question of Augustus's heir became most acute, and while Augustus had seemed to indicate that Agrippa and Marcellus would carry on his position in the event of his death, the ambiguity of succession became Augustus's chief problem. In response, a series of potential heirs seem to have been selected, among them Tiberius and his brother Drusus. In 24 BC, at the age of seventeen, Tiberius entered politics under Augustus's direction, receiving

5220-561: Is known as the Dominate , derived from the title dominus ("lord") adopted by Diocletian . During his rule, the emperor became an absolute ruler and the regime became even more monarchical. The emperors adopted the diadem crown as their supreme symbol of power, abandoning the subtleties of the early Empire. Beginning in the late 2nd century, the Empire began to suffer a series of political and economic crises, partially because it had overexpanded so much. The Pax Romana ("Roman peace")

5400-633: Is often said to have ended with the tyrannical reign of Commodus. His murder was followed by the accession of Septimius Severus , the victor of the Year of the Five Emperors . It was during his reign that the role of the army grew even more, and the emperors' power increasingly depended on it. The murder of his last relative, Severus Alexander , led to the Crisis of the Third Century (235–285),

5580-520: Is often said to have followed a " Caesaropapist " model, where the emperor played the role of ruler and head of the Church, but there was often a clear distinction between political and secular power. The line of Eastern emperors continued uninterrupted until the sack of Constantinople and the establishment of the Latin Empire in 1204. This led to the creation of three lines of emperors in exile:

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5760-519: Is still often regarded as a usurper, similarly to Magnus Maximus , who was briefly recognized by Theodosius I . Western emperors such as Magnentius , Eugenius and Magnus Maximus are sometimes called usurpers, but Romulus Augustulus is traditionally regarded as the last Western emperor, despite never receiving the recognition of the Eastern emperor Zeno . The period after the Principate

5940-639: The Lex regia ("royal law") mentioned in the Corpus Juris Civilis of Eastern emperor Justinian I (r. 527–565), who cites the early 3rd-century writer Ulpian . This was probably a later construct, as its very name, which derives from rex ("king"), would have been utterly rejected in the West. The Eastern Greek-speaking half of the Empire had always regarded the emperors as open monarchs ( basileis ), and called them as such. The weakest point of

6120-564: The gens Claudia , an ancient patrician family that came to prominence in the early years of the republic. His mother was also a member of the Livii family, an ancient plebeian but prominent family, through the adoption into it of his maternal grandfather. Little is recorded of Tiberius's early life. In 39 BC, his mother divorced his biological father and, though again pregnant by Tiberius Nero, remarried to Octavian , later known as Augustus. In 38 BC his brother, Nero Claudius Drusus ,

6300-577: The College of Pontiffs ) in 12 BC, after the death of the former triumvir Lepidus . Emperors from the reign of Gratian (r. 375–383) onward used the style pontifex inclytus ("honorable pontiff"). The title of pontifex maximus was eventually adopted by the bishops of Rome during the Renaissance . The last known emperors to use the title were Valentinian III and Marcian , in the 5th century. The only surviving document to directly refer to

6480-635: The Constantinian dynasty , emperors followed Imperator Caesar with Flavius , which also began as a family name but was later incorporated into the emperor's titles, thus becoming Imperator Caesar Flavius . The last use of the formula, rendered as Autokrator Kaisar Flabios... Augoustos (Αὐτοκράτωρ καῖσαρ Φλάβιος αὐγουστος) in Greek, is in the Basilika of Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912). Originally

6660-614: The Doukai and Palaiologoi , claimed descent from Constantine the Great . What turns a "usurper" into a "legitimate" emperor is typically that they managed to gain the recognition of a more senior, legitimate, emperor, or that they managed to defeat a more senior, legitimate emperor and seize power. Modern historiography has not yet defined clear legitimacy criteria for emperors, resulting in some emperors being included or excluded from different lists. The year 193 has traditionally been called

6840-635: The Latin War in the Battle of Antium in 338 BC and mounted to its side. Originally, the term meant a single structure located within the Comitium space near the Roman Forum and usually associated with the Senate Curia . It began to be referred to as the Rostra Vetera ("Elder Rostra ") in the imperial age to distinguish it from other later platforms designed for similar purposes which took

7020-528: The Papal States . Pepin's son, Charlemagne , was crowned Imperator Romanorum (the first time Imperator was used as an actual regnal title) by Pope Leo III in Christmas AD 800, thus ending the recognition of the Eastern emperor. Western rulers also began referring to the Empire as the "Greek Empire", regarding themselves as the true successors of Rome. The inhabitants of the Eastern half of

7200-575: The Proscription of 43 BC . Caesar spoke from the Rostra in 67 BC in a successful effort to pass, over the opposition of the Senate , a bill proposed by the tribune Aulus Gabinius (the lex Gabinia ) creating an extraordinary command for Pompey to eliminate piracy in the Mediterranean. Brutus and Cassius spoke from the Rostra to an unenthusiastic crowd in the Forum after the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC. Millar comments that during

7380-477: The Roman Republic and was given to victorious commanders by their soldiers. They held imperium , that is, military authority. The Senate could then award the extraordinary honor of a triumph ; the commander then retained the title until the end of his magistracy . In Roman tradition, the first triumph was that of Romulus , the founder of Rome, but the first attested use of imperator was in 189 BC, on

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7560-455: The Roman Republic , a view that is shared by the Roman writers Plutarch , Tacitus , and Cassius Dio . Conversely, the majority of Roman writers, including Pliny the Younger , Suetonius and Appian , as well as most of the ordinary people of the Empire, thought of Julius Caesar as the first emperor. Caesar did indeed rule the Roman state as an autocrat , but he failed to create a stable system to maintain himself in power. His rise to power

7740-502: The Roman army and recognition by the Senate ; an emperor would normally be proclaimed by his troops, or by the Senate, or both. The first emperors reigned alone; later emperors would sometimes rule with co-emperors to secure the succession or to divide the administration of the empire between them. The office of emperor was thought to be distinct from that of a rex ('king'). Augustus, the first emperor, resolutely refused recognition as

7920-550: The Rostra Augusti . What remains in the excavated forum today, next to the Arch of Septimius Severus , has endured several restorations and alterations throughout its historical use. While a few different honorary names are attributed to those restorations, scholars, archeologists and the government of Italy recognise this platform as the "Rostra Vetera" encased inside the "Rostra Augusti" . The term rostrum , referring to

8100-575: The Tetrarchy the powers of the caesar increased considerably, but following the accession of Constantine I it once more remained as a title for heirs with no significant power attached to it. The title slowly lost importance in the following decades, as emperors started to promote their sons directly to augustus . In the East, the title finally lost its imperial character in 705, when Justinian II awarded it to Tervel of Bulgaria . After this it became

8280-402: The civic crown alongside several other insignias in his honor. Augustus now held supreme and indisputable power, and even though he still received subsequent grants of powers, such as the granting of tribunicia potestas in 23 BC, these were only ratifications of the powers he already possessed. Most modern historians use 27 BC as the start date of the Roman Empire. This is mostly

