CLAS/HIST 4091/5091 The
Lecture 11.
The Emperor at Work
I. The House of the Emperor
-Philo’s embassy to Caligula in Gardens of Maecenas
-No fixed place for business: Private residence becomes palace
-Grandiose entourage:
adventus
(arrival)
-Ubi imperator, ibi Roma (wherever the emperor is,
II. The Jobs of the Emperor
A.
Commander in Chief (Imperator)
-Picks
all officers; soldiers swear oath to him
-Standards
bear the bust of the Emperor
B.
Senator
-Governs his provinces in the name of the senate
-Deference to the Senate: civilis
princeps (citizen-like princeps)
-Censor: control taxation and military recruitment
-Domitian = censor
perpetuus, from then on all emperors are censors
C.
Judge and Lawmaker
-Supreme judge:
tribunal (public chair)
-Constitutiones principis: edicta (general
policy statement); mandata
(order to subordinate); decreta
(court decision); rescripta:
(response to petition = libellus)
-Ad hoc policy (not overarching concept of government)
-quod placet principi, quasi lex esto (whatever the emperor decides has the force of law)
D.
Chief priest
-Member of all priestly colleges: Controls access and religious law
-Imperial Cult
III. The Staff of the Emperor (minimal bureaucracy;
personal contacts)
A.
Procurator Augusti
-Private
estate managers >>> imperial administrators
-Growth
in numbers: AD 1 = 25; AD 100 = 100; AD
200 = 200
-Knights
(equites)
B.
Secretaries:
-ab epistulis:
correspondence; a rationibus:
accounts; a libellis: petitions; a studiis: literary studies
-Shift from freedmen to equites to legal experts
C.
Praetorian Guard: bodyguard
-Personal
bodyguard 9,000
men
-Praetorian
prefect: chief of staff; jursit
D.
Concilium Principis
-Republican
concilium
(council) becomes imperial council
-No
fixed membership: Amicus principis (friend of the prince)
IV. The Finances of the Emperor
A. Imperial largesse: private
giving; congiaria
(giving ceremonies)
B.
Imperial wealth
embassies,
gold crowns, inheritance, estates, confiscations
B.
Fiscus
(Imperial treasury) and Aerarium
(public treasury)
Gradual
blurring of distinction
V. The Emperor at Work and Play
Elagabalus#*?! (218-222)