The Creation of the Roman Empire

I. From Republic to Empire, 44 B.C.E. to 14 C.E.

A. Civil War, 44-27 B.C.E.--Members of the social elite competed for power after Caesar's assassination, touching off a civil war that lasted until 33 B.C.E.

1. Rise of Octavian--Caesar's 18 year-old grand nephew and adopted son Octavian emerged at the head of Caesar's army by promising them money from Caesar's wealth, which he had inherited. Octavian marched his army into Rome, and forced the Senate to name him consul in 43 B.C.E.

2. Mark Antony--Caesar's friend was also a rival to Octavian. In 43 B.C.E., however, the two men submerged their differences and allied with another Roman general named Lepidus and formed the Second Triumvirate, forcing the Senate to recognize them as the governing panel, and they began a murderous campaign of proscription against their enemies.

3. Rivalry between Octavian and Antony--after forcing Lepidus into retirement, Antony and Octavian began fighting each other. Antony was strongest in the east, where he allied with Cleopatra and became her lover, even though he was married to Octavian's sister at the time. Octavian used this alliance to stir Roman public opinion to his favor (claiming that Antony would bring Cleopatra to Rome to rule over the citizens there), and then Octavian's army defeated Antony's. Antony retreated to Alexandria, committed suicide in Cleopatra's arms, who then committed suicide herself.

B. Creation of the Principate, 27 B.C.E.-14 C.E.--after distributing land to army veterans and creating colonies in the new provinces, in 27 B.C.E. Octavian "gave back from his own power to the Roman Senate." In reality, or course, Octavian retained all real power in his hands. He referred to himself not as rex (king), but as princeps (first among equals). The Senate, recognizing Octavian's overwhelming power, bestowed upon him the honorary title Augustus, which soon became his name.

1. Power of the Princeps--although Augustus only held the office of consul for a single year, and did not hold office of tribune at all, the Senate "granted" him the power of both offices. This gave Augustus the power to "act in the interests of the people," which gave him effective veto power over all laws. The reality was that Augustus ruled because he controlled the army and the treasury. Augustus knew the importance of maintaining appearances, however, so he and his wife Livia continued to dress modestly and acted as regular citizens. Augustus revolutionized government while appealing to traditional values.

a. Augustus made the army the foundation of his power, turning the republic's citizen militia into a professional army and navy, establishing regular lengths of service and substantial retirement benefits. To pay for this, August imposed Rome's first inheritance tax, angering the rich. To stave off any armed resistance, Augustus also stationed the Praetorian Guard in Rome to keep the peace. The praetorian guard eventually played a major role in selecting succeeding emperors.

2. Communicating the Emperor's Image--Augustus constantly communicated his image as patron and benefactor. He built a number of buildings at his own expense. He also used the coins minted to remind people of his accomplishments and new slogans.

3. Augustus's Motives--Augustus never really revealed his motives, but he faced the same challenge that every Roman leader faced--balancing his own ambition with Rome's need for peace, and its citizen's freedom of action.

C. Daily Life in the Rome of Augustus--Rome in the time of Augustus had a population of somewhere between 800,000 and 1,000,000 (a city in Europe would not approach that size again until London in the 1700s). Many people had no regular jobs and too little to eat. To limit congestion, the city banned carts and wagons during the daytime.

1. Conditions of City Life--Most urban residents lived in small apartments in multistoried buildings called islands. The first floor of these buildings housed shops, bars, and restaurants. The well-off occupied the lower floors, while the higher in the buildings on went, the cheaper (and smaller) the rooms. While aqueducts delivered plentiful fresh water to these cities, all but the wealthy had to carry the water in heavy jugs up the stairs to their apartment. And because their were no bathrooms, human waste had to be carried down the stair--or, as was often the case, simply thrown out the window into the street (or on whoever happened to be walking by). Although the buildings were constructed of bricks and mortar (a Roman invention), the contractors often cut corners, and it was not unusual for the building to simply collapse--killing most of the people who happened to be in it at the time.

2. Public baths--Bathing played an important social function in ancient Rome, and prices were kept low enough that most people could afford to visit one of the public baths regularly.

3. Public safety--August tried to keep Romans safe, forming the first fire department and the first permanent police force.

4. Public health--while people might regularly bathe, the were still susceptible to other health problems. Dead carcasses--both animal and human--were often simply left in the streets for vultures, dogs, and pigs to dispose of by consuming. Flies were simply everywhere. There was no refrigeration, so often people ate spoiled food (a practice that continued for many years--as we will see, it is the reason the spices were so important, and valuable). While Augustus built a larger sewer system in Rome, the raw sewage was still simply dumped in the Tiber River, which also provided some of the city's drinking water.

5. Roman slavery--while the life of the slave in Roman society could be quite abject (particularly if the worked in agriculture or in mines), slaves also were not excluded from the possibility of becoming a part of Roman society (as we will see, the grandfather of the Emperor Diocletian was a slave). Slaves most likely to advance into Roman society lived in cities, and worked as house servants.

6. Violence in Public Entertainment--Romans felt quite comfortable watching others suffer. We are all familiar with the gladiator fights; this started as an element in the funerals of elites in Roman society, but under Augustus it became a regular feature. Gladiators were often war captive, criminals, and slaves--although free people also became gladiators, hoping to enrich themselves by becoming sports celebrities  and by winning rich prizes.

D. Changes in Education, Literature, and Art in Augustus's Rome--political debate, which had been such an important feature in Republican Rome, lost favor because it became exceedingly difficult to speak against Augustus and not suffer any consequences.

1. Education--the majority of Romans received no education in Augustus's time; even the economic elites received a sub-standard education during this time, for the most part.

2. Literature--ironically, Augustus was a patron of literature, and this period is seen as the golden age of Latin literature. Augustus was himself an author, and he patronized (supported monetarily) the two giants of Latin literature of this time, Horace and Virgil. Even the historian Livy, who dared criticize Augustus, was chastised, and another critic, Ovid, was tolerated until he became embroiled in a sex scandal involving Augustus's granddaughter.

3. Art--official art went back to the idealized form of the Greek Golden Age, to emphasize the calm competence of the emperor.