8460-444: The consulship . He was cremated with all due ceremony and, as had been arranged beforehand, deified , his will read, and Tiberius, now a middle-aged man at 55, was confirmed as his sole surviving heir. Tiberius peacefully took power, unchallenged by any rivals. On 17 September Tiberius called the Senate in order to validate his position as Princeps , and, as had Augustus before him, grant himself its powers. Tiberius already had

8640-562: The death of both consuls of the year , Octavian marched to Rome and forced the Senate to elect him consul. He then formed the Second Triumvirate alongside Mark Antony and Lepidus , dividing the Roman world among them. Lepidus was sidelined in 36 BC, and relations between Octavian and Antony soon deteriorated. In September 31 BC, Octavian's victory at Actium put an end to any effective opposition and confirmed his supremacy over Rome. In January 27 BC, Octavian and

8820-422: The emperors of Nicaea , the emperors of Trebizond , and the short-lived emperors of Thessalonica . The Nicean rulers have been traditionally regarded as the "legitimate" emperors of this period, as they recovered Constantinople and restored the Empire in 1261. The Empire of Trebizond continued to exist for another 200 years, but from 1282 onwards its rulers used the modified title of "Emperor and Autocrat of all

9000-476: The fall of the Western Roman Empire , as it was used by rulers such as Theodoric the Great . Rostra 41°53′33.5″N 12°29′04.6″E  /  41.892639°N 12.484611°E  / 41.892639; 12.484611 The Rostra ( Italian : Rostri ) was a large platform built in the city of Rome that stood during the republican and imperial periods. Speakers would stand on

9180-418: The provinces . This division became obsolete in 19 BC, when Augustus was given consular imperium – despite leaving the consulship in 23 BC – and thus control over all troops. This overwhelming power was referred to as imperium maius to indicate its superiority to other holders of imperium , such as the proconsuls of the few senatorial provinces and allies such as Agrippa . The governors appointed to

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9360-412: The standards of the legions under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus (53 BC) (at the Battle of Carrhae ), Decidius Saxa (40 BC), and Mark Antony (36 BC) and, after negotiations with Parthia's King Phraates IV , either Augustus or Tiberius, or perhaps both together, were able to reclaim them for Rome. Tiberius then led a sizeable force into Armenia , presumably to establish it as

9540-402: The " Principate ", derived from the title princeps used by the early emperors. The most important bases of the emperor's power were his supreme power of command ( imperium maius ) and tribunician power ( tribunicia potestas ) as personal qualities, separate from his public office. Originally, the powers of command where divided in consular imperium for Rome and proconsular imperium for

9720-519: The " Year of the Five Emperors ", but modern scholarship now identifies Clodius Albinus and Pescennius Niger as usurpers because they were not recognized by the Roman Senate . Recognition by the Senate is often used to determine the legitimacy of an emperor, but this criterion is not always followed. Maxentius is sometimes called an usurper because he did not have the recognition of Tetrarchs , but he held Rome for several years, and thus had

9900-530: The "shadow emperor". In 476, the Heruli Odoacer overthrew the child-emperor Romulus Augustulus , made himself king of Italy and shipped the imperial regalia to the Emperor Zeno in Constantinople. Historians mark this date as the date of the fall of the Western Roman Empire , although by this time there was no longer any "Empire" left, as its territory had reduced to Italy. Julius Nepos , who

10080-465: The 9th century. Its last known use was on 866–867 coins of Michael III and his co-emperor Basil I , who are addressed as imperator and rex respectively. In the West, imperator was transformed into a monarchical title by Charlemagne , becoming the official Latin title of the Holy Roman Empire . Originally the cognomen (third name) of the dictator Gaius Julius Caesar , which was then inherited by Augustus and his relatives. Augustus used it as

10260-467: The Augustan institution was its lack of a clear succession system. Formally announcing a successor would have revealed Augustus as a monarch, so he and subsequent emperors opted to adopt their best candidates as their sons and heirs. Primogeniture was not relevant in the early Empire, although emperors still attempted to maintain a familiar connection between them; Tiberius , for example, married Julia

10440-494: The Comitium and the Roman Forum. In addition to the prows of captured ships, the Rostra bore a sundial and, at various times, statues of such important political figures as Camillus , Sulla and Pompey . Private citizens also erected a number of honorary columns and monuments on the Rostra and throughout the forum. At one point, the Senate threatened to have them removed if the donors did not do so themselves. In form,

10620-415: The Comitium, the Rostra served as the tribunal upon which the magistrate sat in his curule chair with a small number of attendants. "This was enough in itself to establish a court, though it was supplemented by benches ( subsellia ) for the jurors, the parties to the case, and their supporters." The circle of onlookers ( corona ) either stood or sat on nearby steps. The original structure was built during

10800-706: The East, the Iberians , and the Perateia ", accepting the Niceans as the sole Roman emperors. However, the Byzantine Empire had been reduced mostly to Constantinople, and the rise of other powers such as Serbia and Bulgaria forced the Byzantines to recognize their rulers as basileus . Despite this, emperors continued to view themselves as the rulers of an "universal empire". During the last decades of

10980-538: The Elder , making him Augustus ' son-in-law. Vespasian , who took power after the collapse of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and the tumultuous Year of the Four Emperors , was the first emperor to openly declare his sons, Titus and Domitian , as his sole heirs, giving them the title of caesar . The Senate still exercised some power during this period, as evidenced by his decision to declare Nero

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11160-479: The Elder and her family, Caligula , Agrippina the Younger , Julia Drusilla , and Julia Livilla were the only survivors. In 31, Sejanus held the consulship with Tiberius in absentia , and began his play for power in earnest. Precisely what happened is difficult to determine, but Sejanus seems to have covertly attempted to court those families who were tied to the Julians and attempted to ingratiate himself with

11340-432: The Empire always saw the emperor as an open monarch. Starting with Heraclius in 629, Roman emperors styled themselves " basileus ", the traditional title for Greek monarchs used since the times of Alexander the Great . The title was used since the early days of the Empire and became the common imperial title by the 3rd century, but did not appear in official documents until the 7th century. Michael I Rangabe (r. 811–813)

11520-440: The Empire used it regularly. It began to used in official context starting with Septimius Severus , and was first officially adopted in coinage by Aurelian . In the East, imperator was translated as autokrator ("self-ruler"), a title that continued to be used until the end of the Empire. This is the modern Greek word for "emperor" ( υτοκράτορας ). There are still some instances of imperator in official documents as late as

11700-494: The Empire, power was once again shared between multiple emperors and colleagues, each ruling from their own capital, notably during the long reign of John V . Constantinople finally fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453; its last emperor, Constantine XI Palaiologos , dying in battle. The last vestiges of the empire, Morea and Trebizond , fell in 1461. The title imperator – from imperare , "to command" – dates back to

11880-466: The Empire, while later functioning as de facto separate entities, were always considered and seen, legally and politically, as separate administrative divisions of a single, insoluble state by the Romans of the time. In the West , the office of emperor soon degenerated into being little more than a puppet of Germanic generals such as Aetius and Ricimer ; the last emperors of the West being known as

