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his sacred title of augustus 15 powers under the principate edit politics of ancient rome periods roman kingdom 753 509 bc roman republic 509 27 bc roman empire 27 bc ad 395 western ad 395 476 eastern ad 330 1453 timeline constitution kingdom republic sullan republic empire augustan reforms late empire political institutions imperium collegiality auctoritas roman citizenship cursus honorum assemblies centuriate curiate plebeian tribal ordinary magistrates consul praetor quaestor promagistrate aedile tribune censor governor extraordinary magistrates corrector dictator magister equitum consular tribune rex triumviri decemviri interrex public law mos maiorum ius senatus consultum quaestio perpetua senatus consultum ultimum titles and honours emperor legatus dux officium praeses praefectus vicarius vigintisexviri triumvir monetalis lictor magister militum imperator princeps senatus pontifex maximus augustus caesar tetrarch other countries v t e 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 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 16 the republican offices endured and emperors were regularly elected to the most prominent of them the consulship and censorship 17 this early period of the empire is known as 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 18 originally the powers of command were divided in consular imperium for rome and proconsular imperium for 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 19 the governors appointed to the imperial provinces only answered to the emperor himself who could maintain or replace them at will 20 denarius of augustus 18 bc b 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 a patrician when he was adopted into the gens julia 20 by adopting the role of a tribune augustus was presenting himself as the representative of the common man and the protector of democracy 21 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 22 with these powers he could veto any act or proposal of any magistrate propose laws and convoke the senate 23 his sacrosanctity also made him untouchable and any offence against him could be treated as a crime of treason 21 the tribunician power was arguably the most stable and important of the emperor s powers 24 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 25 c the office of censor 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 26 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 the college of pontiffs in 12 bc after the death of the former triumvir lepidus 27 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 28 the last known emperors to use the title were valentinian iii and marcian in the 5th century 29 the only surviving document to directly refer to 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 is not bound by laws and that any previous act was retroactively considered legitimate 30 there is no mention of imperium nor tribunicia potestas although these powers were probably given in the earlier clauses 31 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 is sometimes related to 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 32 the eastern greek speaking half of the empire had always regarded the emperors as open monarchs basileis and called them as such 33 34 succession and legitimacy edit the weakest point of the augustan institution was its lack of a clear succession system 35 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 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 36 the senate still exercised some power during this period as evidenced by its decision to declare nero a public enemy 37 and influenced the succession of emperors following the murder of domitian in ad 96 the senate declared nerva one of their own as the new emperor 38 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 was proclaimed co augustus in 177 39 d despite being the son of a previous emperor and having nominally shared government with him commodus s 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 41 such problems persisted in 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 42 latin inscription dedicated to septimius severus and caracalla in ostia antica ad 196 e 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 the senate 30 ultimately legitimacy was a post factum phenomenon 43 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 44 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 45 in reality licinius was the legitimate emperor of the west having been appointed by galerius while constantine was the real usurper having been proclaimed by his troops 46 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 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 41 septimius severus notably declared himself as the adoptive son of the long deceased marcus aurelius hence why he named caracalla after him 47 later eastern imperial dynasties such as the doukai and palaiologoi claimed descent from constantine the great 48 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 49 50 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 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 51 recognition by the senate is often used to determine the legitimacy of an emperor 49 but this criterion is not always followed maxentius is sometimes called an usurper because he did not have the recognition of tetrarchs 52 53 but he held rome for several years and thus had the recognition of the senate 54 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 55 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 is still often regarded as an usurper 56 57 similarly to magnus maximus who was briefly recognized by theodosius i 57 western emperors such as magnentius eugenius and magnus maximus are sometimes called usurpers 52 but romulus augustulus is traditionally regarded as the last western emperor despite never receiving the recognition of the eastern emperor zeno later developments edit the colossus of constantine portraits after the tetrarchy stopped including realistic features as the emperor began to be seen as a symbol rather than an individual 58 the period after the principate 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 59 the emperors adopted the diadem crown as their supreme symbol of power abandoning the subtleties of the early empire 60 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 59 the pax romana roman peace 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 61 62 the murder of his last relative severus alexander led to the crisis of the third century 235 285 a 50 year period that almost saw the end of the roman empire 63 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 64 they managed to usurp power from maximinus thrax but they were killed within two months with the rise of the soldier emperors the city and senate of rome began to lose importance maximinus and carus for example did not even set foot on the city 62 carus successors carinus and numerian the last of the crisis emperors did not bother to assume the tribunicia potestas either 65 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 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 a new caesar 66 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 67 diocletian s division had precedents in the joint rule of valerian and gallienus and that of carus and carinus 68 diocletian justified his rule not by military power but by claiming divine right 67 he imitated oriental divine kingship and encouraged the reverence of the emperor making anything related to him sacer sacred 69 he declared himself jovius the son of jupiter and his partner maximian was declared herculius son of hercules 70 this divine claim was maintained after the rise of christianity as emperors regarded themselves as the chosen rulers of god 59 the emperor no longer needed the senate to ratify his powers so he became 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 71 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 was an office often occupied by the emperor himself f who now had complete control over the bureaucratic apparatus 72 ...