12060-521: The Great , the first Christian emperor, moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople , formerly known as Byzantium , in 330 AD. Roman emperors had always held high religious offices; under Constantine there arose the specifically Christian idea that the emperor was God's chosen ruler on earth, a special protector and leader of the Christian Church, a position later termed Caesaropapism . In practice, an emperor's authority on Church matters

12240-461: The Julian family line to place himself, as an adopted Julian, in the position of Princeps , or as a possible regent . Livilla was later implicated in this plot and was revealed to have been Sejanus's lover for several years. The plot seems to have involved the two of them overthrowing Tiberius, with the support of the Julians, and either assuming the Principate themselves, or serving as regent to

12420-515: The Republic, Diocletian established at the top of this new structure the Tetrarchy ("rule of four") in an attempt to provide for smoother succession and greater continuity of government. Under the Tetrarchy, Diocletian set in place a system of two emperors ( augusti ) and two subordinates that also served as heirs ( caesares ). When an emperor retired (as Diocletian and Maximian did in 305) or died, his caesar would succeed him and in turn appoint

12600-601: The Rostra got its name when, following the defeat of Antium by the consul Gaius Maenius , the Antiate fleet was confiscated by Rome, of which the prows (literally rostra in Latin) of six ships were set upon the Rostra. Maenius paid for it out of his share of war booty. He also erected a victory column, the Columna Maenia , close to the Rostra. Julius Caesar rearranged the Comitium and Forum spaces and repositioned

12780-470: The Senate Curia at the end of the republican period. He moved the Rostra out of the Comitium. This took away the commanding position the curia had held within the whole of the forum, having advanced extremely close to the Rostra during its last restoration. Augustus , his grand-nephew and first Roman emperor , finished what Caesar had begun, as well as expanded on it. This "New Rostra" became known as

12960-493: The Senate concluded the so-called " First settlement ". Until then Octavian had been ruling the state with his powers as triumvir , even though the Triumvirate itself disappeared years earlier. He announced that he would return the power to the Senate and People of Rome , but this was only an act. The Senate confirmed Octavian as princeps , the " first among equals ", and gave him control over almost all Roman provinces for

13140-481: The Senate for inheritance on merit. After Augustus' death in AD 14, the Senate confirmed Tiberius as princeps and proclaimed him as the new augustus . Tiberius had already received imperium maius and tribunicia potestas in AD 4, becoming legally equal to Augustus but still subordinate to him in practice. The "imperial office" was thus not truly defined until the accession of Caligula , when all of Tiberius' powers were automatically transferred to him as

13320-448: The Senate. His sacrosanctity also made him untouchable, and any offence against him could be treated as a crime of treason. The tribunician power was arguably the most stable and important of the emperor's powers. Despite being a perpetual title, it was always renewed each year, which often coincided with the beginning of a new regnal year (although " regnal years " were not officially adopted until Justinian I ). The office of censor

13500-478: The Senate. Ultimately, "legitimacy was a post factum phenomenon." Theodor Mommsen famously argued that "here has probably never been a regime in which the notion of legitimacy is as absent as that of the Augustan principate". Imperial propaganda was often used to legitimize or de-legitimize certain emperors. The Chronicon Paschale , for example, describes Licinius as having been killed like "those who had briefly been usurpers before him". In reality, Licinius

13680-468: The West). The subsequent Eastern emperors ruling from Constantinople styled themselves as " Basileus of the Romans" ( Ancient Greek : βασιλεύς Ῥωμαίων , Basileus Romaíon ) but are often referred to in modern scholarship as Byzantine emperors . The papacy and Germanic kingdoms of the West acknowledged the Eastern emperors until the accession of Empress Irene in 797. After this, the papacy created

13860-599: The administrative and political powers of the Princeps , but he lacked the titles of Augustus and Pater Patriae ("Father of the country"), and refused the Civic Crown . Like Augustus before him, Tiberius may have sought to represent himself as a reluctant yet devoted public servant, no more than an ordinary citizen who wanted to serve the state and people to the best of his ability, but his refusal of these titular, quasi-religious honours, and his reluctance to accept

14040-433: The army, blood connections (sometimes fictitious) to past emperors, distributing one's own coins or statues, and claims to pre-eminent virtue through propaganda, were pursued just as well by many usurpers as they were by legitimate emperors. Septimius Severus notably declared himself as the adoptive son of the long-deceased Marcus Aurelius , hence why he named Caracalla after him. Later Eastern imperial dynasties, such as

14220-402: The assistance of a colleague and for a specific period of time. Augustus held them all at once by himself, and with no time limits; even those that nominally had time limits were automatically renewed whenever they lapsed. The Republican offices endured and emperors were regularly elected to the most prominent of them: the consulship and censorship . This early period of the Empire is known as

14400-474: The authority based on prestige. The honorific was awarded as both a name and a title to Octavian in 27 BC and was inherited by all subsequent emperors, who placed it after their personal names. The only emperor to not immediately assume it was Vitellius , although he did use it after his recognition by the Senate. Later emperors ruled alongside one or several junior augusti who held de jure (but not de facto ) equal constitutional power. Despite its use as

14580-579: The bonuses promised to them by Augustus, and showed early signs of mutiny when it was clear that a response from Tiberius was not forthcoming. Germanicus and Tiberius's son, Drusus Julius Caesar , were dispatched with a small force to quell the uprising and bring the legions back in line. Germanicus took charge of the mutinous troops and led them on a short campaign across the Rhine into Germanic territory, promising that whatever treasure they could grab would count as their bonus. Germanicus's forces took over all

14760-476: The city and Senate of Rome began to lose importance. Maximinus and Carus , for example, did not even set foot on the city. Carus' successors Carinus and Numerian , the last of the Crisis emperors, did not bother to assume the tribunicia potestas either. After reuniting the Roman Empire in 285, Diocletian began a series of reforms to restore stability. Reaching back to the oldest traditions of job-sharing in

14940-512: The city, Ottoman sultans adopted the title " Caesar of the Romans" ( kayser-i Rûm ). A Byzantine group of claimant emperors existed in the Empire of Trebizond until its conquest by the Ottomans in 1461, although they had used a modified title since 1282. Modern historians conventionally regard Augustus as the first emperor, whereas Julius Caesar is considered the last dictator of

15120-590: The clear candidate for succession. As such, in 12 BC he received military commissions in Pannonia and Germania , both areas highly volatile and of key importance to Augustan policy. In 6 BC, Tiberius launched a pincer movement against the Marcomanni . Setting out northwest from Carnuntum on the Danube with four legions, Tiberius passed through Quadi territory in order to invade Marcomanni territory from

15300-451: The conclusion of the lustral ceremonies." Thus, according to Suetonius, these ceremonies and the declaration of his "co-Princeps" took place in the year AD 12, after Tiberius's return from Germania. "But he was at once recalled, and finding Augustus in his last illness but still alive, he spent an entire day with him in private." Augustus died on 19 August AD 14, a month before his 76th birthday and exactly 56 years after he first assumed

15480-400: The continuance of the Republic. The title had already been used by Pompey and Julius Caesar , among others. It was a purely honorific title with no attached duties or powers, hence why it was never used in official titulature. The title was the most preferred by Augustus as its use implies only "primacy" (is in the " first among equals "), as opposed to dominus , which implies dominance. It

15660-631: The convening magistrate , acting as augur , had to take the auspices in the inaugurated area ( templum ) on the Rostra from which he was to conduct the proceedings. If the omens were favorable and no other magistrate announced unfavorable omens, the magistrate summoned other magistrates and senators and directed a herald to summon the people. Heralds did so from the Rostra and from the City walls. During an assembly, magistrates, senators and private citizens spoke on pending legislation or for or against candidates for office. Before bills were presented for voting,

15840-454: The date and location of his death, contradictory accounts exist of the precise circumstances. Tacitus relates that the emperor appeared to have stopped breathing, and that Caligula, who was at Tiberius's villa, was being congratulated on his succession to the empire, when news arrived that the emperor had revived and was recovering his faculties. He goes on to report that those who had moments before recognized Caligula as Augustus fled in fear of

16020-489: The date of his death and/or the length of his reign. Modern medical analysis has concluded Tiberius most likely died as a result of myocardial infarction . After his death, the Senate refused to vote Tiberius the divine honours that had been paid to Augustus, and mobs filled the streets yelling "To the Tiber with Tiberius!" (the bodies of criminals were typically thrown into the river, instead of being buried or burnt). However,

16200-442: The death of Germanicus is unknown; rather than continuing to stand trial when it became evident that the Senate was against him, Piso committed suicide. In AD 22, Tiberius shared his tribunician authority with his son Drusus, and began making yearly excursions to Campania that reportedly became longer and longer every year. In AD 23, Drusus died in mysterious circumstances, and Tiberius seems to have made no effort to elevate

16380-495: The death of Lucius. Augustus, with perhaps some pressure from Livia, allowed Tiberius to return to Rome as a private citizen and nothing more. In AD 4, Gaius was killed in Armenia, and Augustus had no other choice but to turn to Tiberius. The death of Gaius initiated a flurry of activity in the household of Augustus. Tiberius was adopted in 26 June as full son and heir, and in turn he was required to adopt his nephew Germanicus ,

16560-456: The disfigurement of his face may have been contributing factors to his retreat to Capri, and noted that he regularly attempted to cover his sores with plaster . Despite this, Suetonius reports that Tiberius enjoyed good general health for the duration of his reign. Late in life he suffered from a poor pulse, which modern scholars believe may have been a sign of heart disease . Shortly before his death, he suffered an injury to his back while killing

16740-475: The earliest place of public assembly in the city. A succession of earlier shrines and altars is mentioned in early Roman writings as the first suggestum . It consisted of a shrine to the god Vulcan , that had two separate altars built at different periods. This early Etruscan mundus altar originally sat in front of a temple that would later be converted into the Curia Hostilia. During the late Republic

16920-479: The east side, by which the preacher ascended, and another on the west side, for his descent. Specimens of these old churches are still to be seen at Rome in the churches of San Clemente al Laterano and San Lorenzo fuori le Mura . As part of his reconstruction of the Roman Forum in 44 BC, Julius Caesar is believed to have moved the republican Rostra Vetera . This Rostra, referred to as the "Rostra Nova" or "Caesarian Rostra" , reused and incorporated nearly all of

17100-599: The east. Meanwhile, general Gaius Sentius Saturninus would depart east from Moguntiacum on the Rhine with two or three legions, pass through newly annexed Hermunduri territory, and attack the Marcomanni from the west. The campaign was a resounding success, but Tiberius could not subjugate the Marcomanni because he was soon summoned to the Rhine frontier to protect Rome's new conquests in Germania. He returned to Rome and

17280-514: The emperor was cremated, and his ashes were placed in the Mausoleum of Augustus . In his will , Tiberius nominated Caligula and Tiberius Gemellus as his joint heirs. Caligula's first act on becoming Princeps was to void Tiberius's will. Suetonius describes Tiberius as being pale skinned, broad shouldered, left-handed , and exceptionally strong and tall for a Roman, although he had poor posture. Suetonius and Paterculus both write that, as

17460-525: The emperor's power is the Lex de imperio Vespasiani , written shortly after Vespasian 's formal accession in December 69. The text, of which only the second part survives, states that Vespasian is allowed to: make treaties; hold sessions and propose motions to the Senate; hold extraordinary sessions with legislative power; endorse candidates in elections; expand the pomerium ; and use discretionary power whenever necessary. The text further states that he

17640-407: The emperor's wrath, while Macro took advantage of the chaos to have Tiberius smothered with his own bedclothes. Suetonius reports that, upon recovering after an illness, and finding himself deserted by his attendants, Tiberius attempted to rise from his couch, but fell dead. Suetonius further reports several rumours, including that the emperor had been poisoned by Caligula, starved, and smothered with

17820-448: The empire-wide cult to the deceased Augustus. When Tiberius died, he was given a sumptuous funeral befitting his office, but no divine honours. He came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive and sombre ruler who never really wanted to be emperor; Pliny the Elder called him "the gloomiest of men". Tiberius was born in Rome on 16 November 42 BC to Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla . Both of his biological parents belonged to

18000-614: The end of the Caesar's civil wars , it became clear that there was certainly no consensus to return to the old-style monarchy , but that the period when several officials would fight one another had come to an end. Julius Caesar, and then Augustus after him, accumulated offices and titles of the highest importance in the Republic, making the power attached to those offices permanent, and preventing anyone with similar aspirations from accumulating or maintaining power for themselves. Julius Caesar had been pontifex maximus since 64 BC; held

18180-413: The end of the Empire. In the West, the title was also used by Charlemagne and the subsequent Holy Roman Emperors as part of the formula Imperator Augustus . Both Eastern and Western rulers also used the style semper augustus ("forever augustus"). The word princeps , meaning "first", was a republican term used to denote the leading member of the Senate, and it was used by the early emperors to emphasize

18360-416: The existing empire by building additional bases, using diplomacy as well as military threats, and generally refraining from getting drawn into petty squabbles between competing frontier tyrants. The result was a stronger, more consolidated empire, ensuring the imperial institutions introduced by his adoptive father would remain for centuries to come. Of the authors whose texts have survived, only four describe

18540-404: The eyes of Tiberius, who thereafter refers to him as his Socius Laborum (Partner of my labours). Tiberius had statues of Sejanus erected throughout the city, and Sejanus became more and more visible as Tiberius began to withdraw from Rome altogether. Finally, with Tiberius's withdrawal in AD 26, Sejanus was left in charge of the entire state mechanism and the city of Rome. Sejanus's position

18720-441: The failure of the Tetrarchy. This practice had first been applied by Septimius Severus , who proclaimed his 10-year-old son Caracalla as augustus . He was followed by Macrinus , who did the same with his 9-year-old son Diadumenian , and several other emperors during the Crisis. This became even more common from the 4th century onwards. Gratian was proclaimed emperor at the age of 8, and his co-ruler and successor Valentinian II

18900-500: The family. Following the suicide of Nero, the last descendant of Caesar, the new emperor Galba adopted the name of Servius Galba Caesar Augustus , thus making it part of the imperial title. Five days before his murder he adopted Piso Licinianus as his son and heir, renaming him as Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar . After this Caesar came to denote the heir apparent, who would add the name to his own as heir and retain it upon accession as augustus . The only emperor not to assume it

19080-481: The four innocent people to be condemned fell victims to the excessive zeal of the Senate, not to the emperor's tyranny. While Tiberius was in Capri, rumours abounded as to what exactly he was doing there. Suetonius records the rumours of lurid tales of sexual perversity, including graphic depictions of child molestation, cruelty, and most of all his paranoia. While heavily sensationalised, Suetonius's stories at least paint

19260-679: The full powers of a princeps were taken as insults to the elite who offered them; signs of hypocrisy, not humility. According to Tacitus, Tiberius derided the Senate as "men fit to be slaves". Antagonism between Tiberius and his senate seems to have been a feature of his rule. In his first few years as emperor, Tiberius seems to have wanted the Senate to act alone, with no reference to him or his responsibilities as "first Senator". His direct orders were rather vague, inspiring debates on what he actually meant, rather than passing his legislation. The Roman legions in Pannonia and Germania had not been paid

19440-528: The governor of Syria, of poisoning him. The Pisones had been longtime supporters of the Claudians, and had allied themselves with the young Octavian after his marriage to Livia, the mother of Tiberius. Germanicus's death and accusations indicted the new Princeps . Piso was placed on trial and, according to Tacitus, threatened to implicate Tiberius. Whether the governor actually could connect the Princeps to

19620-414: The highest imperial title, it was generally not used to indicate the office of Emperor itself, as ordinary people and writers had become accustomed to Imperator . In the East the title was initially translated as Sebastos , but the form Augoustos eventually became more common. Emperors after Heraclius styled themselves as Basileus , but Augoustos still remained in use in a lesser form up until

19800-400: The imperial provinces only answered to the emperor himself, who could maintain or replace them at will. The tribunician power ( tribunicia potestas ), first assumed by Augustus in 23 BC, gave him authority over the tribune of the plebs without having to actually hold the office – a tribune was by definition a plebeian , whereas Augustus, although born into a plebeian family, had become

19980-410: The late Republic, when violence became a regular feature of public meetings, physical control and occupation of the Rostra became a crucial political objective. Until about 145 BC, the Comitium was the site for tribal assemblies (comitia tributa) at which important decisions were taken, magistrates were elected and criminal prosecutions were presented and resolved by tribal voting. Before an assembly,

20160-674: The later Eastern Empire, where emperors had to often appoint co-emperors to secure the throne. Despite often working as a hereditary monarchy, there was no law or single principle of succession. Individuals who claimed imperial power "illegally" are referred to as " usurpers " in modern scholarship. Ancient historians refer to these rival emperors as " tyrants ". In reality, there was no distinction between emperors and usurpers, as many emperors started as rebels and were retroactively recognized as legitimate. The Lex de imperio Vespasiani explicitly states that all of Vespasian's actions are considered legal even if they happened before his recognition by

20340-495: The leadership of the Princeps . Suetonius records that he became paranoid , and spent a great deal of time brooding over the death of his son. During this period there was a short invasion by Parthia , and incursions on Roman territories by Dacian and Germanic tribes. Little was done to plan or secure Tiberius's succession . The Julians and their supporters were diminished in numbers and political influence, thanks to Sejanus, and Tiberius's immediate heirs were dead. Caligula ,

20520-520: The level of the forum pavement. Traces of this Rostra can be seen today. At the opposite end of the open Forum, the Temple of Caesar , completed by Augustus in 29 BC, included another Rostra at the front of its elevated base, facing the Caesarian Rostra . This Rostra was decorated with the rams from the Battle of Actium . John E. Stambaugh, professor of classics at Williams College, described

20700-421: The main title of the emperor. According to Suetonius , it was "not merely a new title but a more honorable one, inasmuch as sacred places too, and those in which anything is consecrated by augural rites are called "august" ( augusta ), from the increase ( auctus ) in dignity". It was also connected to the religious practice of augury , which was itself linked to Rome's founding by Romulus , and to auctoritas ,

20880-472: The marginalization of the former heartland of Italy to the empire had a profound cultural impact on the empire and its emperor, which adopted a more Hellenistic character. The Eastern emperors continued to be recognized in the Western kingdoms until the accession of Irene (r. 797–802), the first empress regnant . The Italian heartland was recovered during the reign of Justinian I (r. 527–565), but this

21060-529: The middle years of the Roman Republic in approximately 500 BC It subsequently became known as the "Rostra" after the end of the Latin War in 338 BC when it was adorned by Gaius Maenius with naval rams ( rostra ) of ships captured at Antium as war trophies . The Rostra was located on the south side of the Comitium opposite the Curia Hostilia (the original Senate house), overlooking both

21240-491: The name "Rostra" along with its builder's name or the person it honored. Magistrates , politicians, advocates and other orators spoke to the assembled people of Rome from this highly honored, and elevated spot. Consecrated by the Augurs as a templum , the original Rostra was built as early as the 6th century BC. This Rostra was replaced and enlarged a number of times but remained in the same site for centuries. In 338 BC

21420-514: The new arrangement as "a reflection of contemporary taste and the relentless Augustan desire for order." In November 2008 heavy rain damaged the concrete covering that has been protecting the Vulcanal and its monuments located in the Imperial comitium space since the 1950s. This includes the stele accorded the name of "The Black Rock" or Lapis Niger . The marble and cement covering is a mix of

21600-418: The offices of consul and dictator five times since 59 BC, and was appointed dictator in perpetuity in 44 BC, shortly before his assassination . He had also become the de facto sole ruler of Rome in 48 BC, when he defeated his last opposition at the Battle of Pharsalus . His killers proclaimed themselves as the liberatores ("liberators") and the restorers of the Republic, but their rule

21780-412: The original Rostra may have been a simple raised platform made of wood, similar to the Roman tribunal. The Rostra had a curved form, possibly along the outer south rim of an amphitheatre. The structure was described by Christian Charles Josias Bunsen , based on his examination of two Roman coins depicting the Rostra, as "a circular building, raised on arches, with a stand or platform on the top bordered by

21960-567: The original Rostra. Located on the southwest side of the new Julian Forum ( Forum Iulium ), the new Rostra was no longer subordinated to his new Senate House, the Curia Julia (still standing); Caesar had it placed on the central axis of the Forum, facing toward the open space. Left uncompleted at Caesar's death, Augustus finished and extended the new Rostra into a rectangle at the front, the dimensions being 28.8 metres (94 ft) long, 10 metres (33 ft) broad and 3.4 metres (11 ft) above

22140-460: The original black marble, said to have been used to cover the site by Sulla , and modern cement used to create the covering and keeping the marble in place. Professor Angelo Bottini, Superintendent of Archeology in Rome, stated that an awning or tent covering is in place to protect the ancient relics until the covering is repaired, giving tourists of this millennium a look at the original suggestum for

22320-613: The position of Princeps , he began to depend more and more upon the limited secretariat left to him by Augustus, and specifically upon Sejanus and the Praetorians. In AD 17 or 18, Tiberius had trimmed the ranks of the Praetorian Guard responsible for the defence of the city, and had moved it from encampments outside of the city walls into the city itself , giving Sejanus access to somewhere between 6000 and 9000 troops. The death of Drusus elevated Sejanus, at least in

22500-502: The position of quaestor , and was granted the right to stand for election as praetor and consul five years in advance of the age required by law. Similar provisions were made for Drusus. Shortly thereafter Tiberius began appearing in court as an advocate, and it was presumably at this time that his interest in Greek rhetoric began. In 20 BC, Tiberius went east to join Augustus . The Parthian Empire had previously captured

22680-414: The powers held by Tiberius were made equal, rather than second, to Augustus's own powers, he was for all intents and purposes a "co-Princeps" with Augustus, and, in the event of the latter's passing, would simply continue to rule without an interregnum or possible upheaval. However, according to Suetonius , after a two-year stint in Germania, which lasted from AD 10–12, "Tiberius returned and celebrated

22860-448: The protectors of the Church. The territorial divisions of the Tetrarchy were maintained, and for most of the following century the Empire was ruled by two senior emperors, one in the West (with Milan and later Ravenna as capital) and another in the East (with Constantinople as capital). This division became permanent on the death of Theodosius I in 395, when he was succeeded by his sons Honorius and Arcadius . The two halves of

23040-440: The recognition of the Senate. Other "usurpers" controlled, if briefly, the city of Rome, such as Nepotianus and Priscus Attalus . In the East, the possession of Constantinople was the essential element of legitimacy, yet some figures such as Procopius are treated as usurpers. Rival emperors who later gained recognition are not always considered legitimate either; Vetranio had the formal recognition by Constantius II yet he

23220-550: The reign of Tiberius in considerable detail: Tacitus , Suetonius , Cassius Dio and Marcus Velleius Paterculus . Fragmentary evidence also remains from Pliny the Elder , Strabo and Seneca the Elder . Philo of Alexandria speaks briefly of Tiberius's reign in Embassy to Gaius . Tiberius himself wrote an autobiography which Suetonius describes as "brief and sketchy", but this book has been lost. Roman emperor The legitimacy of an emperor's rule depended on his control of

23400-419: The result of post-traumatic stress disorder . Proponents of this theory believe the tales of Tiberius's lurid sexual exploits were contemporary exaggerations of sexual compulsivity as a means of coping with untreated trauma. Other modern diagnoses offered for Tiberius include obsessive compulsive personality disorder and Schizoid personality disorder ; the latter diagnoses was offered by Gregorio Marañón in

23580-406: The reverence of the emperor, making anything related to him sacer (sacred). He declared himself Jovius , the son of Jupiter , and his partner Maximian was declared Herculius , son of Hercules . This divine claim was maintained after the rise of Christianity, as emperors regarded themselves as the chosen rulers of God. The emperor no longer needed the Senate to ratify his powers, so he became

23760-519: The rostra and face the north side of the Comitium towards the senate house and deliver orations to those assembled in between. It is often referred to as a suggestus or tribunal , the first form of which dates back to the Roman Kingdom , the Vulcanal . It derives its name from the six rostra (plural of rostrum , a warship's ram) which were captured following the victory which ended

23940-406: The rostra was used as a place to display the heads of defeated political enemies. Gaius Marius and consul Lucius Cornelius Cinna captured Rome in 87 BC and placed the head of the defeated consul, Gnaeus Octavius , on the Rostra. The practice was continued by Sulla and Mark Antony , who ordered that Cicero's hands and head be displayed on Caesar's Rostra after the orator's execution as part of

24120-463: The same hairstyle. Suetonius describes his eyes as being larger than average, while a passage in Pliny indicates they were grey or blue-grey; polychromy restoration on a bust of Tiberius depict him with grey eyes and hair. Suetonius reports he tended to talk with his hands , a habit others found unnerving, and which Augustus saw as an inherent character flaw. Both Cassius Dio and Tacitus record that by

24300-436: The sole source of law. These new laws were no longer shared publicly and were often given directly to the praetorian prefects – originally the emperor's bodyguard, but now the head of the new praetorian prefectures – or with private officials. The emperor's personal court and administration traveled alongside him, which further made the Senate's role redundant. Consuls continued to be appointed each year, but by this point, it

24480-554: The sole surviving son of Germanicus, or Tiberius's own grandson, Tiberius Gemellus , were possibly candidates. However, Tiberius only made a half-hearted attempt at the end of his life to make Caligula a quaestor , and thus give him some credibility as a possible successor, while Gemellus himself was still only a teenager and thus completely unsuitable for some years to come. Tiberius died in Misenum on 16 March AD 37, months before his 78th birthday. While ancient sources agree on

24660-452: The son of his brother Nero Claudius Drusus and Augustus's niece Antonia Minor . Along with his adoption, Tiberius received tribunician power as well as a share of Augustus's maius imperium , something that even Marcus Agrippa may never have had. In AD 7, Agrippa Postumus , a younger brother of Gaius and Lucius, was disowned by Augustus and banished to the island of Pianosa , to live in solitary confinement. Thus, when in AD 13,

24840-609: The sorrow of each mourner and followed the rotting corpses, till they were dragged to the Tiber, where, floating or driven on the bank, no one dared to burn or to touch them. However, Tacitus's portrayal of a tyrannical, vengeful emperor has been challenged by some historians: Edward Togo Salmon notes in A History of the Roman World : In the whole twenty two years of Tiberius's reign, not more than fifty-two persons were accused of treason, of whom almost half escaped conviction, while

25020-441: The state. As Tacitus vividly describes, Executions were now a stimulus to his fury, and he ordered the death of all who were lying in prison under accusation of complicity with Sejanus. There lay, singly or in heaps, the unnumbered dead, of every age and sex, the illustrious with the obscure. Kinsfolk and friends were not allowed to be near them, to weep over them, or even to gaze on them too long. Spies were set round them, who noted

25200-592: The territory between the Rhine and the Elbe . They took control of the Teutoburg forest , where three Roman legions and their auxiliary cohorts, led by Publius Quinctilius Varus , had been annihilated by Germanic tribes several years before. Germanicus took back the legionary standards lost in that disaster, saving them from the disgrace of captivity. These bold and successful actions increased Germanicus's already high popular standing. After his return to Rome, Germanicus

25380-486: The time he became Emperor, Tiberius had gone bald. Tacitus further reports that the Emperor had lost most of his body fat and become abnormally thin, although he retained his physical strength. He also contracted a disfiguring facial ailment which may have been a severe case of herpes , an outbreak of which affected the Empire during his reign; Tiberius banned kissing at public functions in an effort to curtail its spread. Tacitus believed that embarrassment over his baldness and

25560-418: The title continued to be used for a time, with emperors registering the number of times they were hailed imperator . The title became the main appellation of the ruler by the time of Vespasian . After the Tetrarchy , emperors began to be addressed as dominus noster ("our Lord"), although imperator continued to be used. The appellation of dominus was known and rejected by Augustus, but ordinary men of

25740-473: The title of consul was Constans II , who was also the last Eastern emperor to visit Rome. It's possible that later emperors also used it as an honorary title, as the office of consul was not abolished until 892, during the reign of Leo VI . During the Dominate it became increasingly common for emperors to raise their children directly to augustus (emperor) instead of caesar (heir), probably because of

25920-418: The title was Junius Blaesus in AD 22, after which it became a title reserved solely for the sovereign. Augustus used Imperator instead of his first name ( praenomen ), becoming Imperator Caesar instead of Caesar Imperator . From this the title slowly became a synonym of the office, hence the word "emperor". Tiberius , Caligula and Claudius avoided using the title, but it is recorded that Caligula

26100-514: The triumph of Aemilius Paulus . It was a title held with great pride: Pompey was hailed imperator more than once, as was Sulla and Julius Caesar . However, as noted by Cassius Dio , the meaning of the title changed under the new monarchy, and came to denote "the possession of the supreme power". Both Dio and Suetonius refer to Caesar as the first one to assume imperator as a proper name (a praenomen imperatoris ), but this seems to be an anachronism . The last ordinary general to be awarded

26280-500: The triumph which he had postponed, accompanied also by his generals, for whom he had obtained the triumphal regalia. And before turning to enter the Capitol, he dismounted from his chariot and fell at the knees of his father, who was presiding over the ceremonies." "Since the consuls caused a law to be passed soon after this that he should govern the provinces jointly with Augustus and hold the census with him, he set out for Illyricum on

26460-430: The untimely deaths of Augustus's two grandsons and adopted heirs, Gaius and Lucius Caesar , Tiberius was designated Augustus's successor. Prior to this, Tiberius had proved himself an able diplomat and one of the most successful Roman generals : his conquests of Pannonia , Dalmatia , Raetia , and (temporarily) parts of Germania laid the foundations for the empire 's northern frontier. Early in his career, Tiberius

26640-507: The vague terms of "second" or "little emperor". Despite having a successful reign himself, Diocletian's tetrarchic system collapsed as soon as he retired in 305. Constantine I , the son of tetrarch Constantius I , reunited the empire in 324 and imposed the principle of hereditary succession which Diocletian intended to avoid. Constantine was also the first emperor to convert to Christianity , and emperors after him, especially after its officialization under Theodosius I , saw themselves as

26820-487: The young Tiberius Gemellus or possibly even Caligula . Those who stood in his way were tried for treason and swiftly dealt with. In AD 31 Sejanus was summoned to a meeting of the Senate, where a letter from Tiberius was read condemning Sejanus and ordering his immediate execution. Sejanus was tried, and he and several of his colleagues were executed within the week. As commander of the Praetorian Guard, he

27000-415: Was Vitellius , who adopted the name Germanicus instead. Most emperors used it as their nomen – with Imperator as their praenomen – until the reign of Antoninus Pius , when it permanently became part of the formula Imperator Caesar [full name] Augustus . In the 3rd century, caesars also received the honorific of nobilissimus ("most noble"), which later evolved into a separate title. During

27180-505: Was also used for meetings of courts. In Republican Rome, criminal prosecutions took place in the Forum either before a tribal assembly with a magistrate prosecuting (a procedure specified in the Twelve Tables and the normal mode of prosecution in the middle Republic) or in a jury-court ( quaestio de repetundis ) established by statute and presided over by a magistrate with a jury (after 70 BC) of about 50-75 jurors. For trials held in

27360-508: Was also used to distinguish a junior co-emperor ( basileus ) from his senior colleague ( basileus autokrator ). By the times of the Palaiologos , there were two distinct ceremonies for the accession of an emperor: first an acclamation as basileus , and later a coronation as autokrator (which also included being raised on a shield). These rites could happen years apart. The Eastern Empire became not only an absolute monarchy but also

27540-446: Was an office often occupied by the emperor himself, who now had complete control over the bureaucratic apparatus. Diocletian did preserve some Republican traditions, such as the tribunicia potestas . The last known emperor to have used it was Anastasius I , at the start of the 6th century. Anastasius was also the last attested emperor to use the traditional titles of proconsul and pater patriae . The last attested emperor to use

27720-402: Was appointed as consul , and around this same time his son, Drusus Julius Caesar , was born. Agrippa's death in 12 BC elevated Tiberius and Drusus with respect to the succession. At Augustus's request in 11 BC, Tiberius divorced Vipsania and married Julia the Elder , Augustus's daughter and Agrippa's widow. Tiberius was very reluctant to do this, as Julia had made advances to him when she

27900-412: Was awarded a full triumph , which he celebrated in AD 17. It was the first full triumph held since Augustus's own in 29 BC. In AD 18 Germanicus was granted control over the eastern part of the empire, like Agrippa and Tiberius before him. This was interpreted as a sign that he would be Tiberius's successor; but Germanicus died just over a year later, having accused Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso ,

28080-454: Was born. In 32 BC, Tiberius, at the age of nine, delivered the eulogy for his biological father at the rostra . In 29 BC, he rode in the triumphal chariot along with his adoptive father Octavian in celebration of the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium . In 23 BC, Emperor Augustus became gravely ill, and his possible death threatened to plunge the Roman world into even more civil conflict. Historians generally agree that it

28260-519: Was considered healthy by Roman standards; in the legions he earned the nickname "Biberius" (from bibere , "to drink"). This has led modern writers to conclude he probably suffered from alcoholism . As the Julio-Claudian Emperor who saw the most frontlines combat, and the one who actually led troops into battle, modern writers have concluded Tiberus' erratic and paranoid behavior later in life, as well as his alcohol intake, may have been

28440-763: Was consul for a second time in 7 BC, and in 6 BC was granted tribunician power ( tribunicia potestas ) and control in the East, positions that Agrippa had held before him. In 6 BC, while on the verge of accepting command in the East and becoming the second-most powerful man in Rome, Tiberius announced his withdrawal from politics and retired to Rhodes . The motives for Tiberius's withdrawal are unclear. Some historians have speculated that Tiberius and Drusus were only ever intended as caretakers, and would have been swept aside once Julia's two sons by Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius , were adopted as Augustus's heirs and came of age. The promiscuous, and very public behaviour of his unhappily married wife, Julia, may have also played

28620-422: Was cut short by Caesar's supporters, who almost immediately established a new dictatorship. In his will, Caesar appointed his grandnephew Octavian as his heir and adopted son. He inherited his property and lineage, the loyalty of most of his allies, and – again through a formal process of senatorial consent – an increasing number of the titles and offices that had accrued to Caesar. In August 43 BC, following

28800-418: Was frequently subject to challenge. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the late 5th century after multiple invasions by Germanic barbarian tribes, with no recognised claimant to Emperor of the West remaining after the death of Julius Nepos in 480. Instead the Eastern emperor Zeno proclaimed himself as the sole emperor of a theoretically undivided Roman Empire (although in practice he had no authority in

28980-476: Was generally hereditary, it was only hereditary if there was a suitable candidate acceptable to the army and the bureaucracy, so the principle of automatic inheritance was not adopted, which often led to several claimants to the throne . Despite this, elements of the republican institutional framework (Senate, consuls, and magistrates) were preserved even after the end of the Western Empire. Constantine

29160-419: Was hailed imperator by the Senate on his accession, indicating that it was already considered an integral part of the dignity. It was not until the late reign of Nero , in AD 66, that imperator became once more part of the emperor's nomenclature. Virtually all emperors after him used the praenomen imperatoris , with only a few variations under his successors Galba and Vitellius . The original meaning of

29340-446: Was happily married to Vipsania , daughter of Augustus's friend, distinguished general and intended heir, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa . They had a son, Drusus Julius Caesar . After Agrippa died, Augustus insisted that Tiberius divorce Vipsania and marry Agrippa's widow, Augustus' own daughter (Tiberius's step-sister) Julia . Tiberius reluctantly gave in. This second marriage proved scandalous, deeply unhappy, and childless; ultimately, Julia

29520-477: Was married, and Tiberius was happily married. His new marriage with Julia was happy at first, but turned sour. Suetonius claims that when Tiberius ran into Vipsania again, he followed her home crying and begging forgiveness. Soon afterwards, Tiberius met with Augustus, and steps were taken to ensure that Tiberius and Vipsania would never meet again. Tiberius continued to be elevated by Augustus, and after Agrippa's death and his brother Drusus's death in 9 BC, seemed

29700-798: Was no longer a guarantee of a peaceful transfer of power after Augustus's death, nor a guarantee that his family, and therefore his family's allies, would continue to hold power should the position of Princeps survive. Somewhat melodramatic stories tell of Augustus pleading with Tiberius to stay, even going so far as to stage a serious illness. Tiberius's response was to anchor off the shore of Ostia until word came that Augustus had survived, then sailing straightway for Rhodes. Tiberius reportedly regretted his departure and requested to return to Rome several times, but each time Augustus refused his requests. With Tiberius's departure, succession rested solely on Augustus's two young grandsons, Lucius and Gaius Caesar. The situation became more precarious in AD 2 with

29880-408: Was not fully absorbed into the imperial office until the reign of Domitian , who declared himself "perpetual censor" ( censor perpetuus ) in AD 85. Before this, the title had been only used by Claudius (47), Vespasian and Titus (both in 73). The emperor also had power over religious affairs, which led to the creation of a worship cult . Augustus became pontifex maximus (the chief priest of

30060-460: Was not quite that of successor; he had requested marriage in AD 25 to Tiberius's niece, Livilla , though under pressure quickly withdrew the request. While Sejanus's Praetorians controlled the imperial post, and therefore the information that Tiberius received from Rome and the information Rome received from Tiberius, the presence of Livia seems to have checked his overt power for a time. Her death in AD 29 changed all that. Sejanus began

30240-407: Was overthrown and expelled to Dalmatia in favor of Romulus, continued to claim the title until his murder in 480. The Eastern court recognized this claim and Odoacer minted coins in his name, although he never managed to exercise real power. The death of Nepos left Zeno as the sole emperor of a (technically) reunited Roman Empire. The Roman Empire survived in the East for another 1000 years, but

30420-420: Was proclaimed co- augustus in 177. Despite being the son of a previous emperor and having nominally shared government with him, Commodus' rule ended with his murder at the hands of his own soldiers. From his death in 192 until the 5th century, there was scarcely a single decade without succession conflicts and civil war. During this period, very few emperors died of natural causes. Such problems persisted in

30600-412: Was proclaimed emperor at the age of 4. Many child emperors such as Philip II or Diadumenian never succeeded their fathers. These co-emperors all had the same honors as their senior counterpart, but they did not share the actual government, hence why junior co-emperors are usually not counted as real emperors by modern or ancient historians. There was no title to denote the "junior" emperor; writers used

30780-510: Was replaced by Naevius Sutorius Macro . Tacitus claims that more treason trials followed and that whereas Tiberius had been hesitant to act at the outset of his reign, now, towards the end of his life, he seemed to do so without compunction. The hardest hit were those families with political ties to the Julians. Even the imperial magistracy was hit, as any and all who had associated with Sejanus or could in some way be tied to his schemes were summarily tried and executed, their properties seized by

30960-413: Was replaced with dominus ("lord"); the use of princeps and dominus broadly symbolizes the differences in the empire's government, giving rise to the era designations Principate and Dominate . The title is still found in some later sources, however. The poet Claudian , for example, describes Honorius as having been raised from " caesar " to " princeps " (instead of augustus ). The title survived

31140-617: Was reverted by the end of the century. Rome technically remained under imperial control , but was completely surrounded by the Lombards . Africa was lost to the Arabs in the early 7th century, and Rome eventually fell to the Lombards in 751, during the reign of Constantine V . The Frankish king Pepin the Short defeated them and received the favour of Pope Stephen II , who became the head of

31320-420: Was sent into exile by her father. Tiberius adopted his nephew, the able and popular Germanicus , as heir. On Augustus's death in 14, Tiberius became princeps at the age of 55. He seems to have taken on the responsibilities of head of state with great reluctance and perhaps a genuine sense of inadequacy in the role, compared to the capable, self-confident and charismatic Augustus. From the outset, Tiberius had

31500-700: Was sent with his legions to assist his brother Drusus in campaigns in the west. While Drusus focused his forces in Gallia Narbonensis and along the German frontier, Tiberius combated the tribes in the Alps and within Transalpine Gaul , conquering Raetia . In 15 BC he discovered the sources of the Danube , and soon afterward the bend of the middle course. Returning to Rome in 13 BC, Tiberius

31680-408: Was succeeded by his grand-nephew and adopted grandson, Germanicus's son Caligula , whose lavish building projects and varyingly successful military endeavours drained much of the wealth that Tiberius had accumulated in the public and Imperial coffers through good management. Tiberius allowed the worship of his divine Genius in only one temple, in Rome's eastern provinces, and promoted restraint in

31860-486: Was the first emperor to actually use the title of "Roman emperor" (βασιλεύς Ῥωμαίων, Basileus Romaíon ). This was a response to the new line of emperors created by Charlemagne – although he was recognized as basileus of the Franks . By the 9th century the full imperial title became " basileus and autokrator of the Romans", usually translated as "Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans". The title autokrator

32040-406: Was the legitimate emperor of the West (having been appointed by Galerius ), while Constantine was the real "usurper" (having been proclaimed by his troops). There were no true objective legal criteria for being acclaimed emperor beyond acceptance by the Roman army , which was really the true basis of imperial power. Common methods used by emperors to assert claims of legitimacy, such as support of

32220-552: Was the result of a long and gradual decline in which the Republic fell under the influence of powerful generals such as Marius and Sulla . At the end of the Republic no new, and certainly no single, title indicated the individual who held supreme power. Insofar as emperor could be seen as the English translation of the Latin imperator , then Julius Caesar had been an emperor, like several Roman generals before him. Instead, by

32400-408: Was the title used by early writers before the term imperator became popular. In his Res Gestae , Augustus explicitly refers to himself as the princeps senatus . The title was also sometimes given to heirs, in the form of princeps iuventutis ("first of the youth"), a term that continued to be used during the Tetrarchy . In the era of Diocletian and beyond, princeps fell into disuse and

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